Monday, October 14, 2013

Why 'The Walking Dead' is a Dead Television Show

‘The Walking Dead’ was once a very good show.  It was a good show when Frank Darabont was the show runner in Season 1.  The show had a way of captivating you, scaring you and making you feel, and I mean, REALLY feel for these characters in a completely unrealistic situation… the zombie apocalypse.  The show was atmospheric and edge of your seat.  Then Frank Darabont left the show for what I am assuming (this is pure speculation, not fact) was creative differences.

The reason I feel there were creative differences is because in Season 2 this show slows down…to a halt. The pacing became beyond slow. At this point, I believe Glen Mazzara had taken over as show runner.  Glen Mazzara is a writer for whom I have a massive amount of respect. Season 2 picks up about half way through the season and got really good, the pacing got going and the story propelled but it was never Season 1.  What I mean by it was never Season 1 is the show wasn’t AS captivating, not to say it wasn’t good but something was off.  As Season 2 ended, there was a great possibility for the show to get back to Season 1 material.

As Season 3 kicked off, I felt like the show hit a stride.  We were back to Season 1 and it was awesome.  After the first 3 episodes, the show died.  (At some point in this process, Glen Mazzara left as show runner. That means by Season 4 of this show, there have been 3 different show runners.  That is a big indication that something is wrong.)  ‘The Walking Dead’ had become a dead television show.  The episodes were filled with filler (meaning scenes that waste time and don’t further plot or characters) and the dialogue became off kilter and stale.  This show is based off of some amazing source material and only the 1st Season did that justice.  In Season 3 new characters were brought in, important characters from the graphic novels AND NOTHING HAPPENED.  Season 3 was the most anticlimactic Season of television I have ever seen and the finale was the worst finale in the history of television.  The show tried to build up to something fantastic and failed.  It failed miserably.  I remember watching the finale end and I turned to my Father and said, “Well that sucked.”  My Dad nodded in agreement.

So last night, Season 4 of ‘The Walking Dead’ premiered.  What we got was a lot of walking (literally), a lot of awful dialogue and blood.  This show has become reliant on blood and action as opposed to story and character.  That pisses me off!  This show started as an amazing character driven story with action and violence to further the story and characters.  Now, that is gone.  There are no more characters.  They are all interchangeable and one dimensional.  What once was fantastic has become stagnant and honestly, boring.  It saddens me to say this but ‘The Walking Dead’ has literally become The Walking Dead.  There is no longer any meat on the bone with this show.  The meat left with the great writer/creator, Mr. Frank Darabont.


   -  George McCann

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