Andrew Lincoln Leaving The Walking Dead

Originally, I thought I would write about the cancellation of Roseanne today. I still might tomorrow, but for now the below tweet shows my condensed thoughts on her show being cancelled.

Moving on from yet another racist being treated as a victim, let’s talk about The Walking Dead. I affectionately remember undertaking my first Netflix binge thanks to this show. By the time I got into it, it was already on season 1. I watched the first season and a few episodes of the second in one evening, and rushed to catch up within the next week. Aside from reminding me of a simpler time, when I had the option of spending that much time watching TV, those early moments also bring back a time when the show was stronger.

Although the second season gets a great deal of flack for all of the time spent on the farm, I definitely believe the last three seasons have given us our fair share of filler. After Mad Men and Breaking Bad ended it seemed like AMC realized they had to hold on to their remaining golden goose. From the beginning, the TV show introduced plotlines that weren’t in the comics, often stretching out scenarios (e.g. the farm setting lasting way longer in the show). I guess I didn’t notice how bad the filler was until season 6. I think I was in denial until the last episode. Knowing how the story goes in the comics always makes added plotlines seem more egregious since you are more impatient as you wait for a pivotal moment. In this case, I grew impatient as I waited for Negan’s introduction.

The season 6 finale basically featured a drawn out game of tag between Negan’s men and Rick’s group, finally culminating in Negan’s appearance. Then we get a cliffhanger for who dies, which was clearly designed to increase the ratings for the season 7 premiere. Like a sucker, I still watched season 7 but season 8 lost me as it continued to pad out the Negan storyline, in order to lengthen the show’s run. The mid-season finales didn’t help either, becoming another indication of AMC’s desire to pad the show’s air time.

All of this to say that the show lost me a while ago. Judging from the comments on this article, it appears that I am not the only one. Maybe this news turns out to be false, but multiple outlets are reporting that Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) will make his last appearance during season 9. Lincoln will appear in about half a dozen episodes before his character’s run comes to an end.

At this point, I think the show has run its course and should just end on season 9. Of course, the comics are still ongoing but they are way ahead of the show because the comic doesn’t pad its pages with filler e.g. teen love stories and death fakeouts (I’m looking at you dumpster Glenn). The Negan arc could easily have been wrapped up in half the time if the show removed the dumpster people and a heap of other unnecessary subplots.

A lot of people are arguing other characters can take over. I see a chance of that working in the comics, but I don’t see that working for the show. Aside from being a central character, Rick is also one of the most compelling and well-acted ones. Daryl Dixon has his fangirls but I don’t think he can carry the show as a main character. I don’t think any other character can. Season 9 can finish without Rick, but I can’t see a season working without him from start to finish. Maybe I’m biased since I barely care about the show anymore but the comments on the aforementioned article also show that others agree with me. I am not saying my opinion is therefore a popular one, but it at least shows that there are some people who are able to see where I am coming from.

The show was good at one point, but it seems like greed ruined it. The desire to milk the cow dry has turned one of my favourite shows into a distant memory and an example of a clash between art and business.

The Walking Dead’s Ratings Dropped Drastically-And For Stupid Reasons Apparently

Warning: Spoilers for Season 7

The Walking Dead season 7 premiere drew the show’s second biggest audience, with 17 million viewers. I am sure that the cliffhanger contributed to this. I originally did hate the cliffhanger but have grown to see some purpose in it, aside from getting more ratings for the premier. A friend at work mentioned that people’s hate for Negan is, for lack of a better word, “fresh” now. We didn’t see who he killed last season and have months to discuss it. We tuned in one sunday night to see Abraham and Glenn die.

The first death hit me hard since Abraham was one of my favourite characters. The second death is what caused a real firestorm online. After the infamous dumpster incident earlier in the season, Glenn undoubtedly met with death in the season 7 premiere, with a gory death pulled straight from the comics. Watch any reaction to the episode on YouTube, and you will see how people were dismayed that Abraham died, but became nearly hysterical when Glenn met his end.

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Since I read the comics, I was almost looking forward to the death. It is a sad, but pivotal moment for readers, driving home the danger Negan represents.

Episode 7.5, “Go Getters” experienced the lowest ratings since season 3, before Daryl’s fangirls were in full effect. Obviously, such a drastic drop is a huge development. When I came across the news the first cause that came to my mind was the issue of filler. Episodes 2 and 3 were pretty good but I could not help but feel like they were dragged out. One focused on Carol and Morgan, one focused on Daryl. In both cases, the episodes could have been condensed to show more characters and stories. Episode 4 thankfully features less filler, but then episode 5 brought back more filler and more of the Carl and Enid relationship: a weak love story with zero chemistry and two of the weakest actors.

The comments in this Yahoo article feature some complaints of filler, but the majority of them don’t blame that for the ratings drop. They blame the death of Glenn. It was to graphic and mean-spirited. It eliminated a fan favourite and made fans lose interest. One person even says that it will be looked back on as the moment the show jumped the shark.

Firstly, I was almost amused to see that the comments echo my comic book stigma article. People who watch this show, which is based on a comic, refer to the readers as basement dwellers. They’re not losers like us so what happens in the comics doesn’t matter. I find this argument to be nonsensical since the television show would not exist if it weren’t for the comic. The show you love, the character you are mourning over, would not exist if another “basement dweller” didn’t love comics and decide to write his own one day. An adaptation rarely follows its source material note for note, but I think it is fair to hear fans out on one of the source material’s most iconic moments. I have to wonder if people would have as much animosity if the source material was a book instead.

Despite TWD consistently being a violent show, it appears that many people felt that this last episode crossed the line. Perhaps because brutal violence was inflicted on a main character this time. This brings me to my next issue with these complaints. If characters are going to come across dangerous situations, whether it’s from humans or zombies, where is the dramatic tension if we know that our favourites won’t die? Do you want the show to keep introducing red-shirts to get killed instead? Glenn becomes one of the first people from the original group to die in a long while, and his death served the same purpose on the show. Do the show writers have to keep killing off ancillary characters like Denise?

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Yes, it sucks that Rick and Daryl are submissive for the moment. People are wondering why they don’t fight back. Remember that they did fight back when Negan’s men originally gave them the terms. That resulted in them being surrounded. Daryl fighting back is what led to Glenn’s head getting turned into ground beef. Daryl feels guilty for that, but so does Rick. Rick assumed Negan was just another threat they could overpower, and he was wrong. He referred to Negan as nothing but “hot air” in the comics and quickly found out he was mistaken. Carl could have shot Negan. Rick could have beat Negan with Lucille, but what would that accomplish in the long run? Negan’s men pillaging Alexandria and killing everyone in it. Bad guys win sometimes, and good guys lose sometimes as well. Rick won’t be like this for the rest of the show but people need to grow up and realize entertainment can’t always give us happiness.

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All of these complaints about TWD being too mean-spirited remind me of how people always criticize DC comic book films for being too bad because they’re too depressing. Maybe people would like it more if this post-apocalyptic tale just became all sunshine and rainbows and nobody died anymore. When Negan swings his bat it bounces off people’s heads like rubber, but gives a nasty headache. That way there is still some danger but not too much.  This rampant mentality is the reason I knew Daryl wouldn’t be killed by Negan. The fangirls would stop watching because they’d lose someone to drool over during episodes. The show is meant to be bigger than any single character. The only character that is arguably an exception is Rick Grimes, since the series starts with his singular perspective.

Another complaint I have to address is the mantra that “this show is supposed to be about surviving zombies. Not your fellow man.” I could write an essay on how poorly thought out this argument is. Firstly, the show would become boring if every single season revolved around the zombie threat alone. If people are complaining about Rick’s group finding one bad group of people after another, how do you think they would react to Rick’s group killing zombies again and again or trying to avoid another herd? The zombie apocalypse represents a breakdown in civilization, whether in terms of institutions and nations, or in terms of people’s relations with one another. With zombies running rampant and humans split up into pockets, you can rest assured that people like The Governor and Negan would emerge. Some of the comments question why people would fight against one another in such tumultuous times and I have to ask what world these people have grown up in. People will fight and scheme against each other for the same things they always do: power and resources. Spencer is trying to paint Rick as a bad leader because he wants to rule Alexandria like his mother did. He feels like Rick stole his birthright. Negan simply craves power, which is manifested by his desire to control the communities and their resources. People aren’t always rationale. They can be petty, immature, greedy, selfish beings and that doesn’t change whether it’s a zombie apocalypse or not. Ask yourself, would you honestly prefer 7 seasons of the group just fighting zombies? Would you be interested in the show if the group came across one dangerous situation after another, but everyone always made it through alive unscathed?

The Walking Dead Season 7 Premiere

I have previously shared my thoughts on the season 6 finale of The Walking Dead. I thought that the ending was downright insulting and one of the most despicable rating grabs I have ever seen. Such a move would have been warranted if The Walking Dead was struggling in terms of viewership: It is one of the most watched shows on television.

Negan’s introduction is one of the most notorious in comics and his introduction to the show was highly anticipated mostly for the death that would ensue. To deliberately hide this development until next season insults comic book readers and the general audience. Some people say a cliffhanger was a great idea, but understand that the series still could have had a cliffhanger without a terrible call of duty view ending. A cliffhanger is an ending that leaves something unresolved, and usually refers to a situation where a character is left in peril. In the comic, the issue ends with the group crying over Glenn’s battered body. That would have been a cliffhanger as well; characters are left in a dangerous situation and a plot point is unresolved. In my opinion, that would have been much more powerful.

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I avoided watching the premiere live on sunday specifically because I didn’t want to reward the show-runners with ratings after the move they pulled. I watched the premiere about thirty minutes ago, and after taking a bit of time to gather my thoughts, I needed to share them.

SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON

Firstly, the double death was a surprise. It was a very prominent fan theory but one that I never paid much attention to. Two deaths seemed like overkill but after watching the episode I liked the way it was executed. I had Abraham’s death spoiled for me on social media, but he was also one of the ones I expected would die. After the ridiculous dumpster incident I didn’t think Glenn would die, but it seems like the show-runners like to mess with their fans.

Not only did Glenn die, but he died just like he did in the comic. Everything from Negan’s dialogue to him, to Glenn’s last words, to the grotesque result of the first hit.

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IMDB was surprisingly rife with users wondering why Rick let Negan kill someone. Although it is obvious that everyone would die if Rick tried anything, some people truly need to be spoon-fed. Daryl’s actions give us the clearest demonstration of what happens if  anyone doesn’t sit and accept what is happening.

Daryl is shown to be more impulsive at times, so his actions do fit the character. I knew AMC wouldn’t dare to kill him, since he is arguably the face of the franchise more than Rick is. Also, he has more teen fangirls who might stop watching if he dies.

I now wonder what Daryl’s arc will be like this season. I’m thinking we may see him struggle with survivor’s guilt, marking a shift towards a less confident Daryl. Since Daryl and Abraham are now both gone (one dead, one with the saviours) it also brings up the question of which character becomes Rick’s new right hand. Perhaps it could be Sasha, or even Gabriel for all we know.

Speaking of hands… In the comic, The Governor and his men cut off Rick’s right hand. Negan’s emphasis on the importance of a “right-hand man” got me thinking that Rick might suffer more pain by the end of the episode. By this point in the series, I never thought the show would go that route. Then Negan asks Carl to come forward. Once he started wrapping the belt around Carl’s arm, my mind drifted back to the comics again.

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This moment is a fake-out but the show-runners are forgiven. For the first time in a while, someone from the core group of characters died. I would have been livid if a relatively minor character (e.g. Aaron or Rosita) died after months of waiting. Additionally, comic book readers get a great nod the comics. We also see the extent of Negan’s mind games. Since I read the comic first I couldn’t help but feel like the meeting with Negan was dragged out due to all the extra events. However, the purpose of the meeting remained the same. Negan wants to break Rick, and he does it in spectacular fashion. Here we see Negan’s calculating mind at work, just like the comic. He knows Rick is a respected leader, and doesn’t want to make him a martyr by killing him.

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Overall, Jeffrey Dean Morgan delivered on the hype. We also got to see a small hint of the relationship that might develop between him and Carl, if the show-runners follow the comic down that route. I still feel like the cliffhanger stunted the impact of this episode but I am happy to say that I am excited for another season of The Walking Dead.

 

D-Day

The beach was swarming with tourists,

People who travelled from other countries and continents to walk along a once-great battlefield,

Some took pictures, and even more took selfies,

Making the moment all about them,

Showing that they weren’t truly there to commemorate other people’s sacrifices

 

I could not ignore the real reason I came here,

I saw it all around me,

My shoes were already stained with blood,

The sand was soaked with it,

Every step I took made it squelch beneath me,

While others took a leisurely stroll, trying to picture what happened,

I rushed through, wanting to free myself from all the images and sounds that were assaulting me,

 

Arms, legs, fingers,

Some were still moving, only a few seconds removed from their previous owners

The tourists all around me obscured my view of the entire beach, saving me from even more images,

But the tourists would also be witnesses if I succumbed to the uneasy feeling in stomach,

 

I was almost off the beach now,

Sidestepping, pushing, whatever it took to make clear path for myself,

I passed the bulk of the tourists, with only a few stragglers ahead of me,

As I prepared to sidestep someone ahead,

They turned towards me,

In my haste I never noticed the tattered uniform they wore,

But now I could see the face, torn apart by shrapnel,

Skin hanging loose from the cheeks, exposing flesh and nerves beneath,

Eyes reduced to red craters,

 

As I looked away, I saw another uniformed man making his way towards me,

His intestines were hanging from a gash in his stomach,

Reaching down and staining the sand as he walked towards me,

His face was intact, but I could see the shrapnel embedded in the top of his skull,

 

They said nothing as they approached,

I didn’t know what would happen if they reached their target,

I ran around them, making my way for freedom,

As I did, hands began to spring from the ground beneath me,

Bloodied, lacerated, dismembered,

All gripping me with immeasurable strength,

I fell, I screamed,

But my screams were quickly muffled,

The ground beneath me seemed to sink, and I was sinking with it,

Soon I no longer felt the sunlight above,

Only darkness.