The Walking Dead And Buried

If a television show is at least decent, but I don't like any of the characters, I'm less likely to watch it.

If a television show is bad, but I really like one or more of the characters, I might watch it.

If a television show kills off the only character I liked AND devotes itself to being brainless, godawful dreck, I write bitter articles about it, apparently.

There is nothing left for me in The Walking Dead. I've given it a chance in video games, in comics and on television, and in all three cases it quickly deteriorated my will to live. Not just because of the death and misery it gets off to, but because of how smugly self-assured this franchise is that it's Saying Something Important, or that it's smart and compelling drama.

Usually about five seconds before turning into a dumpster fire.

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I don't need to tell you why the 7th season premiere, and in fact the last year and a half of the show is officially the dumbest thing ever. You know why that is. Everyone but the people running that train-wreck knows it. I should have given it up months ago. It crossed into an event horizon of stupid long before Negan showed up. Somehow, in a year with a presidential election as fucked up as the one we got, it's still the most clown-shit sequence of events in 2016.

But Steven Yeun was still there, so I soldiered on. Now that he's been written out in the most grotesque, audience-insulting way imaginable, I guess I should be relieved. I'm free of this bullshit. But it's frustrating that so many people thought it had to end like this. There were options. There were very creative ways to go about doing this that still clung to some shred of narrative coherence, and they somehow zeroed in on outcome no one wanted. That don't even strengthen the story, or anyone's involvement in it. I don't think I've ever seen a program this hostile to its' own fans.


There's a lot to dissect here, and there are a lot of really easy ways they could have prevented or fixed the problems that led to this. But I'm not sure I even want to try. It's not even a matter of someone else being able to say it better than I could. I don't feel like anyone really agrees with me on this. I could try to go the whole Red Letter Media, MrBtongue route and "destroy" this thing with carefully-worded arguments and present examples and explanations, but what the fuck would that accomplish? It won't go back and make things right, and I'm alone in my thinking. The show will go on, it will get worse, and it will make more money. Nothing can stop it.


There's also the suspicion that talking about anything gives it more strength. Even if it's not deserved. I guess I'm just frustrated is all. It sucks to see something you love shit itself to death.

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~A.H.