#32 - The Walking Dead
It's officially been five years since 'The Walking Dead' has started airing which means it's also been five years since 'The Walking Dead' has peaked. The first half of its fifth season was a return to form and delivered a streak of episodes that was definitely able to live up to its premiere season. However, in the second half of said season the show retrieved back to old, formulaic storytelling patterns.
At this point it's safe to say that from now on 'The Walking Dead' is pretty much always going to be the same. They will find a safe haven until they're being forced to leave it once again and go on another search for a new safe place. It really doesn't help that the 'how' and 'why' is very often just as uninteresting as the actual plot is.
Alexandria introduced a new interesting angle to the show in which the gang didn't just find a safe haven but were asked to ponder about questions such as how to rebuild a society and whether after all the cruelty one is really able to return to a normal status quo or whether they even should be able to. 'TWD' though still found a way to put these interesting questions in the background to instead focus on a huge amount of very empty dialogues and shallow scenes that more often than not saw the show's lead Rick Grimes in the center.
Since 'The Walking Dead' is more Western than Horror it's normal that Rick Grimes would be the series' hero and group leader simply because he's wearing that symbolic sheriff hat. What they're forgetting about this, however, is that especially modern Westerns delve into deep and complicated themes of morality that depicts its heroes and villains as complex and layered; something that 'TWD' still utterly fails to do so with almost every character, most notably though its lead.
Rick could be a great tool for the showunners to actually portray someone multi-dimensional and complex enough to observe, yet, despite Rick's many missteps, his impulsive temper and selfishness that he sells as justice the writers always choose the easy opt-out and have the rest of the cast praise the same character who just walked them towards their death. They always find a way to make him seem noble and smart to everyone else while we're sitting in front of the tv knowing he's the complete opposite. It doesn't work nor is it fun to watch -- the complete opposite is the case, actually. It's just frustrating.
In addition to 'TWD's repetetive storytelling and lazy character writing we can now also add gimmicks to the fault list, as well. It's the most successful show on air but somehow despite a lot of coverage it doesn't feel as big as its numbers and the times of when 'TWD' would be able to make something on their show feel like a cultural event á la 'Game of Thrones' are long gone.
It makes sense that in desperation the writers choose to go with the most awful kind of cliffhanger - the one that doesn't just leave you wondering about what happened until next week but the one that makes you think you know what happened.... just to realize three weeks later it didn't happen. (Spoiler ahead)
To make it look like a main character dies and then remove his name from the credits for the following weeks just so they can surprise us in the finale that ~~omg he's actually living defines for me everything 'TWD' has become. They seem to be writing a show for the people, intentionally trying to force events and squeeze out big scenes. As a result, deaths become less believable and tragic and every decision they make is being questioned. Will this actually have a big consequence or not? For the most part, it's their own fault that they aren't able to truly engage and grip people as they used to be when everytime something bad happens they just redeem it. It has become a common watch not an anticipated one.
Yet, in its typical repetetive manner 'TWD' also delivers one of its very best and most interesting episodes in between all the more than mediocre ones. It's even more depressing to witness a marvelous, arresting hour of television that is so unlike 'TWD' and simultaneously something only the show would be able to produce. It's furstrating because it's a showcase that not everything has to be bad and that there's actually enough talent behind the scenes to still create something valuable.
If those very few highs are worth the rest of the show's averageness is something everyone has to decide for themselves. I for one am not so sure 'The Walking Dead' can ever break out of the vicious cycle it has trapped itself in by now. The great public, though seem to be enjoying exactly this sense of familiarity as they so often do.
Best Episodes: "JSS"; "Here's Not Here"
2014: #21
