First season where we follow the family I was wanting them to hurry up and get ded. Just loathsome characters I couldn’t root for.
The bit with Virginia was….OK, I suppose? But then we get Lionel Luther and his madcap nuke scheme of zero sense.
I really disliked the first couple of seasons but stuck with it and it got better… until it got worse… then got better… then got worse again. The plots were generally disappointing. A few clever concepts that were not executed well due to often mediocre at best writing. But some cool characters… cool characters often wasted with poor writing though.
Spoiler:
So no CRM vs Commonwealth troops conflict yet? Will it ever come given the feeling of the season finale and th8ngs moving elsewhere in the spin-offs?
Yes, it is done finally. It was pretty much what I expected. Quite frankly a lot of the final season's oompf was spoiled by AMC's announcing the various spinoffs. Like we know Negan, Maggie, Daryl and Carol will survive. We also know Rick and Michonne will be back in some way so that's not some huge shocker that it would have been. I'm sure all of that was much to the annoyance of the people who work on this show. Some suit at AMC Corporate figured might as well start advertising now for some reason even though those shows don't come out till next year apparently. Imagine, how big all the announcements would have been if they were saved for right after the last episode.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Yes, it is done finally. It was pretty much what I expected. Quite frankly a lot of the final season's oompf was spoiled by AMC's announcing the various spinoffs. Like we know Negan, Maggie, Daryl and Carol will survive. We also know Rick and Michonne will be back in some way so that's not some huge shocker that it would have been. I'm sure all of that was much to the annoyance of the people who work on this show. Some suit at AMC Corporate figured might as well start advertising now for some reason even though those shows don't come out till next year apparently. Imagine, how big all the announcements would have been if they were saved for right after the last episode.
KamikazeCanuck wrote: Yes, it is done finally. It was pretty much what I expected. Quite frankly a lot of the final season's oompf was spoiled by AMC's announcing the various spinoffs. Like we know Negan, Maggie, Daryl and Carol will survive. We also know Rick and Michonne will be back in some way so that's not some huge shocker that it would have been. I'm sure all of that was much to the annoyance of the people who work on this show. Some suit at AMC Corporate figured might as well start advertising now for some reason even though those shows don't come out till next year apparently. Imagine, how big all the announcements would have been if they were saved for right after the last episode.
Ya but the fact she was originally going to be on the show shows she was going to survive. If not for that spoiler she would have been my pick to be the comic book fill in for [/spoiler]The death of Rick. I kind of think of here as the Rick of the TV Universe.[spoiler]
The actress who played Rosita revealed on Talking Dead that she had to convince them to kill her off. Like, what kind of Walking Dead Finale has no deaths? They've become really gun shy and need to save all their characters for the spinoffs.
I’m still somewhat impressed they kept some things fresh, even if it was grey around the temples.
Having stuck with it through thick and thin (then back to thick again) I don’t feel particularly disappointed.
There are specific moments I loved, and others I felt “you’re doing that now?”.
On the latter? Daryl’s line about Pamela’s flaw being wanting to get things back As They Were, rather than building something new and ideally better. I don’t disagree with him. But in the last segments of the last third of the last season? Really? You couldn’t have introduced that excellent point somewhat earlier? Like….season earlier.
To the point I think that point could almost support a limited series (say, a season or two, three at the most) exploring how The Commonwealth came to be. Maybe just a string of linked specials, like TV movies. One a month over a year, with time jumps to keep things moving. Or even just Commonwealth, Year 1 - 12. We know it’s around 12 years since the Apocalypse, as Judith Grimes provides a sort of narrative sidereal time stamp. Conceived at the start, approx 11-12 at the end (according to a cursory Google).
The network announced today that its very first Walking Dead spinoff series, Fear the Walking Dead, will officially conclude after the show's upcoming eighth season, which is slated to premiere in May. In terms of plot, the final 12 episodes finds Morgan Jones (Lennie James) and Madison Clark (Kim Dixons) teaming up to rescue the former's daughter, Mo, from the clutches of PADRE.
I’ve tried. I’ve really honestly tried to get on with that show, and I just can’t. It did get a bit better once the original, singularly unlikable family snuffed it. Then it just disappeared up its own arse, rehashing TWD into a less interesting package. Oh, and jumped the Shark with a madman nuking stuff.
Much as I like some of the characters in Fear, it is definitely time to end it and move on. In a show filled with bad decisions, the nukes definitely were a step way too far. Bringing Madison back was painful… like season 1. The question now is, how exactly do they end it? Misery for everyone?
Grumpy Gnome wrote: Much as I like some of the characters in Fear, it is definitely time to end it and move on. In a show filled with bad decisions, the nukes definitely were a step way too far. Bringing Madison back was painful… like season 1. The question now is, how exactly do they end it? Misery for everyone?
Grumpy Gnome wrote: Much as I like some of the characters in Fear, it is definitely time to end it and move on. In a show filled with bad decisions, the nukes definitely were a step way too far. Bringing Madison back was painful… like season 1. The question now is, how exactly do they end it? Misery for everyone?
We finally have a brief summary for the upcoming Dead City and Daryl Dixon shows from SYFY Wire:
The official log line for Dead City reads: "Maggie (Cohan) and Negan (Morgan) traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own world full of anarchy, danger, beauty, and terror." And across the Atlantic, the Daryl Dixon log line says: "Daryl (Reedus) washes ashore in France and struggles to piece together how he got there and why. The series tracks his journey across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan."
OK, Manhattan is big. And densely populated. But if it’s cut off, and has significant survivors? How comes years later (possibly squeaking into a decade now) it’s still infested with the dead?
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Honestly don’t know. It could be one of those “self contained, but with optional endings if we want to continue it” things.
Interview With the Vampire was 7 episodes and Mayfair Witches looks to be 8 episodes, while the first seasons of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead were each 6 episodes. That just seems to be the way AMC does the first season of a new series.
Gonna pass on that one. I liked Maggie but the more time that has passed I realize I've never liked this version of Negan. Dislike of Negan overcoming any modest like of Maggie.
Melissa McBride and Norman Reedus are reuniting, with McBride set to join Season 2 of “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon” in a reprisal of the role of Carol Peletier.
The announcement was made as part of AMC‘s presentation at New York Comic Con. McBride will officially join the spinoff in a series regular role for its already announced second season, which will be titled “The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon — The Book of Carol.”
The first season has been really good. Let's hope they can keep the magic for the second season,
Second teaser for 'The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live' coming in February 2024:
Scott M. Gimple, the co-creator of the new “The Walking Dead” spin-off series “The Ones Who Live,” said he hopes to be able to reunite beloved franchise characters like Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), Michonne (Danai Gurira), Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), Negan Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan) in an epic series crossover.
“There are so many things with this universe that I plan and put together, but I also know that God laughs, and you have to pivot to something else,” Gimple said. “I absolutely have been working towards that and hoping towards that, but we’ll see what happens. It might be a version of it that no one expects.”
So I'm a few years late jumping on the bandwagon, but just started in on the original series. Watched the World Beyond on Amazon a while back, and that was rubbish, but really enjoying this one so far... Although series two was brutal.
A couple episodes into series 3, and I do have to ask (as I don't want to go back through the thread, to avoid spoilers) does 'Nice' Rick come back at some point, or is it Increasingly Poo-head Rick from here on in?
Be aware that going forward, its quality becomes really quite inconsistent. Not just season to season, but episode to episode. That being said, it’s still superior TV throughout.
However, it does find solid footing from Season 9 onwards which are my favourite seasons,
Don't get me wrong, the trauma is appropriate and is a large part of what grounds the show. Too many of these sorts of shows have everyone, after an initial reaction, largely sailing through it like there's nothing wrong.
I also like the fact that after the chaos of season two it's really managed to create the feeling that nobody is safe.
My problem is more that the show needs to keep a threshold of likeable characters to keep me interested.
insaniak wrote: So I'm a few years late jumping on the bandwagon, but just started in on the original series. Watched the World Beyond on Amazon a while back, and that was rubbish, but really enjoying this one so far... Although series two was brutal.
A couple episodes into series 3, and I do have to ask (as I don't want to go back through the thread, to avoid spoilers) does 'Nice' Rick come back at some point, or is it Increasingly Poo-head Rick from here on in?
He's had a lot of growth even just between season 2 and 3. I'm actually really impressed so far both with the writing of Carl as a character, and the acting chops of the kid playing him.
I got as far as Season 6 years ago before I lost patience with it and gave up. I decided to try again fairly recently and watch it all through and I've got to Season 7 and then lost patience again. I wanted to watch some of the stuff with Khary Payton but I've lost interest with all the Negan stuff.
Has anyone seen the show about Daryl in France? I'm sort of fascinated by that.
Watching The Ones Who Live. It’s ok, I guess. Just feel like we’ve done this storyline a few times already. They turned The Commonwealth into the CRM so they could make this show. And then they already did a whole other show (world beyond) that was the same thing. I think they even destroyed it in that show. So they had to have a correction in this show saying basically “oh that was the other CRM”.
I think I’m bored because I just don’t think these evil empire factions are that realistic. I just don’t think the idea of the CRM which is an advanced society would go around just massacring everyone in sight would happen. I think 20 years into the apocalypse everyone would want to focus on establishing trade and reducing the overall amount of zombies on the planet but that’s just me I guess.
I think a good villain needs a good motive and the CRM is a lame and childish villain that’s motive seems to be: “we’re evil”.
So I have reached the end of the original series. Overall, aside from series 7 (where I almost dropped out 2 or 3 times), and being consistently annoyed with walkers getting taken out with shallow stab wounds and inconsistent amounts of blunt force after they took the time to establish way early in the piece that the only active part of the brain is right at the brainstem... a thoroughly enjoyable ride.
Was going to move on to Fear the Walking Dead, but decided to go with Daryl Goes To France first instead, because... well, Daryl. First ep down, and pretty good so far.
insaniak wrote: Was going to move on to Fear the Walking Dead, but decided to go with Daryl Goes To France first instead, because... well, Daryl. First ep down, and pretty good so far.
A good choice. Fear was a fair bit more uneven than TWD and can be quite a slog at times. Daryl Dixon has been my favorite spin-off so far (medieval weapons being used against walkers? YES!).
Fear I just couldn’t get on with. Our initial heroes are just utterly unlikable. The show was meant to show how society fell. Then just….didnt. At all.
From there its basically scripted from the factory sweepings of the main series.
Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote: Fear I just couldn’t get on with. Our initial heroes are just utterly unlikable. The show was meant to show how society fell. Then just….didnt. At all.
From there its basically scripted from the factory sweepings of the main series.
Yeah pretty much. Extremely uneven from season to season too. The coolest scene was in season 1 or 2 when the original Dad guy killed those two dude-bros by hand in a total rage. After that though the rest of the series is quite missable. I gave up on it and didn't watch the last season. When they brought back Madison I thought that might be cool but their idea was to make her character the complete opposite of what she was. She like goes around stealing babies for no discernable reason now? So dumb, I'm out. Also, Morgan is jut plain annoying now.
They somehow kept finding new and inexplicably duller sharks to jump. Including Lex Luther’s Dad deciding throwing in some Nukes out to keep things fun.
Which was almost interesting but then somehow wasn't. I think the main problem with TWD TVverse is they think they need a villain all the time. I think the zombie craze took off because of the survivalism aspect. People started to think about how'd they get by in an apocalyptic world. How to get food and water and whatnot. Not which cartoonish supervillain they will have to vanquish next, each one more ridiculous than the last. I think apocalyptic survival is interesting on its own but I'm probably in the minority. Ironically, the TV Show is more comic-bookey than the comic book.
Fear the Walking Dead suffers from basically every character being some degree of insufferable.
Not necessarily all at once. Instead it's like they have an insufferable whiny bitch ball they take turns passing around. The kid characters especially come off as suicidally oblivious and the parents unforgivable for how much they coddle their kids in a disaster scenario and the kids even worse for acting like the zombie apocalypse is somehow the same kind of crisis as having their phone and internet access revoked and oh they can't go to the hip cool kid party either. On account of all the cool kids being dead.
IMO this makes Fear the Walking Dead even less enjoyable, especially as latter seasons build on this by always making you hate a character anytime something even mildly interesting seems like it might happen to them.
Most character deaths in the show are actually hilarious more than sad, just because you'll hate the characters so much by the time they die you'll be happy to see them gone. But that short catharsis isn't worth all the insane padding on the show, or how much stupid gak the stupid whiny gak characters survive before finally dying in a way somehow more absurd than all the obvious ways they should have died already.
I dunno if I’m being overly generous to the writers, but I feel that the original family being no hopers could’ve been an interesting idea.
Say what you like about the middle season of Walking Dead, but once we get that time jump, our survivors feel like authentic survivors. Sure, not everyone is a combat monster. But they all have their role within their settlements, ensuring the whole of the thing ticks over.
It looks like The Ones Who Live was meant to be a miniseries and currently there's no plans for a second season (but as they say, anything can happen). The first half of E6 was the best of the series, leaning into a political thriller with the senior staff of the CRM using the military to take out any perceived threats (as seen in Worlds Beyond) without the Civic Republic's knowledge. This would have been a great concept to run the show for three or four seasons, but by the end of the episode all of the bad guys were dead in one stroke (due to stupidity) and the Civic Republic is now buddy buddy with all of the other communities. What a waste...
I am however looking forward to Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol...
Ghaz wrote: It looks like The Ones Who Live was meant to be a miniseries and currently there's no plans for a second season (but as they say, anything can happen). The first half of E6 was the best of the series, leaning into a political thriller with the senior staff of the CRM using the military to take out any perceived threats (as seen in Worlds Beyond) without the Civic Republic's knowledge. This would have been a great concept to run the show for three or four seasons, but by the end of the episode all of the bad guys were dead in one stroke (due to stupidity) and the Civic Republic is now buddy buddy with all of the other communities. What a waste...
I am however looking forward to Daryl Dixon: The Book of Carol...
I thought the best part of the whole series was the last 12 seconds of the show where they gloss over the fact that when its revealed that a military coup was just thwarted and so the Civic Republic initiates reforms which make it a place you'd actually want to live in. That should have been the whole show, not the last 12 seconds. IMO that would have been more interesting than punching bad guys in the face some more.
Seven, the Belgian Shepherd who played Dog on “The Walking Dead,” has died, AMC announced Thursday on social media.
“Rest in peace, Seven. #TWD’s best boy,” the network posted on its Instagram. The dog appeared on the last three seasons of “The Walking Dead” as the companion of Daryl Dixon, played by Norman Reedus.
The canine’s co-stars paid tribute to Seven on social media. Reedus posted behind-the-scenes photos of him and Seven on his Instagram story, writing with a broken heart emoji, “Gonna miss you seven. Best tv buddy ever.”
“The Walking Dead’s” official X account posted a photo of Melissa McBride, who played Carol on the series, with Seven. The caption reads: “All dogs go to heaven. Rest in peace, Seven.” Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan replied to the post with three heart emojis.
“RIP Seven,” Kang shared on Instagram alongside a crying face emoji.
Other “Walking Dead” cast members, including Yvette Nicole Brown, Sabrina Gennarino, Khary Payton and Lynn Collins, also honored Seven on social media, as well as Angela Kang, who served as showrunner of “The Walking Dead” during its last three seasons.
Seven appeared in 26 episodes, including the series finale, of AMC’s zombie apocalypse series. His character, Dog, is described as “brave and loyal to his allies” on the “Walking Dead” Fandom site: “He never shies away from danger and always listens to his owner, Daryl Dixon. To his enemies, Dog can be quite vicious, going in to bite them if it means protecting his allies.”
Well this is a welcome and genuine return to form. And it’s nice to see post apocalyptic France, as the change of location is working for me.
Also I realise how rusty my French is!
Automatically Appended Next Post: It’s excellent. Not only nice to have our Daryl back, but changing the setting to Europe with its medieval walled cities and that is a refreshing change of pace.
The tale is interesting enough, if a bit tropey. But what matter is tropey or not, it’s told well.
I'm about halfway through Dead City... Was going to give it a miss as I really didn't need more Negan in my life, but decided I might as well give it a go.
While I'm disappointed that the original series gave him something of a redemption arc (a theme that continues into Dead City) Negan is much less dislikeable in this one than I had expected.
They had already reached something of an accord in the original show, and in this she seeks him out purely because he's the only one who can help with the specific problem at hand.
It's contrived, but it works, particularly because Negan is considerably mellowed by this point.
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