AMC’s (once) hit t.v series The Walking Dead has just had the mid-season finale of its eleventh and final season, and despite what AMC might tell you, it’s no longer the hit that it once was. With that being said, it might not be too late to revive that status. Season eleven is proving to do all the right things to get the show back to the prominence that put its name on the map in the first place but what happened to begin with?
The show took television sets by storm when it debuted in 2010, following the best selling comic series by writer and creator Robert Kirkman. As one of the first successful post-apocalyptic shows around, The Walking Dead became a mainstay on Sunday evenings and continued to gain momentum and popularity, until it stopped.
The show started off hot with its inaugural season, before dipping down to a much slower, methodical pace for its second season. Nonetheless, great storytelling, clear motives and an incredible cast kept fans glued to their seats waiting for the next episode. This trend continued with the third, and fourth seasons, following a clear story arc. Making it perfectly clear who the main characters were, who we should invest in, and why we should care about what they’re doing.
The fifth and sixth season tried to continue this trend, but not as successfully. By this time, the writers began losing control of what they had, making decisions that they couldn’t come back from. Fans that read the comics and were watching the show to see the events from the pages come to life on their screens became frustrated with the blatant disregard for the source material that got the show to the screens to begin with.
It all started with the killing off of Andrea. The love interest of main character Rick, who proved to be so much more. On the black and white pages Andrea becomes a fan favourite, becoming more than a main character, but the rock of the main character. The best friend of Rick, and eventually his wife, and step-mother to his son Carl.
Andrea survives almost until the very end of the story in the comics, and is only killed off in an absolutely perfect way. Sacrificing herself for her family, her loved ones, Rick, Carl, and the entire community. Her death provided an alternative look to Rick’s character, changing him, making him a new person no longer dead set on being the head man, protecting everyone himself, but appreciating the time he has left, and the role he plays as the unquestioned leader of the group.
All of this was tarnished on your screen at home, as Andrea was made the love interest of not just another man, but the arch nemesis of Rick. Going so far as to desert the group and join the enemy’s community. It was in the final battle of the two communities that saw the nemesis, the Governor, turn on Andrea, hold her hostage, and have her killed. The final shot of season three being Andrea taking her own life, using Rick’s signature weapon in the process a further insult to hardcore fans.
Behaviour from the writers like this became more common as the show progressed. Killing off main characters for seemingly no reason, and assigning their roles to lesser valued characters, and less talented actors. They seemed to officially lose their “hardcore” fanbase when Carl himself, the son of Rick, and the character the end of the comic book centers around was told two weeks after signing a new two-year contract that he was to be killed off. Leaving the show with no genuine potential ending. Fans became uninvested with the writers and the storylines. Leading the show-runners to overcompensate. From the end of season six onwards the theme became “we don’t want to anger the fans with death, so we won’t kill anyone off”.
(Youtube/ The Walking Dead)
Decisions like this led to the main cast of the show becoming disinterested, even seeing Andrew Lincoln, and Danai Gurrira, the two literal main characters, leaving the show prematurely to pursue other roles. With Lincoln, who played Rick leaving the show in the most insulting way possible from a fanbase perspective. Through no fault of his own. The show advertised “the last appearance of Rick Grimes” in the Walking Dead. That episode saw Rick go through a trial of life threatening injuries that would kill any normal man, just to reveal a cliffhanger that he was rescued and had his life saved. His leaving the show was impossible to recover from.
(Youtube/ The Walking Dead)
A lack of a main character meant there was a huge void to fill for the rest of the cast, and the biggest problem with that was, the writers didn’t designate that time to a new “main” character. Rather splitting that time amongst the entire rest of the cast, that is already FAR too big.
Now because of this, none of the story arcs, and none of the character developments are believable anymore.
There’s no point in investing in a character that isn’t getting enough screen time, nor has any believable direction for their character. It seems the entire cast is living off borrowed time. (no pun intended).
It also doesn’t help that two of the most prominent characters on the show have already been confirmed for a spin-off after the show itself ends. Good luck investing in anything they do.
( Youtube/ The Walking Dead)
The Eleventh and final season has proven to be a high point for the show and leaves fans believing the show might actually end on a strong note. But unfortunately it’s a little too late. The Walking dead has had the opportunity to turn itself around for over 4 seasons now and has dropped the ball at every turn. With two active spin-offs already active, one more yet to come, and a movie trilogy already announced as well, the Walking Dead universe is not going to die anytime soon. Hardcore fans can only hope moving forward the writing teams learn from their mistakes with the show that put the universe on the map to begin with.