Great picture.

I'm fairly vocal about my discontent on the show. It started off with a strong first 2 seasons, but they killed off all the characters I like. Plus, T-Dawg was such a worthless character, and I can never move past that. He stood in the background for 3 seasons, and had opportunities to step up and do something worthwhile, but he didn't, until he fucking DIED.

I never bothered with any of it past season 3. Absolutely zero interest.

Is Fear the Walking Dead any different? Is that still even a thing? Weren't they talking about expanding into more shows? Didn't I read that Rick is getting 3 movies? WTF?

The first season was the only one I didn't love. Half ass in more ways than one. Was a nice little taste, though. I thought season 3 and 4 were the peak, so, someone quitting at that point sounds odd to me. I don't think the show necessarily went downhill after 3 and 4, but the tone changed a little. Not as much "running", as everyone finally found a place that didn't get invaded within a few days. Maybe it was getting a little old, but establishing main villain, Negan, gave the show more dimensions and offered many more possibilities, like him eventually replacing Rick as the main character, which may or may not happen at some point, soon.

Never seen Fear The Walking Dead. I do know one of TWD characters recently crossed over, though. Yeah, Rick's gone from the show. Lots of rumors about him getting killed or even being replaced by a new actor, but ultimately, he gets kidnapped and taken "somewhere" in a helicopter after everyone thought they saw him die in an explosion. The movies will show us what happens to Rick, as well as what's going on somewhere besides fucking Atlanta. Meanwhile, TWD jumps several years into the future. People don't give this show enough credit for doing what needs to be done to freshen things up.

Been watching the show since it started and think the 1st season is still the best season albeit short but I like seasons 1-4 cause of Michael Rookers portrayal of Merle. Also liked the Governors character arc. Think the pinacle of the show was when Negan had them all lined up on their knees in that seasons finale and the next seasons premier. Been OK since then but like you said there's not a lot of good TV shows out there especially the past few years.

I really didn't think I would like the show as much after Merle got killed, but they managed to do ok without him. I don't think any death has bummed me out quite as much since. They really oughta not killed off Carl, Abe and that one scary-looking black guy that was really nice from a few seasons ago.

You mean T-Dog? Merle went out like a gangster to help the group. Rick sorta did the same but not really...that last ep was really good until the last 30 seconds, it should've ended when Daryl was tearing up and turned back into the forest IMO. I believe Daryl and Carol are the only original cast members now.

Yeah, T-Dog. I agree that the last 30 seconds ruined a really good ending, but small price to pay for Rick's post-Walking Dead trilogy.

The guy who played Abraham had a pretty funny role in the comedy Sex Drive, the bejesus out of which I hereby officially recommend.

I haven't seen any episode and i'm still not in a hurry to do so. I'm not really into TV shows in general preferring movies where it's over when the end comes and not watch dozens of episodes. I sure have seen some TV shows that appealed to me but the desire to re-watch is a lot lower than movies. My interest in zombies in the 21st century has been pretty lukewarm too.

My main beef with the show is there is no real apparent story arc. Game of Thrones has a story arc. Breaking Bad had a story arc. Each season of The Wire had a story arc. They follow a clear A to B path throughout the seasons. The Walking Dead just appears to meander aimlessly, killing off characters when it sees fit just to try and freshen things up. Sure, it follows, or attempts to follow it's comic book source.. a story like this can go on and on without seemingly any resolution. Why not. There doesn't have to be a cure, which is what the whole of season one seemed to suggest would be the ultimate goal of the show - that has since pretty much been abandoned (As has Rick and Carl's "story" as the main protagonists of the show). It is now all about conflict: people vs people, right from season 3 and 4 to seasons 7 and 8 and now into season 9 when the Whisperers show up. The walkers/zombies are just a backdrop to all that now. How long can this go on for is the real question. After the Whisperers, what then? I don't read the comics but I presume more antagonists show up. I don't know how I would like to see it resolved personally. Part of that curiousity does keep me watching the show, despite my main beef with it. And yes, as you mentioned, you do care about certain characters, which is also one of the reasons I keep watching. I was never a huge fan of Carl but killing him off felt wrong. The end of the last episode with Judith picking up the hat and seemingly taking the reins, and saying her name like James Bond was corny as fuck.

The peak of the show was the first half of season 4 for me. Since then, I guess I would say it has been on a steady decline in overall quality. Albeit it does still have it's occasional moments of brilliance and yes, compared to many other TV shows, it is still very watchable. Personally though, I would like it to work to some kind of resolution. I hope it doesn't end, or get cancelled without one. Or maybe they will finish it off with those movies.. and yes I am interested in the movies with Rick. I hope they focus on the zombies more.. maybe do something like the Dead trilogy. And I hope they are scary, which is something The Walking Dead used to be but now is not at all.

All zombie movies? ALL??

Fuckin' A. And that includes movies like Nightmare City and 28 Days Later.

Oh.

Why did you single those two particular movies out?

I need to rewatch Nightmare City to have a better opinion of it. Don't really give a rat's ass about 28 Days Later.

Omg I'm dumb. Because those are radioactive virus type thingies and not really "zombies."

Actually Troma got it wrong mentioning those as "zombie" movies. But I agree I really hated 28 Days Later too, it's so poorly filmed. Half the time I didn't know what was going on. I'm still puzzled how people can watch and enjoy such poorly filmed 'movies'.

28 Days Later is one of my least favorite horror movies of all time. I've never understood the love it gets.

I thought Night of the Living Dead was one of your favourite horror movies ever..

It totally is. I just don't think it's possible for any Zombie movie to be better than The Walking Dead, due to time constraints. At least not on certain levels. Not a fair comparison. Is NOTLD scarier? Probably. Is Dead Alive gorier? Definitely. Does City of The Living Dead have an eerier atmosphere. Uh huh. But none of them could ever suck me in like TWD or get me invested in any of the characters whom we only vaguely get to know. The more I watch this show, the more I see Zombie films as pointless. I still consider NOTLD the greatest Horror film ever made.

Yeah, I get your point regarding time constraints within a single movie, and the fact that a show like TWD allows you to become more absorbed in the characters and the world they inhabit over it's time. But it's also a little bit like saying The Sopranos is better than every mob movie ever made. I don't think I could say The Sopranos is better than The Godfather or Goodfellas, just because it plays out over a longer period. And it never made mob movies seem pointless. I don't know.. you're right, maybe TV to movies is not a fair comparison. Although Game of Thrones definitely makes most fantasy movies seem shit..

I wasn't implying that due to there being hours and hours more of content that something is automatically better, but that does give it more time to build, and more importantly, to improve, and to cater to a vocal fanbase. Where as a movie is what it is and it'll never be anything more. I'm much more of a movie person but I've always felt like a great tv show is always better than a great movie.

I've been down on TWD since the "Vatos" episode in season one... I'm not going to say it's far worse than any other show on TV, but I'm not a big fan of TV in general and am perplexed by all the praise the medium has been getting over the past few years for churning out merely watchable entertainment, granted a massive ammount of it, with a few notable standouts.

But getting back to TWD...

It is a weakly written, patronizing show with inconsistent characterization. I was forced to endure it up until the previous season and dreaded the approach of every Sunday night; The Talking Dead and Comic Book Men could be fun though. It was a soap opera that dragged on needlessly and used the absence of information to bolster supense, which only generated confusion in me, but not about the content of the show but about the competency of its creators. Why would there ever be a full episode focused on one or a small contingent of its characters directly following a cliffhanger ending that involved a character that wasn't on that episode...? Mind boggling.

Carol epitomizes the innanity of the characterization. She makes no sense as a character and simply does whatever the writters need her to do to progress the glacial plot without any rhyme or reason. She's a weak, battered spouse and then she's a badass out of nowhere and then she starts baking cookies and then she's a passifist... What's going on there? She's the worst offender but not the only one.

I think characters hang around too long and they always telegraph when a significant character is going to die by giving them an episode where the viewer is supposed to become emotionally attatched to them right before their demise. It's particularlly obvious when that character hasn't been utilized in a while.

And they gimp their villians by forcing us to see a compassionate side to them or offer us a sympathetic view to their weird logic. I'm sorry, but if you use violence and murder as a tactic for control and/or are a sociapath and a sadist you're a bad guy and there should be no compuntion about whether or not violence should be used to stop them. I preferred the comic to the show in just about every way, but even the comic got it wrong when they didn't draw and quater Negan immediately following All Out War.

Now, there are some decent performances on the show, Daryl particularly. I enjoyed Abraham and Tara too; they completely destroyed Andreas character on the show, but I'm not sure if the writers or the actress was more to blame for that one. The zombie effects are also surprisingly good for a TV show and I'm glad that they don't shy away from the gore. I also love the music.

Still, the constant zombie attacks get tedious. They should be far less frequent. If there were an episode or two without any attacks, even ocassionally, it would add a bit of impact to the threat. If they're offing hordes of zombies on a weekly basis, they just become a nuisance and a waste of screen time that should have been spent on character or plot...but I don't really like the characters or the plots. So...?

That's not even to mention the few times I've noticed zombies being killed without being hit in the head or the fact that this many years after the outbreak zombies should have largely decomposed and without a large source of living humans to replenish their ranks should no longer be the ever present threat that they are, and other minor issues...because the meant of the show is kind of rubbish... It's mediocre, throwaway entertainment that has somehow received critical and fan approval. If you like it fine, but liking it don't make it good. It's alright at its best and shit at its worst.

I really hate this show, but that hatred is proabably dispropotionate to the its quality. It's not something I would have continued watching past the first season if I wasn't forced to by my significant other. So my hatred has festered and grown over the years into a beast I can no longer control. The first episode was pretty good though...but my praise ends there.

I'm not a big fan of TV in general and am perplexed by all the praise the medium has been getting over the past few years

I can agree with this to a certain point. It depends how many years you are talking. I think shows like Game of Thrones, well the earlier seasons, set the bar extremely high so most shows to me pale in comparision.. especially TWD. But I continue to watch it regardless for some reason. I usually give up on most shows after 2-3 episodes. No doubt modern TV reached it's peak with shows like The Wire, Deadwood and The Sopranos and probably Breaking Bad. There isn't much else that has grabbed me since then, and as you say, it's mostly merely watchable entertainment these days. Westworld is pretty good but then HBO shows are rarely average.