6 Reasons for the Decline of The Walking Dead - What Happened to the TV Series?

Today at the Mystery Shack, I take a critical look at the prime reason why I think we've seen the tv version of The Walking Dead decline so rapidly in the past few years. We'll be talking about things like the controversial AMC+ early premieres, character deaths, actors leaving and more!
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Timecodes
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0:00 Introduction
0:39 Character Deaths (yes, really)
4:36 Bloat & Oversaturation
7:21 Actors Leaving
11:00 AMC+
12:24 Alexandria
14:43 Outro
#TWD #TheWalkingDead #AMC

[@TheDevinShin]

Carl died, Rick left, I wasnt interested in Judith’s story. I was interested in Rick’s story.

[@lilythepinkcat7523]

Not to mention with that huge time skip to age her up, when I saw her I didn't recognize her, and thats because she seemed like a new random character rather than being all thats left of the main characters we loved

[@scottj9122]

But it was more than Judith. Honestly, she became a side character to Michonne, Maggie, Daryl and Carol. Season 9 was actually good and people missed out.

[@carolleathers6595]

I agree with you. I still watch the show and enjoy it somewhat, but I felt let down by Rick leaving and Carl's unbelievable demise. The show itself has become inconsistent.

[@duncle582]

​@@lilythepinkcat7523 your telling me you didnt notice that she was judith? how could you not know that a person wearing a Carls hat, holding ricks gun and having a mini katana was judith?

[@ChillFactoryGaming]

Yess.. RICK is the main 😞

[@weslewis8081]

What the creators didn’t understand is that we want to see our main characters. You can’t just force a all new cast on us 8 seasons in and expect us to love it. It’s an entirely different show that we didn’t bargain for

[@AFuller2020]

Remober Rick in the Tank episode? It was outstanding, now pick any episode from the past four years, they can't compete, the stink. TWD has great fans, and Gimble should be fired, no promoted.

[@fpmd99]

@wes, I completely agree. They killed off everyone I cared about and then wonder why I won’t watch anymore?

[@nate742]

TWD just couldn't pull off what the Vikings show managed to do; kill off their main character and still make the story worth watching afterwards.

[@ultrabigfella]

The main characters of Season 8 are: Rick Daryl Carl Maggie Carol Negan Only one, the antagonist, wasn't introduced in Season 1.

[@MbkZaee]

@@ultrabigfella michonne lol

[@xhotelcortez9815]

i often feel Abrahams death goes overlooked because of Glenn, which is somewhat understandable since everyone (including myself) LOVED Glenn, he was the soul of the show. But that being said, Abraham was a great character, especially towards the end of his character and his loss really affected me too. There were other factors for the shows decline, but I think killing BOTH of them off was a huge reason as to why

[@ashley.sterling]

that's what pissed me off when it first happened I feel like they could've showed Abraham's death in the season end, instead of that stupid cliffhanger then we the viewers would mourn him while breathing a sigh of relief for Glenn then for the new season opener, when Glenn ultimately gets it, the shock would be more and we could mourn him as well Glenn's death as it stands completely overshadows Abraham's

[@karengoldenthal2889]

Not at all! Its Not a Competition..But, Glenn was There, from the Beginning, Saved Rick's Life in Atlanta...That was always key.

[@karengoldenthal2889]

Was better, split up, though, as in the Comics.

[@andrewbernard1911]

Yea it’s was terrible killing them both I was just mad obviously negan had to kill one but getting rid of both of them was a pointless waste of 2 great characters

[@nareddyapps]

Glenn wasn’t the soul of the show, Rick was. Glenn’s death sucked but I was willing to keep watching after. However killing Carl took away Rick’s reason to live, then they got rid of Rick and at that point there was just no point anymore. Now the only characters left are the ones whose actors can’t find any better roles

[@itsfinel2p]

My biggest problem with the series was that it felt like it stopped letting us play along. In the early conflicts, like with The Governor there was a clear idea of how much power he had. We saw where he was, his soldiers' overall quality. Even knew approximately how many there were. But by the time we got to Negan, there was no cohesion. We weren't allowed to know how many Saviors there were. How many bases they had. Their total supplies, even as we saw into their main base, was always a mystery. It made everything that happened possible because they could decide whenever they wanted what any of these figures were. "oh that was only a small part of the Saviors force." Oh. Okay. If you say so.

[@babynyxe4784]

Nah this was the case in the beginning, but eventually during the war they showed the inner workings of sanctuary and how actually exhausted and scared the saviours were, as well as Negan's thought process and Simon's betrayal. I liked how it showed that they were actually being torn apart from the inside as a result of Rick retaliating.

[@cleankaibaandthegentlemen1695]

This was purported even worse in the final season with the commonwealth which was supposed to have a population of 50,000 people but we’d see 100 people tops.

[@swampfire_edits8976]

​@@cleankaibaandthegentlemen1695one Word: Budget

[@rency1803]

In the savior arc, the conflict feels so meaningless cause every time a group off savior died, they just pulled more people out and the dead people are not really important anyway. They really should have stick with the small group survival war aspect instead of huge line battle with a bunch of randos nobody care about.

[@mikertist347]

What killed it for me was that it never seemed to be going anywhere: cure for the zombie virus, government reforming, anything. Just the same thing with a new villain each season.

[@c_f0rce]

The show was never about a cure. They said that in season 1. You tricked yourself. As for a government, they are doing that. That's what the whole alliance between hilltop, Alexander, and the Kingdom is. And eventually the Commonwealth

[@danielintoccia9537]

You realize this is based off of a comic book series right?? There is tons of different villains that they had to get to from the comics. And there is no cure.

[@Pagcraft]

@@c_f0rce yeah but what would keep me watching if the show won’t get nothing new? I understand that Kirkman wanted to represent the consequences of an zombie apocalypse and the human nature, but man it’s always the same thing, even if the villains r kinda a little bit different, the show don’t set other purposes, it’s just sounds like dull conversations with some deaths at the end, there is not enough of a reward to keep viewers watching, not to mention that there is not an major goal in the show, not even living seems like it.

[@joseph906]

Capitalism Kettling I think aome misunderstood your comment. You're saying: Jimmy isn't going anywhere in life. They say: Well because he has no ambition. Well that's the problem. Give him something to strife for.

[@smeghammer305]

My sentiments exactly, just rinse and repeat with a new villain and no direction

[@nemesisastraea6659]

My thing was survival. I enjoyed seeing them move from location to location trying to survive. When they started to settle in one location and get attacked by some new faction, and the whole season revolved around just that I started to lose interest.

[@HUeducator2011]

Sameee

[@proprietarycurez8463]

yup

[@kyos8462]

I enjoyed the prison...everything after with the exact recycled story got old FAST

[@pa.encema2821]

Repetition gets dull very quickly

[@rebeccadelbridge2998]

Completely agree

[@archsteel7]

I think my biggest issue wasn’t really that they killed off characters like Glenn or Abe. It was that they didn’t do it in ways that felt earned. The whole Negan thing felt like one big case of Villain Ex Machina, where all of our characters suddenly lost all of their ability for rational thought because the plot needed them to get caught by Negan. They should have known they were being funneled into an ambush past the second roadblock, and picked a fight they could win instead of waiting to get completely encircled. And other characters, who had lived in this world for years, would just randomly die to Walkers in closets while idiotically bumbling through houses when they’ve been around long enough to know better. It felt like previously smart characters would just *become* stupid whenever the plot needed them to die. And if I can’t trust that any character isn’t going to randomly be lobotomized by the author so they can stick their hand in a walker’s mouth and die, I can’t stay invested in any of them.

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@DaneSaysStuff]

I can agree with this. I bailed on TWD at end of season 2. Having read the graphic novels up to that point it was clear they were gonna drive the money bus right off a cliff. Even in print Negan was a garbage character and they piled the trash higher on screen.

[@katty5003]

Glenn was such a huge part of the story, They killed off too many main characters which ppl had a connection with, then Rick left & that’s that. Carl was hope & that was just too much.

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@saigie3908]

Glenn’s death was inevitable. It was a comic book death, plus, the actor (Steven Yeun) himself didn’t want to continue the show no more. It sucks but it was bound to happen

[@N-GinAndTonicTM]

Well, the fact that the Walkers stopped being the threat after Season 5 played a big role in it. I'm so tired of seeing yet another "evil" group, that has some big, evil bad guy that fights the survivors for a Season and a half; get killed and then the survivors move onto another area to find another big, evil group. Rinse and repeat for 4+ seasons.

[@reidhouston8041]

I mean the Walkers were probably the big main threat for the first and better half of season 6, yet I still understand the repetitiveness of the villains the characters face. This is especially prominent in FTWD as there will be like 5 "big bads" in one season

[@ryankirkpatrick8062]

It went from man vs nature to man vs man with no back and forth. I think after the Governor it began to decline. Negan is a great character but I did stop watching around then

[@finalgate]

100% agree. The show changed when they reached the prison for me and I just got bored with it soon after because the zombie threat never evolved to keep pace with the characters. Zombies never got faster or smarter or stronger and the characters became so good at killing and evading them that they posed no real threat. It was only in brief conflict situations between rival groups that the characters would become compromised enough for the zombies to be dangerous again such as when the prison fences came down. Other than the occasional horde, there was no formidable monster to fear and the show just became a post-apocalyptic, repetitive mad max sort of thing. I gave up at season 5 I think.

[@ForeverShadowBanned]

Yeah but eventually that's what would likely happen in most zombie apocalypse or really any apocalypse scenario, desperate people are ultimately the biggest threat and even in the comics it's more about the characters than the zombies. I will admit though they milked the ever loving fuck out of the show to the point where that premise just became boring.

[@danielaleksandrov5701]

Yes! They went wayyyyy to far, they shoulda ended after Alexandria, but now we have negan and the whisperers. And now there is a new group called Reaper's. Arnt we trying to end the show not start it up again. The producers are so F$%#&@% TRASH!!!!! (I mean that from the bottom of my heart and soul. Like F%$# YOU PRODUCERS)

[@korvisus]

Carl did it for me. I felt like he was developing into a solid main character, and symbolized the new generation in the zombie world. Him dying was the thing that eliminated my desire to watch.

[@Ac0ustics0ul]

Exactly, same here.. I literally stopped watching after they killed him, just out of princple

[@ash_11117]

Exactly.

[@jordanebacher]

That's funny because I didn't like Carl at all and actually loved it when he died.

[@lovethefgt]

This is when I pretty much dropped out to. Then finding out later on that the character was only killed off because the show runner had drama with the actor made me dislike it even more.

[@bananaknight8187]

yall are missing out

[@mdc21787]

Go back and watch the first season, the zombies are climbing ladders, using rocks to bust windows, running…then they sort of slowly became slow and docile. It was weird.

[@ryansmith4494]

Haha they had a silly retcon calling those variants.

[@rency1803]

It's been years since the first season storywise. The weird things is why these corpse are still standing and not completely rot away after a few years. Them being slow and docile is not even that bad.

[@saigie3908]

@@rency1803 That does make sense. But tbh, it would also make more sense if there are more adaptions to the zombies as the years progress. I mean the Last of Us did it. Plus it’s tv, usually shows don’t want to ‘realistically’ kill off the things that are the foundation of what the show is.

[@liamphibia]

Well... Until Season 11.

[@Lamia-bl8nz]

The main reason is because they change the first director of the show

[@Clearanceman2]

It became the Negan show. Also, it became hopeless. It started out terrifying but fun. I bailed out in season 8, it just wasn't any fun and it didn't have any hope. It appeared they were all going to die no matter what they did in gruesome ways. Plus the zombies became background, like an irritant instead of being a major danger.

[@sakuraneko2595]

YES! I watched it all and the later seasons are Negan being redeemed despite him being shown as a sadistic maniac and making it out like the characters are the ones who are the villains now. I became quite bored without the main cast and the story felt like it was going very slow at times.

[@anovaguy]

I just finished the series, and I grew to really like Negan. I hated how long-winded his speeches were in the beginning and even fast forwarded a lot of his monologues. I wonder how I'd feel on a rewatch.

[@sakuraneko2595]

@@anovaguy lmao yeah I also hated how much he was the victim when it was him that had killed Glenn and it surprised that Maggie won't talk to him.

[@ShaggyShagz13]

I didn't get bored of the zombies, just the opposite. I got tired of the zombies becoming scarce and gangs being the theme.

[@norrecvizharan1177]

Almost as if it became less of a zombie apocalypse, and more of just a survival drama with scarce populations and resources, yea.

[@aDeprivedSeal]

Yeah i agree, they could have done some crazy things with either super hordes or maybe some rapid evolution/ mutations popping up among the walkers

[@CountryLifestyle2023]

@@aDeprivedSeal Watch Z Nation lol

[@w-dad4040]

another good point. I agree. Also "The formula" Opening scene; Drama; Drama; Zombie scare; Drama. Everyone felt so 'butt-hurt'

[@Charlie-vp5tn]

Wait, is there zombies in the show?

[@johnlockie]

You forgot the whole “Glenn just got killed by walkers” 3 episodes into season 6, and then episode 7 “surprise Glenn actually survived!”…..only to kill him off only a few episodes later was enough for me to never watch the show again…..this show had some amazing moments, but for me I had enough of the cliff hangers at the end of every season.

[@Dr.Quarex]

Yeah that was WAY dumb, even though it was clearly intended to fake people out about whether he would then die the comic way I guess. But for people who had not read the comic, which was, well, probably like 95% of the audience, it just seemed like they were toying with how much we loved Glenn.

[@ScientificallyStupid]

That was what did it for me, I was fine with him dying in a different way, I just didn't appreciate the way they went about it IRL (with showrunners being like, "he's really dead, thanks Steven Yuen for a great portrayal of Glenn"). They could have left it ambiguous for suspense, really killed him, whatever, but I don't like actually being lied to, it feels cheap. Like the show can't be suspenseful by dint of the action itself, the talk around the show that happens in reality has to feed the show. I got so aggravated I stopped watching.

[@EQOAnostalgia]

The writing staff were straight up nihilsts lol. They aced in making their audience feel like shit.

[@tseruyahibri7049]

This is where I exited the walking dead train. The show runners and writers became too disrespectful for me to continue to give them more of my time.

[@Afish8me2china]

I feel we all died when Glenn was killed, it was a massive blow. Carl was an interesting mistake, I liked him, he was fun, but I did not expect killing him off. He really needed to live. Rick was the biggest mistake, Rick and Carl were equally main characters, and Daryl is the co-main character. You couldn’t kill off them both and remain a series without growing a new main character. And in a way, they did, with Negan, but they didn’t give Negan enough time to grow as a character. Personally, I think the end of season eight, with Rick sitting under the tree, saying how his mercy prevails over his wrath. With some tweaking, it could have been the perfect ending

[@stephenaspliff3763]

Who gives af about Glenn

[@Ac0ustics0ul]

I felt insulted when they rug pulled his death the first time, that I didn't care when he actually did get it.. the fake out death told me that he was going to get the bat

[@Metalllians86]

​@@stephenaspliff3763 we all do bud haha.

[@Metalllians86]

Dude..rick shouldve just end him right then there.😂. Really, Negan seems he got lucky more than rick and the gang. Like one coincidence to antoher.

[@SamucaWaves2024]

​@@stephenaspliff3763 I'm like that too, I only care about him because pf Maggie.

[@noendline777]

My biggest problem with the series was the cliché of the evil group: every time we see Rick's group meeting an evil group, killing it, going somewhere to live and see that place taken by the walkers. After season 4 or 5, I didn't even feel the threat of the walkers. They became just a background and a useful tool to kill with idiotic strategies some characters without thinking too much about the plot. "Character X has been bitten, end of the story", like happened to Carl. I wasn't angry after Glenn's death because I wanted to know who Negan was. And I can say that I have been enthusiastic about him, after 2 seasons I haven't enjoyed (5 and 6). But The Saviors were really horrible as an evil group, they weren't even characterized, they were the "idiot & evil excuse" to run another evil group vs Rick's group fight. Boring. And Negan wasn't going to kill either Rick or Carl, it was just a bluff. So I stopped watching the show with season 8, with Carl's death. All the issues about the series have started in the 3rd-4th season, but they never fixed them, so they accumulated and ruined the franchise. Shame, because Negan was my favorite character in TWD and for sure one of my favorite characters I have ever seen in a tv series.

[@atomic5514]

Agreed, that is definitely a reoccurring theme in The Walking Dead regarding villains. You arrive at a seemingly peaceful settlement, you are sceptic at first but eventually you get to trust the people. After awhile, you discover some dark secret which is often not that big of a deal and certainly not your problem. Suddenly, you want to terminate every single person from that community and destroy the place by any means necessary. Then, you obviously win, and let the whole place get overrun by walkers.

[@robertmejia7063]

You're smoking meth season 5 and6 are the best of the series.

[@johnconstantine1604]

After a while, it seemed like there were no victories. Ever. The occasional joy was just a set-up for a long, dramatic sadness. We showed up for a zombie-themed adventure and left when it became a soap opera of defeat.

[@christophernuckolls9964]

This. I was sick of constantly feeling defeated after every episode. Just once I wanted something good to happen. Even in the worst of times good things still happen to people. I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough to get past to constant down-vibes.

[@dunerider88]

Once I just felt pure anxiety watching, I was done.

[@jhoelt2922]

@@christophernuckolls9964 yes especially with the Negan - savior saga. That shit was dreadful episode after episode. Don't get me wrong the actor Winchester did his thing but the show dragged out that atmosphere for too long. When Rick and Carl left it was over. I used to be so hype for the new episodes and rn I don't even know who is dead or alive and don't care.

[@sstevo4066]

This really makes sense now that I think about it. I understand there must be down times but I also want to see these people have some happiness and respite. The let downs were just so brutal and constant.

[@chonkytiger5981]

I 100% agree! This has always been my issue with the show. What’s the point of watching then struggle if you know it’s all in vain. Every time they take down a big bad and try to get back to the way they want to live; here comes another Charismatic cult leader with an endless herd of followers and a Vendetta for no reason. It gets old so fast.

[@William_Earl]

For me, it was the inconsistency in character decisions as the show progressed. Some characters had no issue killing dozens in one episode, then had a moral crisis the next over killing someone who actually needed to be. The writing became very cliche' and the acting cringier as it aged. The characters became cartoon versions of themselves and new characters were boring. A show should make you feel more invested as it ages, not less. Also, the angles/zooms/transitions became awkward as hell.

[@ronlawrence5021]

I really got turned off when they made Rick a simp for the better part of a season. But I stuck it out. Viewership ended for me when TWD looked to Marvel for inspiration and took up the girl power mantra.

[@dylanthurgood5931]

Well said

[@Shiftworker247]

The 'every character has to have a moral reflection or turn around' got on my nerves.

[@JohnDoe-wb6vl]

Carol has been back and forth so many times by now I've lost count a long time ago, fucking sick of her

[@Uninspired.Spectator]

These new characters suck so much, this show sucks, when I saw a black guy in dreads holding a tiger with a chain I knew this was over

[@elizaking1843]

Watching videos like this makes me realize how much I still overall love The Walking Dead. The moment that I stopped watching the show was when they killed Carl. I never considered Carl to be my favorite character but you don’t know what you have until it’s gone and that was the case for Carl Grimes.

[@babynyxe4784]

This is so true, I literally roasted Carl every episode because I thought he was annoying but cried like a baby on his death

[@jayrene429]

And how did carl shoot himself to prevent himself from becoming a walker ? Was this after he died from his injuries or right before cuz wouldn't he have turned after he died

[@titantv9496]

Without a doubt it was once they reached Alexandria (even though it could have somewhat resembled what Alexandria is actually like) there were more people than undead and everyone just sat around talking about their feelings. They totally blew it!

[@dank9640]

The entire show was technically about Carl. Killing him quite literally killed the show. It's a real shame, TWD was brilliant up until that point.

[@andraskozma2666]

i was glad when Carl finally died

[@onlyfrog]

twd wasn't brilliant at that point. it was already starting to drag, the seasons were full of boring, useless episodes

[@ebygz4755]

@@onlyfrog fr, season 8 was straight up disrepectful to viewers

[@calvry4157]

Glenn dying was a shock...but it wasn't over yet. Then Carl died, and as you said it killed the show. I thought they knew how to use and lose characters in the show until that point. I knew that later on people would've needlessly died if I even cared about them in the first place lol

[@briana8088]

I didn't care about Carl but I stopped watching after he died.

[@user-gz9pv2jz2q]

Scott Gimple is 100% the cause of the down fall of the Walking Dead. He has poorly run the TV show. And his decision to write characters off for ratings and what he thinks is good TV has killed the show. This is coming from a viewer since day 1 of the Walking Dead.

[@sharonnejones8389]

Then he went to Fear and gutted that out.

[@davidtodd3435]

Just wrote a comment before I read your comment. You’re 100% right on this one.

[@adamdavis5015]

Im not a fan of gimple but you have to keep in mind that he was showrunner when the show was at its best in seasons 3 and 4. His later seasons were def not good but I don't think he's 100% to blame.

[@fromthefire4176]

Sharonne Jones that should go down as the most legendary self destruction of a show ever. Not a lot of ppl got to find out but it was originally going to be a heart of darkness adaptation, and it was starting to show as things were getting darker and more complicated. Then the new writers whittle it down to the most simplistic, morally absolutist nonsense. They kill off the two main characters, and one because he was so unhappy with the changes he quit, bring in characters from TWD which were arguably disliked and outright unwelcome by the audience, and destroy the production value with everything from mistakes to trying to imitate TWD’s truly awful eyesore “cinematography”. It was completely unbelievable to see something like that happen, I would have told you before it that nobody was that unprofessional and incompetent.

[@ShardelHaden]

Agreed

[@ryanh4975]

Rick and Carl are gone. Everyone else could have died, but you don't kill those two off. The reason I fell in love with this show was because I was invested into their characters.

[@KanohiVahi]

Carl was one of the most interesting characters in the show for me and it was amazing to see him during the war against Negan becoming more of his own character rather than being in Rick's shadow constantly. I feel like the reason he died was also really dumb. Especially because in the end the person he gave his life to save died later as well.

[@jaime_1660]

I'm only watching for Daryl and Negan at this point.

[@jarrodedson5441]

And so far season 11 ain't doing them justice

[@lynnereyes5125]

Me too

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

Daryl and carol for me but they need more zombie action

[@davidvandenbos3638]

Isn’t everyone?

[@Juanma_Cardona0725]

Same here

[@minobg79]

Two reasons for me: 1. majority of characters that I cared about died and I did not care for the most of new ones 2. it got really repetitive from season to season

[@diz8344]

Nice summary!

[@LeoPoisl]

You got it! They loose me during Season 6 Buy I still watched Season 7 Couldn't go farther Lost the best characters and got too repetitive

[@jessiehuynh7495]

Same thing with the comics after Negan it just repeats itself.

[@jpcolorado6593]

My absolute favorite show for the first 6 seasons. Lot's of failures. The gritty realism where Carl can get shot from a hunting accident, main characters dying without a catharsis, etc...made you feel like this fantasy could be a reality. When Rick starts evading bullets from a mounted 50 cal by zig zagging his motorcycle and Carl gets the cathartic and exhaustingly long episode to die it lost me.

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@lobogryz8501]

Exactly. Its not all the tv shows fault. They follow rhe comics and the comics made the same mistake. KING ezequiel??? Come on man.

[@cityinsect]

i left when glenn died. couldn't get over the anger of killing a 1st episode OG he was my favorite

[@Metalllians86]

Well said!!!

[@Kayvonix]

it literally happened in the comics and was the biggest moment when it happened...cmon now

[@cityinsect]

@@Kayvonix ?

[@Kayvonix]

@@cityinsect glens death was always going to happen if that was your last straw when it was in VOLUME 100 a milestone volume then you were never going to finish this show🤷🏽‍♂️

[@cityinsect]

@@Kayvonix i didnt even know there were comics homie

[@slickninja2748]

The thing about killing Glenn and Abraham in one episode was that Glenn was the moral compass and brought this hopeful feeling to the show and Abraham imo was somewhat of a comedic relief and killing both of them off made the show feel really dull without their personalities their anymore

[@ianhill4585]

Abraham had the strength to be the new leader after Rick went.Ex military and a no nonsense attitude, if the actor chose to leave the role, that would be my only acceptable excuse for him not leading the group.

[@brosoul9323]

I think it's good as a way to show the viewer that bad shit happens and not everybody will survive it

[@mr.m2659]

@@brosoul9323 that's nice, but the story also ends there for a lot of people so why bother watching on? They've seen the conclusion of the character they were interested in

[@r0nnjr641]

But the season after Negan made it so good

[@homeFall1]

That was the last episode I watched as well... I just couldn't get over it.

[@candlewaxicing]

I always preferred the small tight group moving from location to location. Season 5 with the cannibals was the top of the show for me. It was exactly what I wanted from the show. I was in fear of characters dying and the world felt twisted and desperate. The show get old because they recycle the formula of our group meets new group and fighting ensues. Also I don't feel as connected with most of the new characters. No one but Negan has a strong personality out of the newer characters.

[@ChipsGoutSmegma]

I loved season 5, but we have to admit that seeing that road-survival theme for more than one season would have been boring too. This is exactly why there is a leap in time between season 2 and 3, we skip from Hershel's farm to the prison but they have spent their time on the road exactly like season 5, we just don't see it because it's not that interesting... Also, remember that in season 5 it's actually enjoyable because there is a goal, which is Eugene and Washington. Without that, you are just watching theme live. This isn't fun. The comunitys thing is actually better, and the season 11 shows it very well

[@blackcat6308]

Ye, For me whats the point of their hardship in the past episodes if the director will kill the original group and introduce a new group, it doesnt make sense the goal should be finding the cure or looking for a place/city that have an law/order

[@ChipsGoutSmegma]

@@blackcat6308 Well they actually look for a place/city that have an law/order, and when they have one they try to improve that place/cityn that's what you see.

[@someasiankid6323]

yeah man the cannib twist was crazy

[@zpl68]

Best season

[@vessela7484]

It became too much of a drama. It stopped being man vs zombie and instead turned into humans turning on each other and was too much like a morbid version of real life.

[@Allura_]

Nah the show was always about people

[@dahannes6739]

L comment. It was never abot zombies, it was about how people react to it. The Walking Dead is literally another word for the living.

[@putthemoneyinthebag440]

I feel like the show started falling off once the walkers were less of a threat and the show focuses on people fighting each other. Other than the prison war gun fights weren’t as common compared to the second half of season 7. I rewatched the show with my mom and we both agreed that the later season felt like we were watching NCIS, with the 1000 bullets that go nowhere, and the fast paced camera shots. Not to say later season deaths didn’t impact the show.

[@Lukeler1138]

It really just boils down to it going on too long. The show peaked for me at around Season 3-5, and should have ended by Season 6 or 7 tbh. Its just an ongoing cycle of the group finding a safe spot (Farm, Prison, Alexandria), then encountering a new enemy (Governor, Negan, Whisperers), with a bunch of main characters dying, while new ones replace them. The fact that only 2 characters from the first season are still alive in the show kinda shows that its just going on too long.

[@pr4208]

Hardcore disagree. I started losing interest when Rick disappeared and they didn't bother to add any backstory. Totally ruined it. Carl dying was also a huge let down. And then the guy he gave his life for that had medical training and potential was killed abruptly as well? HUGE turnoff. People enjoy main characters, and when they're taken away, especially with no kind of meaningful purpose, it ruins it. I can understand your point about shows that go on too long and lose spice, but IMO there was more potential there that could've kept it more relevant. Poor choice of decisions/unfortunate events, IMO

[@thee_morpheus]

Peak WD was 1-4

[@calessel3139]

Exactly!

[@felixtwo6626]

The Walking Dead tv show is based off of the comic book called The Walking Dead, that lasted from 2003 to 2019, and it's been adapting the stories from it in order. The show and comic are about humanity adapting to a new world without civilization or governmental structures, so logically, you would need a very long series to effectively show humanity's progression (or devolution) over a long period of time. If you take a surface level view of any show, it will seem repetitive, but it's important to know that the Rick that you first see in episode one, isn't the same one that makes it to the prison. The Rick that makes it to the prison, isn't the one that makes it to Alexandria. The show isn't about them going from one safe place to another and encountering bad people along the way. It's about what happens to them throughout that journey, and how the experience changes and corrupts them, and discovering whether or not they can come back from it, or if they're too far gone

[@gdottothegamer1001]

And that's why Telltale stopped their walking dead series at season 4

[@ptreznov240]

Poor pacing around seasons 7 and 8 coupled with the god awful dialogue, bottle episodes, and weird character arcs that brought the show down (Carol not wanting to kill, Morgan being crazy then not then crazy again, etc) during the Gimple era are what ruined a lot of the show I believe.

[@mac4118]

Yea it was Scott’s fault but they made the dialog so fuckin weird for no reason first 4 seasons everyone talked like a normal human being but after that ppl started trying to be poets by tryin to talk “deep” but it was just awkward

[@lilythepinkcat7523]

"Morgan being crazy then not crazy again" SO TRUE BAHAH

[@TheAngelmuse]

Yup, thats when I dropped off too. Barely watched S7 and completely checked out of S8 early. Scott Gimple really threw his ego and weight around. Its like he didn't want to listen to the comics or fan base. For whatever reason. Well whatever, I have no clue what has happened since S7.

[@gamefan987]

@@TheAngelmuse the show got better

[@vinielsner1148]

So true, same for me.

[@doomgiant03]

What would’ve fixed the whole issue would’ve been Carl taking ricks place, and showing carls struggle to fill his dads boots

[@marcgranger4786]

Seasons 1-5 (It’s greatest Seasons and some of the best TV ever) the show had the Zombies as the main threat, the governor didn’t seem to outlandish and was believable and was the greatest villain yet. Once the zombies took the backseat to Negan and the human villains it went down.

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@marcgranger4786]

@@Kalakeiko I actually started re watching a few weeks ago and just got to the beginning of negan simply to catch up, I love TWD one of my favorite shows ever so I felt like it was an injustice to not see it all the way through.

[@MLtipstricksbeginnerguides]

I'd personally say season 1-4.Personally my favorite season was the in jail,what season was it,3 and a little of the 4 season?

[@dieseluk2k]

Rick biting Joe's throat and later Carol taking down terminus by her self was the absolute peak

[@gfilmer7150]

I agree, the Season 4 finale and the first three episodes of Season 5 are the peak.

[@alexparidon9]

@@gfilmer7150 season 7 episode 1 was also the most viewed episode of all time

[@gfilmer7150]

@@alexparidon9 Views ≠ story

[@69Cherry69]

@@gfilmer7150 Seriously, S05E01 was THE BEST episode in the entire show in my opinion. It just blew my mind honestly, I had to rewatch that instantly

[@gfilmer7150]

@@69Cherry69 Yeah, that plus the A and Four Walls and A Roof were the hoeght

[@leviacronym6770]

Killing off Carl was the last nail in the coffin for me. Although I've never been a Carl fan, I understood how important he was to the series AND I was angry that they screwed over the actor. Gimple and company will tell you they did it for "story reasons", but in reality, they did it because Chandler Riggs was about to turn 18 and they didn't want to pay him more money because when child actors turn 18, their contracts have to be renegotiated. Riggs wanted to go to college, but they assured him he'd be on the show for at least another few years, so he put college off AND bought a house to be closer to the set. Then they killed his character. Riggs' father was furious and even came out and talked about the BS on social media. Also, I've read a good portion of the comics and yes, Carl is supposed to kind of take Rick's place. What also annoys me how Carol, who died early in the comics, remains alive no matter what because omg everyone loves her! I used to love Daryl, but the fans leave a bad taste in my mouth thinking "it's the daryl dixon show!" Which is also BS. I remember early on in TWD, during the Chupacabra episode, I was actually anxious for Daryl to survive. I *liked* being worried about him, but now, he's "unkillable" so nothing really feels right or worthwhile. There's nothing exciting about knowing these characters will never die or suffer something truly horrible. They're basically God-Modded and untouchable. If I had still been watching the show when Rick (Andrew Lincoln) left, I would have stopped then, too. He's a huge part of the show, and even my friend, who is NOT a Rick fan, says the show sucks without Rick. Man, I remember how much I loved this show and how we'd all chat about it. I honestly believe if they had kept Frank Darabont (the first show runner), the show wouldn't have derailed like it did.

[@LexieLouLou]

I watched this creator's other videos recapping TWD comics and show, and I was surprised to hear that there was a better idea for season 2 and they said no... Because of the BUDGET. The show had the biggest premier in TV history and they wouldn't greenlight a bigger budget?! I get why he left, that's literally ridiculous.

[@leviacronym6770]

@@LexieLouLou Yeah, if they had stuck with the first show runner, the show would have been better. I will always believe that.

[@anthonythomas1735]

@Lexie Lou, I agree that Darabont would have done a better job, I'm willing to overlook the Walker using a rock in order to smash the glass at the department store in Atlanta and a little bit later on the Walker that climbed over the fence pursuing Rick and Glenn, I just remembered that it irked me when Morgan's wife tried turning the door knob to gain entry to where he, Dwayne and Rick were hiding, I'm sure that there are many more things that the Walkers did early on but never repeated again in any later episodes. All of that aside, I really loved the show, I don't normally go for horror stories but Zombie/end of days stuff have always drawn me in, God damn you George A Romero!! 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♀️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️

[@leviacronym6770]

@@anthonythomas1735 I think the reason why the walkers didn't do those things again later on is because of different showrunners and perhaps writers. It is vexing when showrunners and writers get switched out for other people. It can totally change the tone and experience of the show, for sure. I think Darabont was trying to convey that the walkers still have some type reflex memory, sort of. That's why Morgan's wife would return to the house and shake the door knob. I kind of like that idea, makes them a bit scarier imo. The 1st season wasn't perfect but it was great and Darabont is good at what he does. It's a shame AMC decided to screw him over.

[@ShardelHaden]

Facts. I agree

[@dideoluwaadebayo923]

I discovered the show on Netflix when I was in high school. Fell in love, binged everything and started watching live when season 4 premiered. All my friends and I would watch it together every Sunday, and it would be all we talked about at lunch through Wednesday. Then I missed like 2 back to back episodes deep into season 6 right before Negan was introduced because I was studying for the ACT or visiting colleges or something, had no idea what was going on, and effectively stopped watching. Classic example of a show becoming far too serialized and even long time viewers falling off after missing just one or two episodes.

[@marymcmenemy2287]

Even though Glenn is killed in the book, his death on film was much too graphic. Its funny how they chose to follow the books in some cases but changed others. It really started to go downhill for me after that but killing Carl finished me off. I personnaly love happy endings, I grew up with that. I tred to get use to them killing off great characters but to no avail. Story lines the same season after season. Evil group, fight them off, next evil group around the corner, fight them off and so on. Somebody making these decisions goofed.

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@Metalllians86]

Dude.. this is what ive been thinking all along!!. Like they cherry picked which ones they stay in the comic lane. Idk why they couldn't just kill just one of ricks gang.

[@zombienova6]

Glenn dies the exact same way in the comic book and the show. What really annoyed me is killing Carl because in the comic book he survives, out lives his dad, and beats the apocalypse.

[@Eldin4321]

Biggest loss was definitely losing Rick, than Glenn, Carl, Michonne ,Abraham . I would have liked seeing Merle a bit longer .

[@SarahBrown-mg6cy]

Michonne didn't die?

[@Eldin4321]

@@SarahBrown-mg6cy no she left to “look” for Rick

[@Wehndigo]

Since they didn’t follow the comic as tightly they should have kept Shane a little longer as well. Jon bernthal played him amazing

[@jiveassturkey8849]

Merle was the best character on the entire series

[@sheepstarimojo4146]

@@Wehndigo they did Shane died after 6 pages in the comics

[@Trudeau-is-Stalin]

I think people wanted to see the main group win and build something permanent. They got tired of the same old antics where another group was always trying to destroy them and their utopia every season killing key characters each time.

[@Herikeeeee]

THIS. This bothered me so much and that's why I stopped watching. Every new Arc was the same thing. Build group > settle down > another group tries to kill them for some crazy reason > war > people die > repeat the first step.

[@khaalmalki4039]

@@Herikeeeee You forgot about the characters spending 2 episodes to decide each time whether they should kill or just believe in whatever the fuck they believe in. It happens every single time with every single group they encounter.

[@SR-zi1pw]

True every season same 💩 nothing new

[@Ashley-wi4ng]

watch a season of a preppers documentary and realize those are the type of people who are focused on surviving these apocalyptic events and they are generally waiting for it so they can shoot looters... so yes post apocalypse is gonna be full of assholes.

[@Lowraith]

EXACTLY this. I stopped watching the show altogether shortly before Negan ever appeared... for this exact reason. They kept building up, only to get knocked down. Built up, then knocked down. What's the point? Why get invested in anything they accomplish, when the show keeps training us to think that none of their progress would be permanent?

[@KotoCrash]

>Entire show is based on the idea anyone can die >Someone dies HOW COULD THEY DO THIS

[@goinghollywoodpod]

I loved Glen and despite knowing it happened in the comics I almost left but stayed when I reminded myself it needs to remain no one is safe. The problem is their replacements were terrible.

[@haxel8929]

Rick, Daryl, Michonne, Carol, Negan: plot armor go brrr

[@khaliljames6543]

I think another thing that killed the show was their journey on staying good people. You see in the comics killing wasn't a bad thing necessarily, but in the show they kill a person like Gareth and they gotta question their whole humanity, and this became a repetitive thing in the later seasons.

[@waynewheeler6678]

I agree with a lot of people here, it used to be a dirty, creepy, never know what's going to happen zombie survival show. Then it just changed. I'll never forget when I first started watching it the opening credits used to give me an eerie vibe and goosebumps. It was gritty and didn't pull any punches

[@pastrami00]

The opening scene of the show was awesome when Rick had to shoot the little girl zombie in the face. Right there you knew it was gonna be a different type of show.

[@Nihilianth]

The quality of the film itself. I mean, the actual film. As you said, "gritty." There was a certain.....quality to the picture, especially the first few episodes of Season 1.

[@Crudecraig]

It went woke and went broke, they give you 2-4 good episodes a season to keep you interested, killing zombies became like popping a balloon and they got comfortable and started to tell us about feelings etc rather than just surviving.

[@theprinceoftides6836]

@@Crudecraig BINGO. Nailed it.

[@stefanmellstrom9096]

That's spot on how I see it and experienced the show from the beginning.

[@mkwsoxfan]

They were fairly short sighted with the killing of Carl, which in my opinion caused Andrew Lincoln (Rick) to lose his drive and leave the show, which caused Danai (Michonne) to also leave the show. Carl was supposed to be the future, but the production of the show was such that he aged faster than the story, which could have been mended with the eventual time skips that they applied after his character died anyway. It was easy for me to picture rick's vision for the communities in the future even if Rick wasn't around, it is less easy for me to picture Rick's vision for the future without his son who he was fighting for being there.

[@Hardrive2677]

Fairly short sighted is an understatement.😂😂 it’s literally the main reason Andrew and Danai are gone. Rick has no purpose without Carl. Even with Judith. Rick was supposed to pass the torch to his son. Instead both characters were removed from the story. Absolutely tragic for the walking dead to end this way.

[@mkwsoxfan]

@@Hardrive2677 if the movies prevent Rick from returning to the main show for the finale because of plot issue I will see the conclusion as a failure. Now don't get me wrong I don't foresee a perfect happy ending in a show like this, but writing characters out in a cheesy way like they did only for them never to return is an insult to the fans of the show. IMO rick (and subsequently Michonne) should have been killed off if their only purpose for not getting killed off was to milk their characters in a movie trilogy

[@Hardrive2677]

@@mkwsoxfan totally agree with everything you said. If Rick and Michonne don’t get resolution in the main show then they failed. I’m not looking forward to seeing it end any other way. At least Ricks last episode was decent I kinda look at that episode as the ending.

[@GlamprinceRockking]

@@Hardrive2677 if he returns to the series before it ends...ill never finish it.

[@mrsgtshepardxd6193]

Agreed AND Literally right around the corner was 10 year time jump, So Carl would have been the proper age to keep going?

[@kathleenhartnellharper7234]

One thing that has always bugged me is that no one in all those years mentions the horrible stench that must have permeated the area. Phew!

[@neilwilliams2883]

The biggest problems for me were the following: - the Saviour arch was far too drawn out; it went on for so long, felt like it was being milked and was almost going around in circles. - after the Saviour arc, the story formula became predictable; our group meets a big, bad group who basically defeat our group before our group miraculously beats big, bad group once and for all. This was the essence of the Saviours plot (which was sufferable), the Whisperers plot and the ridiculously awful Reapers plot. I think the Commonwealth plot was similar but also different because the Commonwealth people were quite ambiguous; somewhat good, and somewhat evil.

[@IIIISai]

here's how the ending woulda been for me Delete season 8-11, thus season 7 is the last season, everything is paced better etc.. and season 7 can be 20 episodes long i guess...or less, again very dragged out, when rick does his mercy over wrath speech, he finishes it off with, but theres always exceptions, and kicks negans body on the floor than drags him and throws him to maggie, then throws maggie a knife and maggie just rages and stabs him to death, rick goes to the tree, see's the visions of shane and hershel like he did on season 9, but ofc this time rick keeps his precious hair, and instead of sasha its lori, order is lori, hershel then shane, and shane and ricks talk is more expanded on, and even better, shane ends off the hallucination with I'll be at the station when u wake up..., and rick dies irl on the tree, the whole whispers arc is horrible so I don't care if the tv show ends faster than the comics, i won't describe season 9 or 10 or 11, just end it on 7, although Actually before the last episode they'll put that filler s10 Negan origins episode in.. anyways i think this ending would be much more beautiful than what we got, it's unfortunate because even andrew Lincoln wanted rick to die on the tree.. Bonus but other changes to fix the show, make Andrea likable but just make the governor kill her earlier, shane leaves in the scene he dies, he still says his feelings but leaves in the end, and rick has to be tough on his own, he goes with andrea and thats how they go to Woodbury, and shane works with merle, thr govenor will have actually more loaded soliders, and be more intimidating, so when merle goes to the prison shane comes with, lasts for a couple more episodes than merle was in the original timeline, and then eventually shane goes with merle to fight off an army of soliders together, super cool hand to hand combat, but eventually they die in an explosion, by this time though woodbury people all get murdered by the soliders, few escape, so for season 4 the illness arc can still happen just less people, Woodbury is destroyed by this time, gov still has his story where he's homeless and same story continues when he comes for the prison, shane and merle destroying Woodbury would be so cool, rick and daryl can have a crying scene together, Carl is written better, same with beth, that scene noah dies, beth was with him, they both die and glenn kills that one dude, tdog has a more realistic death, instead of lori Askin for the abortion of judith its rick and its the otherway around, season 6 is paced better, also Ezekiel dies in season 7, combining all these things i think it would be a perfect show, if u end up reading this I applaud you 🤙

[@antviper135]

​@@IIIISaiI like this

[@IIIISai]

@@antviper135 thanks

[@antviper135]

@@IIIISai I just finished Season 8. I litterally skipped through half of it. Turns out I didn't miss much from the parts I did skip. Litterally understood everything that was happening. Hell I still feel like I wasted my time😂. Not watching anymore Walking Dead

[@IIIISai]

@@antviper135 Lmao thats too funny, I feel u, I finished 11 seasons a while ago but recently i rewatched, all 6 seasons were perfect i hated 7 so i had to stop my whole rewatch 😂, My fav last episode is s6 EP 10, it was daryl and rick on the hunt for the truck and they meet jesus to me that's the finale before it goes bad, rick and guys killin the savior Hideout is good but i dont like the saviours arc too much so my fav last episode is s6 EP 10, also u notice how govnor was here for two seasons but he was so good we didn't notice, yet negan is two seasons and its boring, it goes to show it got worse, are u gonna watch the spin off shows or na

[@diorlipglossxo3981]

I miss the earlier seasons when it was invested with a actual apocalypse and how the zombies are / act I wish we got more in depth about how it all began

[@daisyfuller9426]

honestly same

[@themr84]

Yeah and honestly, my favorite scenes were the risky looting moments where there is high risk but high reward. I might be biased because of TWD S&S because that was my first interaction with the franchise, but combat scenes felt lame because they were so inconsistant. Some times Rick's crew would hit every shot, but then in the next episode miss like 20 each. Towards season 6, the focus of scavenging and looting wasn't really shown and probably should have, especially during their long road trip to DC. Glenn was also the only other reason why I enjoyed the first couple seasons a lot. Seeing a character that was cut off in TWD Telltale and seeing him in the show was nice because I enjoyed his short view time in that game. I still enjoy the concept of the franchise, but now the only thing that interests me anymore is the new saints and sinners chapter...

[@coletroutman1060]

Funny enough, the S1 finale, TS-19 is the only time we really get into the “apocalypse” side of things. That was always one of my favorite episodes. In one of the later seasons, I heard one of the show runners (forget exactly who) say they regret doing that episode and wish it had never happened. I was like.. wtf. That’s literally where the story should have actually ended up focusing..

[@Logan912]

That's kinda what it hinted towards in the early seasons. However, the issue with it is the fact that it's an adaptation of the comic series, and the comics always focused on humanity and trying to rebuild society while the zombies were just the background. So, the show does get kinda jarring comparing the early seasons with the later seasons that way.

[@frostmusicofficial]

The thing about this is, the show as well as the comics were never about the zombies, it has always been a character drama *set* in the zombie apocalypse.

[@Loboo869]

I truly believe that if Carl was alive the show would still be going strong. Rick grimes was the main character and Carl would have continued his legacy Ik we have Judith but It just isn’t the same. I’ve always felt that after season 8 Judith was just thrown in to replace Carl

[@acidburn9141]

To each their own but they stretched out the savior ark too long the first half was awesome the mid section not so much they stretched it out as much as possible which made it old in my opinion

[@kayden2119]

listen i loved carl as a character but the actor just was not that good.

[@BongRip]

@@kayden2119 he absolutely sucked until his very last episode where he decided to give it his all since he was leaving. If only he chose to do that earlier lmfao maybe he wouldn’t have been merked off the show

[@kayden2119]

@@BongRip he was really good when he was a kid and yeah he did very well in his last two episodes but aside from that he was not that good. He was still one of my favorite characters but did not have that good of an actor

[@BongRip]

@@kayden2119 yup exactly even the actor himself says the same thing

[@kathleenhartnellharper7234]

As far as I’m concerned the end came when Rick had the bonehead idea to take a horde of dead contained in a quarry and lead them out to be someone else’s problem, it was a jump the shark moment that got a lot of people killed. I really lost my commitment to the show although I checked in and sporadically watched it. The last episode I watched was when Alpha was killed by Negan.

[@eadaoinl]

I actually am really interested in what would have happened if Lori lived. I know a ton of people considered it for Glen, Carl, Merle, Hershel and other mains from the early days but I think Lori's death was not really that good. It felt very predictable and kind of like they had finished using her for Rick's arc so she had to go. Seeing her relationship with Rick change from possibly romantic to platonic, adapting to the new world in a way where she's not background support and has a bit more independence and seeing how her character could grow would have been really cool. I fully believe she had potential for a dope character arc but was just used to facilitate others, like Shane, Rick, Carl and Judith's stories.

[@matthewpatrick7263]

I think the show began declining when they gave Beth her pointless death only for Noah, who she was trying to protect, to die the most brutal death the series showed up to the point, only a handful of episodes later. Main character deaths need meaning.

[@DenverStarkey]

yeah beth's death was so fucking pointless. even if you take out the context of how noah bit the dust later. it just seemed like they wanted her off teh show so BAM now she is gone. also it made her otu to be a total dumbass in how she went about it.

[@Angel-lt1sh]

Agree

[@avsthvtic]

For me, it was Rick leaving. He was the heart of the show. No matter how much I loved the rest of the cast, he is who I tuned in to see. He is the character I wanted to watch face the hard times.

[@sicksee5450]

I tried watching after Rick left but it just wasn't the same. Then they tried to make Judith into some kind of superhero it just didn't work for me. Maybe one day I'll finish watching the series

[@annahappen7036]

Same! I love Carol and Mishone and Daryll but Rick was the absolute heart of the show. It was his evolution and story that it all began with.

[@UnkkRell]

^^ THIS 🎯

[@handsomeX]

I stopped watching shortly after Glen died.

[@Kraken9911]

Andrew Lincoln made his name famous through this show. I get he's from England but wouldn't he want to move his family to America and see his legacy through to the end? I guess at some point even the buckets of cash they were throwing at him wasn't enough.

[@Matt231985uk]

I was a MASSIVE walking dead fan, but lost interest after Rick left. The show started with Rick waking up in the hospital. We went on a journey with him to find his family. We watched him grow as a leader and a father. We watched his struggles to adapt and survive. Regardless of where the group settled or the revolving door of characters, the show was centred around Rick. Without him, the journey felt incomplete. The story afterwards just felt tacked on and lacked direction, and we were left with supporting characters as a focus of the show. We got a time jump and a bunch of new people to follow that we were supposed to just care about instantly. It felt like a spin off rather than a continuation. If the writers knew Lincoln wanted out, they could easily have written the shows end and gone out on a high, instead of holding on to something that’s lost it’s soul.

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, for me TWD is about everyone's journey and how they came together, so I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9 and 10, they're some of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and that many people left after that, thanks to Gimple's writing and decision making. But the show is still doing great and has a huge fanbase and viewership so the series isn't dead yet at all, especially with season 10, which is the highest rated season of the series, and the writing for the story and characters has gotten much better since then and I do think that Daryl is a good lead in the show now in my opinion, his dialogue and writing in general has been so much better and he actually has things to do and say again. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way, though. I just want to let you know that it does get better and that I would recommend it :)

[@ldempsey1863]

I was introduced to the show binging seasons 1-4 on Netflix. I was hooked immediately! I watched the premiere of no sanctuary on television and I was hooked from there. I’m a large nfl football fan and I would still watch episode premieres over football. I was forced to pack up and move during that mid season break in season 8 and then unfortunately just couldn’t keep up with the show, I waited until Season 11 came out and then got my fiancé hooked on the show too. We binged the whole thing! TWD will always hold a special place in my heart

[@Tommykey07]

It got tiring seeing the same pattern of the group wandering, encountering a band of deranged villains, eventually overcoming them, settling down for a while, then moving on, encountering another band of psychos, lather, rinse, repeat. And then the cast becoming bloated with too many characters that we don't care about. I stopped watching during Season 7.

[@rockybalboa4593]

The whole storyline with Negan dragged on for wayyyyyyy too long. Season 7 is what killed it for me too. I blew through seasons 1-6 in a binge. Watching seasons 7 and 8 felt like a chore and then torture to get through. Never even watched season 9 at all or anymore onward.

[@Sekushiwolf]

Not only that but they just landed on having an interesting enough first episode of the season, nothing between, maybe something kind of interesting at the mid-season finale. Then nothing for the latter half of the season only for a cliffhanger at the end to roll into the next season. Rinse repeat again.

[@stoneybologni89]

I completely agree, how does a biker gang survive but the military can't survive and get ambushed and are made to look like fools when introduced to the governor? It's a joke and the writer absolutely hates his main characters. Just look at invincible.

[@-BuddyGuy]

That may have been the worst season. The newer ones are actually ok. You nearly made it through the darkness.

[@James-777]

That's exactly why I stopped watching

[@west-Co_exploration]

There were a core group of characters from the beginning of the show that I was attached to. My interest was purely in seeing how they managed to survive. When it became obvious that the entire crew would be replaced by a whole lot less interesting characters I had absolutely no reason to continue to watch what became an incredibly boring and repetitive show. By the time neegan came along he was simply tedious. Couldn't wait to find something better to watch

[@leob4403]

Honestly it has been extremely hard to find any drama tv show that lives up to the quality of the first 5-6 seasons of TWD, the first 5-6 seasons of GoT and all 7 seasons of Sopranos. Did you find anything?

[@west-Co_exploration]

@@leob4403 you're right. But the last seasons are total letdowns. Fringe, Person of interest and Grimm all came very close. justified and Longmeier were the best

[@marklar75]

We already had a cast of unlikeable characters on the spinoff show, why turn the main series into a pale imitation of even that?

[@iamrayn]

@@west-Co_exploration how would you know the last seasons are a let down if you stopped watching? If you knew anything about The Walking Dead, you would realize they follow the comics, and the group settling down was the direction the comics went. Doesn't make sense for them to keep roaming from place to place. The interaction between other factions, and the fact that other surviving groups are threats, is nowhere near repetitive. What WOULD BE repetitive is nothing but zombies. That being said, the show DID lag slightly in season 7, with all the Negan and Rick back and forth drama, but since then, the show has nearly returned to its former glory. Feel free to disagree, but remember that is just your opinion.

[@west-Co_exploration]

@@iamrayn And this is simply your opinion. From your video it's obviously you're a fanboy and no matter what happens you cannot be dissuaded. But the numbers show that the show tanked and they're begging people to come back. It's not happening though because people were disgusted by what happened in later seasons. I could care less about the comics. I don't read comics. I enjoyed the characters that were created at the beginning of this show and when they killed them all off the show ended for me. Simple

[@maxwella.gamingps4631]

The one who should have been Lucilled was Daryl. I know he is the most popular, and that would have made a lot of people dip as well, but most of those would cling on to see how they avenge everyone's favorite. The point of the Lucille scene was exactly that. The introduction of Negan, a new villain to hate, but he isnt like The Governor or other villains... oh no no no, he would be way bigger. And Kirkman challenged himself into make him non-hateable. It would have also been a nice bridge to make Carol a cold blooded killer again, and most importantly, make everyone in the group fear Negan, since he just disposed the arguebly most toughest SOB in the group. But yeah... they went the safe route d then All Out War ended up being a mess, and the worst mistake of it all... killing Carl. smfh

[@gucciman27]

in my opinion even if negan killed daryl alone people would stop watching i think they should have had merle live to s7, get him killed by negan, resulting in daryl punching him and getting abraham or eugene killed

[@MakeYouFeelBetterNow]

I have no idea how anyone could feel Negan is non-hateable or even likeable. If I was a survivor, Negan and I aren't making it out alive from that episode.

[@xilentjay4298]

I’ll be the one to say it. Shane brought a certain feel to the show that soon left once he died.

[@karengoldenthal2889]

No Way! That's Beyond Overblown! He was More than getting annoying. He lived Way Longer on the Show...just keep on Trying to kill Rick over & over, gets boring..It was time.

[@JohnDoe-cj1cw]

Facts. Shane is still my favorite character.

[@rit1783]

You are right watching the series again Shane gave an aura to the series that since he left nothing was the same I don't know if it was Bernthal's performance but what a life he gave to the series you really believed it

[@IIIISai]

@@rit1783 agreed

[@machocomacho9312]

1. Gimple 2. Slower, less frightening walkers 3. Interesting characters like Shane (and many others from seasons 1 & 2) killed off 4. Later loss of Glenn, Abraham, and even Rick 5. I personally preferred focusing on about 20 characters struggling to survive (early seasons) as opposed to something like 200, many who I fail to connect with or view as having uninteresting story lines.

[@Queen3210]

1. Absolutely agree, 100%. 2. I suppose, though it is nice to see Zombies in a Zombie themed television show, even occasionally. 3. Honestly, I'm the opposite; certain characters should have died ages ago, but for the fact that they are main characters and people want them to stay alive (Carol and Daryl for starters). 4. 100% agree with you about Rick; I honestly believe they should have kept the deaths of Abraham and Glenn separate, as Glenn's death at Negan's hands held so much more significance in the comics than they did in the show (for me; sharing that death between two characters lessened it for me). 5. I love the struggle to survive, so I would agree with this but for the fact that the show deviated far too much from the comics. I enjoyed that journey better than the show. *thumbs up for you*

[@kyleturner7309]

Shane had to die early for his negative character arc to be completed properly.

[@machocomacho9312]

@@kyleturner7309 I understand where you're coming from as far as Shane is concerned. Good point.

[@AmbyJeans]

@@kyleturner7309 it was still kinda sad to see him go, he was a fun bad guy

[@kyleturner7309]

@@AmbyJeans Oh yeah for sure. Honestly some of the best writing I’ve seen from TWD and I honestly would’ve loved for him to stay, but he wouldn’t be remembered as fondly if he did tbh. Negan is great as well though.

[@PhantomPlayin]

Rick leaving was the main reason the show went down hill Rick was the heart and soul of the show.

[@kehnemdafriend]

you can really say that crap if you don't watch anymore. After Rick left, with the whisperers, TWD returned to its glory. First half of 11 is shaping the last season to be a great one. Even Lincoln said he went out at the wrong time. Stop...

[@mysteryace2129]

Rick was terrible and was the reason why season 2 and 3 are terrible. Terrible leader

[@TerroristMaster]

@@kehnemdafriend the whisperers were booooooooring

[@aidengoodrich5974]

@@kehnemdafriend truth, but the show was really terrible before

[@kehnemdafriend]

@@aidengoodrich5974 S7 and 8 pretty much coz you have to wait weekly. It was slow and dark, agreed.

[@dddyyylllaaannn]

i''m about half way thru watching on netflix. it's starting to lose me, i think because what was so cool about the beginning was that the villain was the virus/walkers, and people had to get over their bs personality conflicts to survive. and it's starting to be all about personality conflicts and the walkers are just there.

[@Dominus4776]

I really enjoyed the Whisperers and Negans redemption. Never read the comics so the scene when we whisperers are first heard blew me away. I thought the walkers were evolving or something

[@professorobvious.5957]

Every badass moment was made my Rick. (The Red machete, burning a barn full of walkers, escaping terminus.) there hasn’t been moments like that since they arrived at Alexandria. Right now I’m only watching to see how it ends

[@caylaclanton6074]

Agreed! Rick and the group were gory, cruel, Ice cold-hearted, just kill anyone they came in contact with! Hard survival, losing people everytime they turned around, chop your limb off quick if you were bit and hoped you survived cuz you were gna die anyway.. just BRUTAL savages!!! Until they settled down in the town and basically became civilized again and didn't have to live that way anymore.. That's when we lost the group we all fell in love with! I wish they would have followed that story line a bit longer because those seasons were all about showing the gruesome, inhuman things people were capable of after the collapse of civilization! I hope the Rick movies bring back some of that too

[@poindexter3135]

Glenn's death was the start of the downfall, and Carl's death was the last straw. Glenn's death works in the comics, but in the show he was a lot more universally loved and they somehow managed to make it even MORE brutal than the comics. It's a lot different when you see the character alive and breathing rather than on a page, and they really just went too far. And of course, Carl's death was just braindead. Why would you kill off the future of the show, literally the main character's whole purpose. From day 1 Carl was the future, and they ruined it. I'll never forgive Gimple for D&Ding this (former) amazing show.

[@timmyboy9140]

Glenn needed to die brutally - they couldve put someone else in his place though. It was the horrible dragged out seasons that followed the season 7 premiere which ruined the show - they f'ed up the Negan storyline completely

[@matthewbrantner798]

they didn't go "too far". does no one remember noah being ripped apart against plexiglass in front of glenn? how about dale's chest getting ripped open in season 2? no, we just went too long with plot armor for the mains, and everyone forgot what it was like to have a character die that you actually gave a fuck about. the problem with glenn's death was, it didn't mean anything. his death has more bearing on the show now with the negan maggie rivalry, like a decade later, than it had in its direct aftermath. they claimed on the talking dead that season was about who died and how much it affected the group. glenn could have lived, abraham still died, negan threaten to cut off carl's hand and everything would be exactly the same. these people forgot how to tell a story, and fell in love with the smell of their own farts after the show took off. and it certainly didn't help we were all so obsessed with the show we were willing to watch a spin off, and a weekly aftershow for both the main show and the spinoff, that was equal in length to an episode of said show just to get a drip from the next episode and stroke their egos.

[@poindexter3135]

@@matthewbrantner798 i 100% agree with you, but they most definitely went too far. to have one of the characters from the first season whos pretty much the heart of the show die in the most gruesome way possible is a lot more than any other death. they drew it out longer than in the comics, had negan taunting him and the group the whole time while half of glenn's head is smashed in still alive and making manic noises, all while the whole core group and his pregnant wife watches. if you've read the comics you'll realize that every single bit of it is more brutal than the comics. the famous panel of glenn's head and eye on the ground was worse with him STILL breathing and twitching. you might be numb to it but it most definitely is too much for most casual fans. you cant just kill off one of the most beloved characters the way they did and expect people to be okay with it, you get so emotionally attached to a character and they go out like that, its the worst thing to do to fans. but yeah, its a shame they didnt realize how much glenn meant to fans and just killed him for pure shock value.

[@Nuvizzle]

I dunno I think the problem with Glenn's death is that they did that stupid fake-out death for him, and then doubled down by not only having the person Negan kills in Season 6 be a CLIFFHANGER, but then doing the double fake-out of Negan killing Abraham, just so that even people who knew how Glenn died in the comics would think for a moment "oh wow are they really not going to kill Glenn?" only for Negan to then kill him as well. The entire way they dealt with killing off Glenn felt like they were writing purely for emotional manipulation and shock value, not for the sake of a good story. It was a pathetically transparent grab for ratings on the season premier and I think it obviously backfired on them because people saw right through it.

[@sheena171]

At that point I was over Glenn. Him and Maggie’s storyline was just annoying.

[@AcuraAddicted]

Three things: 1) Killing off Glen; 2) Dragging simple and straightforward situations for several episodes, sometimes entire seasons; 3) Zombies spawning out of nowhere in vast open or semi-open areas to the immense surprise of the characters.

[@the_doctor_816]

I dropped off at the season six finale. I had personally grown tired of 'Crazy Rick'. It wasnt until 2 weeks ago id decided to give it another go. It drew me in and Ive basically neglected my life for two weeks. I finally reached Rick's final episode the other day and ive just lost all interest. Im two episodes past it and I just cant shake the empty feeling the show has.

[@petergunn3614]

That's the same point I started to pull away myself. I wound up watching until the group finally beat Negan, but that was the last episode I ever watched. I loved the beginning of the show, watching the group travel around trying to survive and figure out everything. When they settled down it kinda got too repetitive for me. It was just a new bad guy introduced...bad guy defeated....new bad guy introduced, bad guy defeated. I thought It was time to wind down the show and end it.

[@F8...]

yup I bailed as soon as Rick was gone and it was definatly going downhill leading up to that too

[@Kalakeiko]

I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@Kalakeiko]

​@@petergunn3614 I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@Kalakeiko]

​@@F8... I get where you're coming from, I personally liked season 9-11, especially season 9, it's one of my favourite seasons, but it's such a shame that the show took such a big nose-dive in season 7-8 and nothing will ever beat the first few seasons for me. Whether you want to give the rest of the series a chance again or not is totally up to you and valid either way :)

[@satan899]

The first few seasons of the walking dead was about the zombies themselves. The characters never were able to stay in one location for to long as they were getting over run with walkers and the characters were always on the verge of getting over run. That was exciting to watch as you really felt like humanity was on the brink of extinction. As the show went on tho, the walkers were basically back ground noise. It became more about conflicts with humans and that’s when the series started to lose its entertainment value

[@sketchy_character]

I stopped on season 6, and honestly the zombies getting in just got boring too. Things would be okay, then zombies would break in, then theyd go hide or run away or butcher them, the same type of people would die, and then someone in the main group would have a breakdown until they got over it and it happened all over again. i loved how it eventually became less about zombies and more about people (like the contrast between Rick's group and the people of Alexandria) and I honestly wish it ended there.

[@IAMRUSTEDROOT]

@@sketchy_character Same here. Loved the show up until Season 6 and then I jumped ship. Haven't regretted it at all.

[@madquest8]

100% FACT.

[@mileshunter8034]

Season 11 is good because of how they're handling the human conflict. It's gotten to a point in the apocalypse where the walkers are the 'side' problem. People have established communities etc and want to have control. Walkers are still a risk absolutely but it's kind of realistic for lack of a better word

[@tomoflathead]

Not really. Both the comic and the show were always about human interaction in the worst of circumstances (i.e. a zombie apocalypse), not necessarily the zombies themselves. Too bad the writing got lazy past the first 5 seasons.

[@dstyer6128]

I left when they killed Glenn. They had toyed with our emotions on him for years and at least 2 little Glenn dying fakeouts. It seemed unnecessary and there was no other character to take up his mantle. There was this unbroken chain from Dale to Hershel to Glenn that pretty much served as the heart of the show and there was really no one that carried that torch when they offed Glenn, the show lost a LOT when they killed him off.

[@collinpeters2874]

Tbh u missed, imo, the best 2 seasons. I think neagan added some much needed life into the show. I think the show died after losing Rick. Losing Glenn and Abe made me want to watch the show even more. It made me want to see Rick get back at Neagan and drew me in.

[@randolm7698]

After the episode where Glenn and Abraham were killed Kirkman gave an interview where he kind of 'joked' that maybe it was too much for the fans... saying something like 'I guess we'll see'. Oops.

[@akantoch7617]

Very sad episode indeed and I even wanted to see more, who is Negan, how they gonna survive him, and what happens after that..... The Whisperers

[@kora4185]

Same with me and my group of friends. Everyone just thought it was a bit too much.. I’m now thinking about re-watching the whole thing once and for all cus I want to know how it ends (probably will skip this part though lol)

[@fawazgerhard2742]

Glenns death is good for me since it shows that plot armor doesn't apply, seeing plot armor in a movie, game, or comic series is just cringe and weird.

[@perfectnothingg]

I stopped a few episodes into season 7. There’s a certain point where you stop feeling hopeful or putting yourself into the scenario when bad things just keep happening over and over and there’s no hope. The end of season 6 and beginning of 7 are just pain over and over, and it was effecting my mental health, because I knew if I was in the scenario with Negan and all that shit, I would’ve just shot myself at some point. It’s not fun to watch when the conflict of interest is just “do this or you/they die”

[@johnmccloskey3660]

Jon Bernthal's latest episode on the Real Ones sheds some light on the premature firing of one of the main writers as a critical moment in the show's demise.

[@TommyGlint]

To get killed by slow moving zombies, the characters had to make stupid decisions on a regular basis. They had to have bad guys who were alive, but they became pretty boring and cut from the same cloth, tyrannichal psychos who sets up groups that prey on others. I simply lost interest after S5, or S6, I can’t even remember…

[@JohnRock14]

Tyrese getting killed by ninja zombies was awful

[@mileshunter8034]

Season 11 is really good though!

[@oneyedthing]

@@mileshunter8034 They have to be. They dont want to end up like Game of Thrones.

[@jamesrogers1554]

I agree with this 100%! I have to also throw in the fact that the editing became so poor that zombies would literally teleport from scene to scene. When your show has to resort to photographic trickery (in addition to terrible character decision making) to build suspense and danger then I fear you have already lost the plot.

[@horrorexploration2061]

The decline of the walking dead is very simple. The writing and choices in the avenue shock value. This started way before people say it does. There is so many things that happen just to happen. Terminus is an example of that. The first big one I remember though is that they had the arc of beth and her getting taken to the hospital. It was set up over a good amount of episodes and we even got to meet some new characters and have a new branch explored. It wasn't my favorite at all but it was setting itself up for beth to have something to do and to get back with the group. So they go through all of that and get to beth and are exchanging her over and even get Noah who I liked and thought was interesting, just for her to stab her while she's already getting brought back and get shot in the head? That whole arc and extra time spent with her was for nothing. Then we get Noah and he's not very fleshed out, he's interesting sure but his backstory was forced because of the fact they kill him off not even a season later when he was the placeholder for a main character we lost over an arc that didn't even matter in the first place. Then there were the glen fake-out deaths which was some of the worst writing they could have displayed. He gets two fake out deaths and we learn he has a baby on the way just to die. Terrible writing. They kill characters for no reason but shock to keep you "jarred" but it doesn't work. The nail in the coffin was the death of Carl. He was killed in the dumbest way possible for a newer character that died shortly after he was saved. This probably made the actors lose their drive and is probably the reason for the departure of rick and michonne. It was some of the most infuriating television i have ever watched and have stopped watching since that very episode. I hear the leaving or deaths of character and some arcs but it means almost nothing to me. I have heard from many that since carl died there has not been a significant rhyme or reason to any part of the show and I can see how.

[@J0MBi]

Yeah, agreed. Tbh I stopped watching it even before Carl died. I just finaly realised that the few moments I did enjoy were far outweighted by the amount of time I spent watching it and either cringing, bored or annoyed at how stupid the characters were.

[@thenopant]

Interesting take. I personally loved that Beth hospital part as it was the first time in the show I experienced the same level of shock the comics provided. It really just broke my heart to see how horrible things can get so quick. It was a really well acted scene too so I loved it but to each their own.

[@J0MBi]

@@thenopantnot dissing you for enjoying it - the show had it's moments here and there but there was no central idea to any of it, just a depressing nihilistic soap opera of violence and misery. Robert Kirkman totally ripped off George A Romero, lock stock and barrel, but he never had any original ideas or anything to say. Never even paid tribute to Romero when he died or acknowledged that he owed every single aspect of The Walking Dead to Romero's work.

[@nickypoundtown9568]

So simple...700words later

[@d00glebear]

Also Noah was the reason Tyrese got killed. Never liked him after that and he died shortly after anyway

[@olivebreadmuncher8482]

Regarding the fact that people left after the group came to Alexandria: I used to watch the Series with my parents, patiently waiting for every season to come out, fearing for our favorite characters. After they came to Alexandria that fear just kinda left. Sure, there were some shenanigans and conflict, but the thrill just kinda left us. And once the season ended, and we had to wait for the next one, we just kinda never picked up the show again, I honestly didn’t know that it’s still going until now. (Btw, there is one Neigen fan, my dad. He named his saxophone Lucille after the bat)

[@robertbrodeur4326]

Your description of why people stopped watching after Glenn died could have been plucked from my brain. Described my opinion perfectly. I didn't read the books but Yeun's portrayal on the show was so engaging and likeable I just didn't care without him.

[@gregoryrome2751]

When the group reached Alexandria, I was pleasantly surprised. The whole fish out of water thing was very interesting. How they reacted to clean homes, running water, and even haircuts was really cool.

[@teletronz]

It was a refreshing change to the show. More human interaction that can lead to more interesting dramas. Being on the road for years gets boring. I remember people complaining that "It's not even about the zombies anymore" and I'm like who cares. They're obstacles to be avoided at this point but don't provide the drama to make a show interesting.

[@jhaeck1]

@@teletronz thats another thing.....they kept changing how the dead moved and reacted........that was also dumb

[@rikiinexx2151]

@@jhaeck1 not really. one really interesting thing about twd for me is how the zombies progress throughout the years. the reason why they change so much is bc they’re decaying, meaning they move much slower and end up looking more like skeletons than anything. it’s been literal years in the show so it makes a lot of sense. i read somewhere that there will be a point where the walkers will never have to be a problem anymore bc they simply just walked themselves to death or decayed so much to even be considered any sort of walker.

[@thomastroster60]

@@rikiinexx2151 I don't think that's what he meant. In the series you see walker being so stupid that you can lead them wherever you want with just noises or fire. Yet if the situation (the writing) needed tension they suddenly were capable of hiding until the right moment or even ignore gunshots just to appear at the right moment. Sometimes walkers have been so loud you could hear them from outside of a building but if needed they could stealth bite their victims without a making a single grunt or at least footsteps. In the first season zombies were so strong, they could rip through horse skin with only their fingers. Later their bones broke just by falling. Then much later (and much more decayed) they could pull a grown man back into their crowd by his ankles. Edit: Even in the final episode there is a well decayed walker slamming a rock onto the glass wall of the hospital trying to break it. So at this point I think you can be sure, that the common KZbin fan theory of the walker problem solving itself by decay is bs.

[@jhaeck1]

@@rikiinexx2151 so they changed....like i said

[@firedrake7663]

The writing declined. Also preferred the show when it was very much a “living vs dead” situation, with the group moving around from place to place. As soon as the Saviours came into play, that all changed. And for the worse.

[@nathangarnett9476]

Kind of has turned back into living vs the dead. It got alot better after the saviours trust me

[@nathangarnett9476]

@@mrgray5576 Then obviously you don't watch it

[@nathangarnett9476]

@@mrgray5576 your opinion

[@sheena171]

Too many characters added that no one cares about.

[@nathangarnett9476]

@@sheena171 Who? Only people I can see anybody not caring about is the new group I only care for connie out of them

[@eiji862]

What got me to stop watching this show was also around season 7 not really just because of the deaths of Glenn and Abraham. But also because the episodes following it were honestly just too much for me to watch. I’ll never forget that scene where Negan forced Rick to nearly chop off Carl’s arm. It was just scenes like that which were just unpleasant to watch.

[@aidandoyle3570]

For me, the earlier seasons felt like there was a real threat. It was fascinating to see these people navigate the world and figure it out. And seeing real, scary obstacles get in their way. Eventually...the obstacles started to feel redundant or even corny. Like some of the enemies in later seasons just felt so silly to me. It didn’t feel believable for our main cast to even be scared of them. Like, i always was saying “c’mon guys, you’re better than this” It started to feel like the show was beint way too dragged on. Also it didnt help that so many of my favorite characters died, or the ones that were remaining had some altering story arcs that i didn’t love or agree with... So naturally, there was nothing keeping me there anymore.

[@robertmoats1890]

The Walking Dead's soul was a story about a father struggling to raise his son in an apocalyptic world, and all of the challenges that go along with that. When Carl died, fans had to scramble to find new meaning. Then when Rick disappeared, most of us just gave up. Some of the remaining characters are great, but watching the show sort of feels like playing one of those open-ended role playing games after you've finished the main quest. There's no sense of purpose.

[@sawbasumner2171]

🎯🎯🎯

[@AliPi7]

That is so well said 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 It’s exactly how I felt after Rick left. Didn’t see any point in sticking around.

[@supermodestmouse]

not only did rick leave, he got poochie'd out of there. There's writing him out of the show and burning the place down as you leave.

[@DanielSlva]

That's exactly how I felt about it. I watched all of the episodes on their premieres for 9 years, and after watching Rick's last episode on its premiere, I dropped the show for 2 years, and only came back to it when they were releasing season 11, around the 16th episode. I resumed where I left off and catched up with it. It got good after a while but it always felt like something was off and it wasn't the show I used to know and love.

[@richardclark1127]

I dropped off half way through season 5 when they killed Beth. Just felt like it was cheap that they just recently started to build her character and making her feel like part of the group after being a glorified babysitter for 2 seasons...just to fridge her so Darryl and Maggie are sad.

[@AbrasiousProductions]

season 5 was sooo boring.

[@kathrynck]

I wouldn't say killing off Beth was the sole reason i quit watching. I mean everything after season 2 felt like the last season of GoT. But killing Beth was the final reason. There's so few characters who were worth liking in the show. And everything after season 1 was a let-down. But killing off Beth immediately after I started to care about her character arc, was when I threw in the towel. It's weird how hollywood can take someone who very much "wants to like the show", and drive them away. I watched some after that, but it only got worse, and I didn't so much consciously stop watching, as just stopped having hope that 'the next episode' would be worth my time to watch.

[@dsamsooni4598]

With Beth, she was the most boring and underused character for a few seasons, but I really got excited to see what the show will do to her storyline and character development when they killed off Hershel and when they finally gave her a gun. It was exciting we're gonna get another "Carol" character. Then they killed her in the dumbest way possible and to save "Everybody hates Chris", then they killed him too a short time after that. Then they did that fake-out with Glen only to survive in the most unbelievable manner, then kill him off with the baseball bat. That's when I check out

[@thebadguychinli4011]

@@dsamsooni4598 Beth’s death was nothing special and that’s the thing missing from Walking Dead. Death in real life is sudden and always the last who we expect. Beth’s death was tragic because she was starting to become her own person having been forced into an environment where she finally had to fend for herself and that’s why her death is so sad. She was beginning to blossom but never fully got the chance to. Jeez.

[@bullymaguire7554]

Really? I forgot she's even a character until they killed her off. The worse part of her death, is that I simply didn't care enough for it to matter. Imo they should've killed the character off in season 3-4 instead of wasting screentime on her.

[@JLHoskins]

Another big issue with the story, I believe, is just how directionless it is. They had various endgoals to root for; potentially finding a cure, the Old Man Carl ending, building a Unity of various safe factions, etc... But they threw all of them away. There are stories out there where the entire main cast dies, excluding a sole main character, but they work because they have some underlying message behind it all which justifes the extreme act. But with TWD? There really isn't any major cause worth rooting for in the show since they'll all end in failure anyways. And the gruesome death rate of the main characters is so outrageous that the main cast is unrecognizable multiple times over. Funny enough, I hear that the comic storyline solved all of these issues. It's so odd that they just weren't more faithful to the source material.

[@rency1803]

They weren't faithful cause the comic ended and ofc they have to milk the series as much as possible.

[@Dacrick331]

Yeah after Carl that was the beginning of the end for me. After Rick I lost interest didn't keep up with ending of season 9 or 10 but started watching again and season 11 revived it a little ending this Sunday waiting for thst

[@Trekpanther]

The point for me was Glenn dying off, but that was the last straw on a building fatigue I had with the show up to that point. For me I got tired of the constant cyclical nature of the plot where group wanders to find shelter, villain or x threat appears, group gets pushed out, and then wander again. I didn't care that was how the comic played out, it got stale quickly without some sort of final endgame in sight. Zombies weren't the big omnipresent antagonist anymore, just window dressing for gore kills, and the villains weren't interesting enough to keep me watching.

[@alextheromanian]

glen was always gonna die. you cant claim to be a fan of the franchise and ignore its source material. the show was a far worse version of the graphic novels.

[@yayochapo7421]

@@alextheromanian fr the comic books were lit

[@ore7780]

Cringe Glenn stan, cope harder

[@khaalmalki4039]

@Manish Mims Pretty much.

[@Joe3pops]

The end started when they killed off Glenn and Abraham. Did you realize how much Abraham actor invested in his Gulf War-Panama infantry soldier? Carried M16A1 like a trooper. Little things like his speech, mannerisms, the way he wore khaki headband on night time raid. I was in the infantry for nine years and Abraham was the real deal. I think he did better than Glenn myself.

[@maceface2892]

Season 8 is where they lost me. Killing off Carl, Rick having a clear shot at Negan with a machine gun and missing every shot, and a lot of other dumb stuff that season was the nail in the coffin for me

[@slowtalker]

Honestly, I couldn't stand Carl anymore. Rick's ways were what kept his group alive for that long. Carl was trying to change it. Rick's instinct to stay alive and fight was the magic of the show for me. He had the so needed attitude to solve the problems. Glenn's death hurt me a lot. Negan to me was good as an antagonist cause he made me hate him so much. But trying to show the other side of his background like some sort of redemption? Hell no, kill this man already and make him suffer! He gave more than enough reasons for that.

[@skoolynugenator1802]

Carl was one of the worst parts of the show. His acting was awful.

[@ore7780]

@@skoolynugenator1802 fr, comic Carl was superior in nearly every aspect

[@saltoftheegg]

Season 2 when they had the zombie in the well and acted like if they got him out they could drink the water, that’s what lost me. Shocked that this show even got to a third season let alone how ever many there are now.

[@bradtorville5526]

Another point for me when the show just veered off into the abyss was when the focus shifted from survival against the walkers and became solely against living humans. It got boring really fast. And to see what had first struck terror into all of them -- just having to deal with two or three walkers -- to suddenly seeing one character state with over-confidence that he could handle the pressing hoard of forty or more coming their way... It just became ludicrous and silly. That kind of stuff might be forgivable in a comic but just looks ridiculous on the screen.

[@LoreleiBeatrix]

I stuck around, and I think one of the main reason I stuck around was for Daryl and Carol's story. Also, I was very interested in the character of Negan and how his story was shaped though the eyes of Scott Gimple. The loss of Glenn was for certain a massive blow, but as someone who read the comics I was expecting it to come. But you're assessment is correct, Glenn in the comic was much different the the show's Glenn and his character had became very vital to the essence of the show. And when they decided killed off Carl, I think they went too far. Carl in large represented the future not only for Rick, but the group as a whole. He sort of projected all "hope" of surviving this apocalyptical world. Not the kid that was produced by his wife and best friend while he was in a coma elsewhere left for dead.

[@Juanma_Cardona0725]

If each season was 10 episodes long it would be perfect

[@starpaladinnelaj]

This is what I've always said. The biggest reason the show sucks now is because of how stretched out every arc is. A good example is the Farm Arc, which had no right being that long

[@Budd631]

@@starpaladinnelaj the farm was about maybe 10 episodes...meanwhile the prison es basically 2 full seasons. After Shane did the show got worse

[@scottblanco5991]

Perfectly said. I hate that every season there are about 2-3 episodes that nothing happens. The pacing of each season should have been faster.

[@YT_FALLENX]

But the prison was near perfectly executed so I wouldn’t complain bout that

[@ForeverShadowBanned]

If only AMC weren't such greedy assholes.

[@faktor1147]

It started with a really gritty depiction of a zombie apocalypse. You generally bought the premise and the characters behaved as you would expect the average person to act in those circumstances. The writing then just deteriorated massively, the core stars left or died and you were left with a cast of characters you didn't care about saying stupid stuff and doing stupid things

[@AFuller2020]

The show is a big dumpster fire with crap numbers.

[@memawknowsbest4978]

This show lost me fairly early on, just 3-4 seasons in, maybe 5. Too many stupid decisions and killing off the people who would have lived in reality and letting the stupid and weak survive. And that was after accepting that Rick didn't die in the hospital where he was left for an unknown amount of time without anyone to change his IV, which would mean no antibiotics and no fluids, no bandage changes, nothing. He should have just died, if not from infection then from dehydration.

[@ciarajones4970]

@@memawknowsbest4978 there is a webisode series that are made by AMC. That links in with the hospital at the start of the apocalypse that Rick was in. It's called The Oath, give it a watch it might clear some things up to why Rick survived in the hospital.

[@memawknowsbest4978]

@@ciarajones4970 If there was an explanation they should have included it in the show. And as I said, I still watched multiple seasons before I gave up on it.

[@corneliuscrewe677]

Spot on.

[@DCWares]

I remember being up to date with the show, avoided spoilers like crazy, I'd log on to Facebook just to check messages, and by the message button, was the trending stories. Top one. How Carl die and why is impactful. I stopped watching until it was fully out. But you can almost pin point the final nail with carl.

[@badnewofficial]

I'd always tell everyone that thinks of starting The Walking Dead to stop watching at Alexandria and pretend Rick's group lived happily ever after.

[@caesar8364]

This show should have been just 6-8 season long. People just got bored from the same drama plots over and over again

[@bishbosh4815]

Idk what you were expecting though. The show follows the story of the comics, which was far from complete after the Saviors arc. You know that this show isnt about finding a cure, it's about survival, humanity, and dealing with human and undead threats. That's what the show is, so if you're just going to say it's repetitive then this show was never for you.

[@caesar8364]

@@bishbosh4815 When you bring a comic/ books series to life there has to be minor alterations to characters and story lines. What you read in books doesn't always translate well to movies because it seems stupid on screen versus in books. Best example would be Marvel/Dc, there's so much story to each character, hundreds of comic issues per character with different plots & collaborations but only select story & plots lines make it on screen because some of it would make absolutely no sense in a movie since the average person is looking for continuity. The producers might have gone comic accurate instead of pleasing the fans, but we all know how thats played out for them.

[@bishbosh4815]

@@caesar8364 but they can't win because when they keep it comic accurate people who haven't read the comics don't like it or it doesn't translate well to the show, but when they change things from the comics like changing which character dies or altering the way things happen, or having original storylines, comic readers are upset they didn't see things play out the same as in the comics

[@Joshkiddy15.]

@@bishbosh4815 I think if ur was animated it’ll good well with the comics if manga can translate to anime why can’t comics and tv?

[@anakenryzenabad529]

Should've ended on Season 5 when the show was on it's peak popularity and highest ratings. It would've go down as one of the greatest tv shows of all time like Breaking Bad and Mad Men

[@marcustulliuscicero9512]

Negan is holding the whole show together for me.

[@WesMaizter]

yeah same here, its a shame a lot of people left because of him

[@anakenryzenabad529]

No he's the one who destroyed the show

[@Capridog]

@@anakenryzenabad529 He’s not the only reason but okay.

[@AK-46]

That’s pretty funny because if you think about it the seasons where he was the main villain season seven and season eight or the worst seasons of The Walking Dead

[@Inessence4]

@@anakenryzenabad529 a lot of morons are drawn to his big dick energy despite his being an extremely poorly written character..

[@ebonyjefferson4697]

I dropped off after Glenn. I tried again, but I just can’t get behind the idea that Rick or Maggie would allow Glenn’s murderer to redeem himself. I’ll watch the Rick and Michone spin-off though.

[@TukikoTroy]

There is really only one reason. US show runners have no idea how to end a show, so they just keep making worse and worse episodes until the viewers get sick of it.

[@joshphilips5940]

Still holding on until the end. I enjoy the spin offs as well.

[@shschesschamp]

Me too, but I don't pay attention to the spinoffs anymore.

[@nathanjordon6950]

Fear was good for the first 4 seasons and then it got a bit boring but I'm still trying to watch through it to not miss anything worth watching. I also feel like Walking Dead had a bit of a rough patch from about 6 to 8 but 9 and 10 were a come back for me and obviously 11 is on going.

[@joshphilips5940]

@@nathanjordon6950 As much as i like Negan, i do agree that 6 to 8 was a lil rough. Surprisingly , Fear got better with each season for me. Well the finale for the last season felt a little off though i am looking forward to when i eventually watch the latest season

[@nathanjordon6950]

@@joshphilips5940 I was late to fear. I began watching earlier this year and I'm just past half way through season 5. I was getting through it pretty fast tbh but then around season 4 I slowed down and now I watch it every now and then. I think the problem is that the show slowly killed off my favourite characters. I found I followed Nick, Travis and Madison more than the others and all 3 of them got killed in the span of like 2 seasons which kind of put me off. I mean I suppose Morgan was a good new addition to the cast and I'm so happy to see the return of Dwight too but I feel like Morgan isn't the best for a lead role which I feel like they tried to make him.

[@nathanjordon6950]

@@joshphilips5940 Also, I love Negan as well and his redemption story has been really intriguing. I think they just dragged the whole depressing vibe on for far too long where they were basically enslaved by Negan. There was some good moments in there don't get me wrong.

[@7eh8irdman]

I began to lose interest around season 5, when Beth died. Building her up into a more interesting character, just to off her in a really abrupt manner, annoyed me to no end. Then season 6 happened and it just got worse. There were so many things that made me go, "Well, that was stupid!"

[@hmcpimpslap480]

Yeah that really pissed me off too!😒

[@AlphaDog-ri8lk]

@@hmcpimpslap480 that scalpel only got a little bit of the officers skin so which then prop the officer to shoot her in the head out of nowhere. Very stupid

[@adrianwilliams4095]

This! This is exactly when I started to lose interest in the show. Beth’s death was so unnecessary :(

[@rmh941]

Walking Dead just faced the same problem most dramas face and that's fatigue. Drama shows aren't suppose to go on for 8 or more seasons. 4-7 seasons is that sweet spot. All the great shows that people didn't say really fell off like the Wire, the Sopranos, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, etc. all lasted 7 seasons or less. The shows that were once great but experience massive drop offs were the one that went 8 season or more in my opinion. 8 seasons is enough time for people to get really pissed off at something that turns them off from the show or get tired of the same storylines, or perhaps storylines being too long and rushed at the end. You see this with Dexter, 24 and Game of Thrones that both lasted 8 seasons and the Walking Dead that lasted 11 seasons. Think about how long walking dead was on, we are talking a decade plus, 12 years in total, can't expect to keep interest going for that long, sitcoms you could but that's different, sitcoms you can sit down and watch any episode and don't need to be too concerned with the storyline.

[@bazfish2904]

gotta admit it has been declining these last few years, but what i would like to see is a series about what happens a few years from now, how has these factions grown, what happened to the CRM, the commonwealth, and what was that huge group of ppl Michonne saw at the end of the series(cant remember which one), has the usa been seperated by all these factions and are fighting each other or is there peace between them - a lot of unanswered questions imo which hopefully will be addressed at some point