The Historic Downfall of The Walking Dead

[@thicccheese4007]

I think the show fell apart when fans realized the loop the story was in. Find new settlement, deal with some walkers, introduce new bad guy, kill at least one beloved character to really hammer in the fact the bad guy is the bad guy, drag on the war with the bad guy, kill at least one more beloved character, final battle with the bad guy, move on to find new territory because walkers just decided to show up out of nowhere, repeat process.

[@elhache7160]

This 💯

[@paulbourguignon3632]

Exactly this.

[@joshuaanderson9938]

Called it!

[@PepperHand]

All in the woods or in small towns…

[@dk260]

I realized this by S3, and I didn’t understand how people got so hooked into this show.

[@kkaugustine1958]

Killing off Carl for shock value was beyond stupid. Especially since he is the ENTIRE reason Rick has for living, and also in the comics he survived.

[@latima123ify]

Didn't the actor not want to do the show anymore? If that's true then it wasn't really for shock value

[@kkaugustine1958]

@@latima123ify Actually the actor Chandler Riggs bought a house close to the set to continue the show when he was abruptly fired. He apparently paid a pretty penny for it too. His dad was pissed abt it on social media.

[@kkaugustine1958]

Also (allegedly) Scott Gimple was behind the idea of killing Carl off. I remember at the time ppl were so mad, there was even a petition to get Gimple removed from the TWD.

[@MrAnybody04]

@@kkaugustine1958 Mind you, the entire comic run carl survived and was the one who end off the entire series. idk why gimple still runs the show after firing Chandler over giving him a pay rise bc he turned 18...

[@mandolyn]

​@rob This is what I'm sure they wanted people to think, but no, they blind sided Chandler Riggs.

[@Kreia.]

It’s all started falling apart when they designed characters to talk like philosophers instead of real people. Simple a couple of words long dialogues turned into pages long essays. Zombies became from extremely threatening to just background props.

[@TuckFwitter]

Well said

[@mayfalltribe4747]

Gods the writing was good then.

[@Grassfedshorts]

Imo,what made show good,was the eerie vibe to the whole show,the empty cities,the empty cars,the post apocalyptic aroma that it had, towards the end,it just became your typical drama/action movie.

[@oskarfunes2505]

Frank Darabonts exit had that lowering quality effect

[@Jumpman-cb9hw]

Which was boring af

[@salvest3rr]

it started getting bad during the prison arc the whole atmosphere of the show changed and became a drama as you say

[@Sassykitten84]

Exactly. The same reason I hated season 11

[@samuelault4723]

I think it’s fitting that a zombie show lived longer than it should’ve

[@MzCheecharella]

😛😂🤣🤣🤣

[@JonHuhnMedical]

Under rated comment!!

[@ryman1933]

I've long told people "The walking dead franchise is a shambling corpse of it's former self." there is some sort of poetic irony in that lol

[@MaileyMcAslan]

LOL

[@dylanmonstrum1538]

LMAO that's just clever

[@christamist]

The fact that carl survived 2 bullets yet randomly gets bitten and dies. That irritated me so much. At least give him a better death than that.

[@rafaelarcas942]

If only Scott Gimple thought about that.

[@Julian-hw7eg]

That was their biggest mistake. Carl’s comic storyline hadn’t even started and they killed him off half a season before he would have been the main character, his absence was felt 10x more when Rick left

[@natansoto3673]

To add insult to injury, Siddiq, the very person Carl died for gets taken out by an undercover Whisper rendering Carl's sacrifice as pointless.

[@Biusmenoi]

@@Julian-hw7egthey killed him off before chandler turned 18 bc they didnt want to pay him adult salary

[@grumpymonkeyenterprises6413]

so true, I logged off after this

[@LoveValentineXO]

I watched the show until they killed Glen. Never picked it up again. Only heard about it again when 1) Carl died, 2) Rick left, and 3) "The Walking Dead is ending?......I didn't know it was still going."

[@witchykittyy]

Same, I dipped when Glen died.

[@KillerKingTy23]

Me too and it's so unfortunate. I've gone back and watched the first 4 or 5 seasons a couple times out of nostalgia but I never know when exactly I should stop watching to give myself a satisfying enough ending before the once great show turns into a stinking pile of poo.

[@tresama6993]

Crazy part is I didn’t even hear ab Carl dying I found out from this vid

[@barrioscorona215]

Same

[@rachels.8051]

The Maggie and Negan spinoff is an insane ask of the audience. I’m aware they did some redemption arc for Negan, but why, just why, would Maggie team up with NEGAN, the man who beat her husband to death with a baseball bat?

[@ohshoot3009]

the "redemption arc" was good in my opinion and she still hates him throughout the spinoff spoiler: the only reason she asks for his help is cause she has no other choice and she tries to save her son

[@lindsay7823]

They really did this? Wtf.

[@Glubtubis_Wepal69]

You should maybe watch both shows

[@ohshoot3009]

@@lindsay7823 spoiler: her son was kidnapped by the former Savior so she had no other choice but to track Negan down and use him as a "bait"

[@D-Fens_1632]

Because money.

[@Lylslet]

Killing Carl off literally ruins the whole purpose of Rick’s story and the entire show. Carl was literally hyped up to be the fruition of Rick’s immense effort in surviving and raising a son during everyone’s worst nightmare.

[@ShadowSonic2]

They gave Rick a new son to replace Carl's role in the story

[@rafaelarcas942]

@@ShadowSonic2but it was still a bad idea and apparently, it didn’t work.

[@Diogo_7237]

@@ShadowSonic2 Yeah and that worked really well, right? The Ones Who Live is sooooooo gooooood LMAO

[@rosaevee274]

I think earlier in the show there were other things to cling to for hope -- Glenn and Maggie's relationship, Beth's self-improvement, Hershel's general kindness, to name a few-- but by the time Carl died those were all gone and the writers had failed to replace them. So at that point it's like, what's left to care about lol. Everyone left is either undeveloped or just a variation of "rugged survivor with no real bonds". The stakes are nonexistent.

[@rafaelarcas942]

@@rosaevee274 Honnestly, I am not even sure that those stakes with what's left of the story would be worth it again as the writing doesn't have any creativity.

[@dicarpio2177]

They spent far too much of the show forgetting that: 1) you can cover yourself in zombie guts and they’ll ignore you 2) if you michonne it and remove a walkers arms and jaw so they can’t attack you, you can keen them as pets on a chain and other walkers will leave you alone And then they killed Carl…

[@Bayard1503]

But that can't be a long lasting solution, always covering yourself in rotting guts...

[@LiberPater777]

​@@Bayard1503 If 2 girls can share 1 cup, you can tolerate some zombie guts.

[@Bayard1503]

@@LiberPater777 Funny. But it's not about that, it's about germs, bacteria that could kill you, especially in a world left without antibiotics. Anyway, later seasons went beyond that, as in simple zombies aren't really an issue anymore. There was a moment where their city is completely overrun by a horde and they just stood there and fought them and won. Most of the zombies are already pretty rotted, decaying a lot, as in mushy and easier to stab :)). Anyway, after plenty of weak seasons I think the one with the whisperers was actually very good. Haven't watched the final season yet.

[@3takoyakis]

@Asimpnamednutsack only once and in the end it isnt about mindless titan story anymore its about flesh gundam

[@sam-psonsmith9951]

@@Bayard1503 The whisperers was definitely better than season 8 which was mostly a bore. But still not worth going on for another 2-3 seasons after that. They should have ended the story with alexandria. Also, you don't even need guts. Michonne got a little walker blood on her in season 3 or 4 and they immediately ignored her. At this point you just need a jacket with some blood on it. They also forgot that Walkers can't bite through duct tape which we saw in season 3 as well. So you could easily make bite proof clothing. Especially around the usual weak points, arms, legs, neck.

[@youzettasonsofdigits1639]

This is why if youre gonna make a tv series you need to know what happens from start to finish on paper. If you just dont know how to end it youll get a show like this with many seasons that just get more dull the longer it goes on.

[@BratzRockAngels]

Right. It's like show creators want their series to fail by not planning from start to finish.

[@user-rb7nj2sy3u]

To be fair the comics weren't finished when the show started

[@KillerKingTy23]

​​@@user-rb7nj2sy3usame problem that ruined GOT at the end too. Two massive phenomenons in the early-mid 2010s, both gone in a quiet whimper.

[@gordonneverdies]

The modern franchise recipe - Create something cool that attracts loyal fans - Disappoint and betray fans - Blame fans and call them toxic - Lose loyal fans - Create 90 different lame spin offs and milk the rest of the normies who keep giving these idiots their time and money.

[@ShadowSonic2]

Not once has any major production ever blamed fans or called them toxic. That was stuff the fans made up to fuel their persecution complex.

[@gordonneverdies]

@@ShadowSonic2 Multiple Star wars actors have gone on record calling fans racist/sexist/phobic and blaming them for low ratings of their shows. It isn't because there are women or POC in the show It's because they are obviously DEI/nepo hires and bad actors. The writing of these shows is poor quality and fans are being gaslit to think they are the bad guy. I can't believe you can't see this. To say "not once" is wild.

[@merentori]

​@@gordonneverdiesnuh-uh

[@Jman92854]

@@ShadowSonic2 That's a funny joke, no way did you say that and actually mean it. You should do stand up.

[@saturated3821]

@@ShadowSonic2 I mean, the Witcher producer: "When you’re making a series for a vast audience, with different experiences, from different parts of the world, and a large part of them are Americans, these simplifications not only make sense, they are necessary. It’s painful for us, for me too, but a higher level of nuance and complexity will have a smaller reach, it won’t resonate with people." Which is really just a silk glove way of saying these bitches dumb, so we had to write it dumb.

[@HJ-ek6hn]

Crazy to think how TWD and GOT were the two biggest things in television for almost a decade, and because of how bad they messed both of those shows up, absolutely nobody talks about them anymore.

[@user-wi9hv2pb2q]

yes, what they are missing is the people who are fans decades later.

[@YouTubeIsTwitter2.0]

And compare those 2 with breaking bad, which was a consistently good show from 1st to last season

[@CallMeSlade]

@@KZbinIsTwitter2.0 I wouldn’t say all of the episodes were good, season 1 was boring as fuck, a lot of filler episodes in season 3-4. Only when Gus and Jesse become a duo it gets good

[@kayanarede]

The only way HBO will be able to redeem itself from the character assassination of Daenerys Targaryen is to bring her back on that Jon Snow spin off nobody asked for. As for the hype, they pulled a surprising feat with the first season of House of the Dragon. It was actually preety good and made me remind of GoT first seasons.

[@phattjohnson]

@@user-wi9hv2pb2q It hasn't been decades yet dawg, and both shows already have a pretty low remaining fanbase :P

[@kevinmarrett9532]

The most important thing that people needed and didn’t get, causing them to quit, is HOPE. People watch apocalyptic shows because they want to see people dragging civilization back from the pit. They don’t want to just watch a never ending treadmill of character introductions and deaths while the setting stays the same.

[@RogersGirl88]

Yes! I was praying that at some point a season would become like a good settlement building game. The survivors would get a foothold, start to beat back all the bad guys and walkers. They would grow the colony. Then they could explore plots like how they are going to industrialize or write a new constitution of rights for the survivors in the camps or create a mini democratic government. There could be cool discovery channel-style shows where clever ingenuity shows the audience how ore is mined to create new items from scratch. There could be problems with a draught where they have to build an aqueduct. There could be scouting runs going further out to other states make contact with other colonies. Like if they sent some of the cast up to Massachusetts where “the modern minute men” have fortified an old revolutionary war era fort and created a new republic but there is some plot twist where they are bad. But instead the show tried to mill their tried and true formula. New colony , things are good for 5 minutes, mean mean bad guy does extra mean thing, colony destroyed, rinse and repeat. I was thoroughly done with this show by season 7.

[@JeremyRobbins1996]

This is actually why The Last Ship is one of my favorite apocalypse show

[@leahbelieva]

Yesssss I describe seasons 6 and beyond as a constant kick in the nads with no sign of relief.

[@truecolors51]

No, I didn't care if they found a cure or not I was so hooked on the characters that all I wanted is them to stay alive. And not only did they all turn into badasses and leaders, they also started to rebuild civilizations in terms of maintaining the old values and morals and making the world safer. They made a new world and that is much more interesting than finding a cure and kill all the zombies of the world 😂. They went against all odds and took a doomed world and constructed it from the beginning. They went from scared nomads to leaders and world makers. HOPE is all the show is about along with values such as family, trust, love, humanity.thats the biggest plot twist for me. But ok😊

[@hopoff9968]

Yes that's exactly what I was thinking, at some point the viewer stops giving a shit. I capped out in season 4, by then it became very clear to me that if they don't find a cure to transition the story, there was no reason to keep watching because it would be just more of the same. By that point you already see cults, cannibals, betrayals, and all manner of walkers. So a tactic a lot of formulaic shows like this resort to is killing off characters to raise the tension. But the problem with that is its a short lived win, and now you have to introduce a new character that will hopefully connect with the audience and take the last one's place, and that only gets harder and harder with each subsequent death.

[@Avitus_94]

I hated that sometimes the guys kill off hundreds of Zombies without any issue and then suddenly a single one bites a Charakter.

[@GHopper-uf7mt]

That wasnt a problem in my point of view

[@TheALPHA1550]

A what?

[@bigfortnitefan1890]

here’s my take on the boomerang storytelling. i think it was genuinely a brilliant idea for the terminus arc. i think it emphasized how lonely each group was, how lost they were without each other and it caused confusion in our own heads on who got out and who didn’t at certain points. I could go on but im at work and can’t yet lol. I think it was extremely well done up until they decided to do it past that. I believe if we only had it during that portion of the show we would look back and think damn that was good writing. but obviously we didn’t get that reality

[@depalmlicker2143]

I am glad to find at least one person who enjoyed that. Season 4 was my favorite season. Daryl's story was incredibly engaging. I was on the edge of my seat whenever the "Claimers" were on screen.

[@tresama6993]

100% agree

[@prathikdevaruppala]

I’m so glad that Steven Yeun, danai gurira, and Jon Bernthal found so much success apart from the show

[@muvaofpearl]

...and Sonequa Martin-Green.

[@prathikdevaruppala]

@@muvaofpearl I gotta be honest, I don’t really see her in much stuff anymore. Steven Yeun got nominated for a Freaking Oscar! Danai Gurirai is in Black Panther and Jon Bernthal is everywhere.

[@mackielunkey2205]

@@prathikdevaruppala She's in Star Trek Discovery, and Norman Reedus was on Death Stranding and Helluva Boss.

[@prathikdevaruppala]

@@mackielunkey2205 Yeah Norman Reedus is probably gonna be in a lot of stuff goin forward, but I don’t really know a lot of people who watch discovery so I’m still in question with Sonequa Martin Green

[@dzas_cave]

Invincible, Okoye, and Punisher

[@milkbottle4u]

Biggest mistake that led to all the others was firing Frank Darabont. “Yeah, let’s fire the guy that made Shawshank, The Mist, and The Green Mile.” Brilliant

[@jiggycalzone8585]

The biggest "what if" ever is if they had allowed him to run the entire series

[@KingofGermanic]

​@@jiggycalzone8585 I think he would've ended it way sooner. Somewhere around season 3 or 4. Maybe even after 2. As flawed as the show is I'm glad I got to see Negan and Rick's breakdown in Alexandria. Some of my favorite moments in TV

[@jabronisauce6833]

@@KingofGermanicLmfao would never have ended in season 2 you basket case and I’m sorry negan wasn’t worth all the bullcrap that surrounded that character it ended up making his character lame as hell.

[@archerdavidson6066]

Not

[@iefhktddvnu]

If the show wouldve ended after negans death this show wouldve been regarded as one the best, everything wouldve fitted. The flashbacks in that season with old gray rick, god

[@Beach_flower]

I am one of those people who stopped the minute they smashed Glenn’s head in. And I was a giant fan before then. Thanks so much for this video, I loved hearing your analysis and also learning what else happened!

[@ericfletcher8671]

Well I mean why it's what happened in the comics...What I get from walking dead fans is a fan base of whining ass babies because the story line don't fit your imagination...Look it's probably the most real in the fact people requardless of who they are die in a world like this...Damn what a bunch of babies...lol

[@Beach_flower]

@@ericfletcher8671 totally get this and you’re right! I guess I should have said, it wasn’t just that he got killed because I did know that’s what was in the comics. It was more what he described in this video about how they faked out the audience first with his death, kept stringing us along forever, and then there wasn’t some kind of twist or payoff. It was just exactly what happened in the comic and we already knew that!! I think this video does a fear job explaining why some us stopped watching.

[@keekers.]

when you said season 4 was when the show started showing problems I was like "what? no way..." but then you explained and I realized I always watch the show by binge watching. I never thought about how having so many different storylines caused people to wait soooo long in between lol. maybe one day i’ll rewatch it doing 1 episode a week and experience how that felt.

[@Smorgasvord]

It was brutal having to wait a whole week just to get 5 minutes worth of good and interesting story. I really hope that one day someone makes a super cut that removes all of the filler and boring parts of the show.

[@KillerKingTy23]

​@@SmorgasvordI hope someone makes a cut of the show where it ends in the 4th, 5th, or even 6th season also so that it's easier for me to rewatch the half that I have so many good memories from before it went to hell. For those of us that watched it each week with friends and family, it truly is a nostalgic good time to look back on.

[@Hazeljv3]

I'm one of the people who bailed on TWD shortly after Glenn was killed off (which I felt created a huge charisma void in the show tbh), but the first death that set off bad writing alarm bells in my head was Beth's. I know that a lot of people didn't like her and probably didn't care, but I did, and the fact that the writers gave her some strong character growth just to immediately kill her off was a HUGE red flag for me. It felt really cheap and unnecessary.

[@angelaholmes8888]

Yeah after beth died I stopped really caring about the show

[@AJ-pu9jq]

Same, Beth’s death was a big “oh actual narrative payoff isn’t a priority anymore” moment for me lol

[@nope19568]

honestly i feel like they couldve done so much if they found a way to work with the hospital or something but noooo, they just kill her and it sucks, totally agree with the caring less after

[@robertlind186]

Beth basically committed suicide, it was absolutely idiotic and devoid of her arc and character

[@5i.260]

yeah, her arc in the hospital was literally pointless, because....she dies. And Noah literally dies five episodes later. Like??

[@Dave-zw4tu]

Daryl put it perfectly "That small group we had back in the beginning, could do anything." - That small group was broken up to complex individual character stories, rather than group stories. The break up of this small group resulted in the downfall of TWD.

[@Theshadow12i]

Well, keeping this Group would eventually become boring. I know it might be controversial, but I loved the negan arc, the larger scale... i loved it

[@ThatBlueSkull]

i think going on either full scale group stories or going all in on individual character stories is a bad a idea the key to both would be moderation in both areas sometimes there character stories other times with the group this would keep it interesting for longer

[@dynamite215]

They spread it way too thin smh

[@teeahtate]

I agree. We liked the group stories, but the series still lasted a long time.

[@justgivenofox9543]

Dude once it started branching out from the original group it got to be enough. If they kept the same rinse and repeat but kept the group small, not necessarily the same just small, I think it wouldn’t have come off as tedious. They played it out too long so there couldn’t be coordination between the legions that actually made it through and became established

[@chloeroloson]

When they fake killing Glenn off, I quit the show, came back when he got brought back and quit again when he actually died.

[@dudeonyoutube]

How did they fake kill him? I must have quit right after Negan crushed his skull.

[@chloeroloson]

@@dudeonyoutube They fake killed him before Negan with the dumpster scene where he falls off and it looks like he gets eaten alive.

[@dudeonyoutube]

@@chloeroloson Thanks. I did see that episode but stopped watching after Negan crushed Glenn's head in mid season 7 and thought that Glenn had come back after that death too. 😱 Thanks again.

[@chloeroloson]

@@dudeonyoutube I stopped watching then too. No problem~

[@bigtim810]

My last episode was where Daryl was being tortured with that happy song. Id have to say that the show lost me when they killed off Beth for no reason and then had that poor girl go on the talking dead and she was balling her eyes out for being killed off the way she was. She was clearly hurt.

[@philippeh3904]

The handling of that season 6 finale is what killed the show. Teasing us to wait for months for the payoff. You noticed how much the viewership dropped after the opening episode of season 7. They should’ve showed Abraham being killed as the final scene of season 6, that way the audience thinks it’s safe. And then late into episode 1 of season 7 Glenn dies and shocks us all. Much better way to handle it

[@after-hours]

I was supporting The walking Dead all the way up until season 6 that's when I said enough

[@misterkite]

It was obvious the show was going nowhere in season 4.

[@gabrielacanette5485]

I hated season 5, they separated the characters into too many plot lines, for such a LONG time, and part of what makes a show entertaining is that! seeing the characters interact with each other. And the end was just nonsense, Beth had such a potential as a character, and they killed her way too early and in the most dumb way possible.

[@MrAnybody04]

I thought people who stopped watching at this point were being ridiculous considering people who read the comics already saw it coming but I think building up sm hype for months for that episode was a bit much which put people off.

[@caitlinirelan5641]

I stopped watching at the end of season 6. Glenn was my favorite character and when I heard that he died in season 7 it encouraged me even more not to continue. I stopped because I realized how BADLY repetitive it was getting. There's not many shows I actively go, hm I'm gonna stop watching this. The walking dead was one.

[@theflyingdutchman1301]

Cant remember who, but someone once said "The art of making a show/serie is knowing when to stop" Crazy how many shows dont learn from this.

[@sanye4k]

that so true 🤣🤣

[@unsubme2157]

What do you think should have been a natural end point? When rick blows up the bridge?

[@theflyingdutchman1301]

@@unsubme2157 They should never have made so many off those weird decisions, pretty sure dropping from 14 million viewers plus onto less than a million had a big part in Andrew Lincol leaving or atleast made the choice far more easy. Think they should have stopped strong to maybe pick it up later instead of ruining the show lmao.

[@Bingo_the_Pug]

I love pizza, but if I eat pizza every day eventually I’ll get sick of it

[@lukelocks9083]

There's an old saying in showbiz, "Leave them wanting more". Ricky Garvais knows & practises this so well, as he if anything, stops his shows short.

[@bradgrisch5206]

For me, it was when the governor came around and it became human vs human and not so much about the walkers.

[@FightinCow]

im surprised that the writers seemed so eager to get people to watch but never bothered bringing in characters from the games like clem or lee, seems like an easy way to get people interested for a few episodes

[@DrkLrdK]

My biggest problem was when the group would do something that was extremely effective and helpful, but then several episodes later would completely discard the idea. "Hey this is a really effective way to kill zombies without putting us in danger." "I know! Lets not do that ever again." "Agreed!"

[@kman1893]

@@TackJorrance project zomboid fellas know

[@pauldickhoff3594]

I was really expecting the series to show people getting to grips with the new reality of zombification, rebuilding the world with a lot of innovating ideas and power struggles between opposing ideologies on how to rebuild the world. There's was so much they could have done with the series, if they had the balls to phase out the so called "main plot" of menacing zombies. IRL Human civilisation would probably recover from a zombie apocalypse WAY faster than the runtime of the original series.

[@flossordie2256]

​@@kman1893 hahah pz boys represent

[@bluenote4727]

@@pauldickhoff3594 "IRL Human civilisation would probably recover from a zombie apocalypse WAY faster than the runtime of the original series." Have you seen how people, medias and governments acted with covid, that wasn't a dangerous virus ?

[@littleman787]

Do you have an example? Can't think of any

[@TheLocalEccentric]

I really liked how in the beginning of the show it tried to keep a firm grasp on reality, for a science fiction horror, of course. What I mean is that in the beginning the story was told as if it was a hypothetical of what would/could happen if such a disease existed. It felt so real, so plausible. Then, it started to feel cartoonish. It lost that feeling of immersion and became ridiculous.

[@chinii_eej]

I feel like zombie movies struggle so much because we mostly have a good idea of what we’d do in such a situation. TWD from what I remember, has no cultural concept of zombies or undead, so there’s already a massive bridge we need to cross to actually cause viewers to stick around.

[@johnmv1140]

The moment i saw a tv spot witha dude sitting on a throne with a fake af looking tiger on a leash, i knew i was right in quitting at the start of season 7

[@GoblinsAreAGirlsBestFriend]

I heard that argument a lot around season 7 and though I had my own issues with the show, I never agreed with that - with all due respect for the fact that that's just how it felt to you, and that's fine. As a reader of the comics, the things that other viewers found "too much" (Ezekiel and his tiger, etc.) were always going to be part of the storyline for me. That was just always going to be the story because that's the source material so it didn't catch me off guard as much, I guess.

[@JoshMightymouse]

Read the comics

[@redsixx669]

The early seasons had that creep factor for that exact reason, it felt like it COULD actually be possible

[@GrandpasSecretIngredient]

The show was always watchable even at its worst. The thing that killed it imo was when they killed carl, then rick left. After that the show had no heart.

[@TRKJSR]

Carl was never my favorite character but I both hated the way they killed him and the fact that they killed him off at all.

[@GHopper-uf7mt]

​@@TRKJSR they killed off carl because the company had issues with him and needed him fired.

[@GHopper-uf7mt]

@Orange_Juice_Drinker that is a problem, misuse of " "

[@UnluckyOctopus]

I stopped watching when Rick left a helicopter came and picked him up and just never came back but I don’t remember Carol being dead?

[@Dm34421]

Hollywoods obsession with franchises and spin-offs is what killed the walking dead. The writers focused their time on the spin-offs instead of the OG walking dead

[@angelaholmes8888]

Yes exactly

[@RaptorJesus]

Something-something, Walking Dead became a zombie franchise, something-something.

[@softjytsu]

hollywood thinks everything needs to be some cinematic universe and it's pissing me off

[@cameronjosephvideos5942]

I''m not sure why anyone believed The Walking Dead has an interesting enough premise to justify all these spin offs. This isn't Marvel where the universe is so flexible in the stories it can tell. And even Marvel now feels dull and too much to keep up with, The Walking Dead is just people surviving zombies. There aren't a lot of new and exciting things you can do with such a premise. Even one show struggled to keep that interesting for 11 seasons straight, now they expect us to be interested enough to watch several spin offs just to understand what's going on.

[@stephaniewozny3852]

The overall lesson we can take from this insistence on extending franchises past their expiration date and franchise fatigue is quite simply: "Know when to fold 'em". It's a comedy, but I think _The Golden Girls_ managed to end right when the show felt it was nearing its "Jumping the Shark" moment. The show was still entertaining, but you could kind of see where the writers began putting more wacky premises into the plots, and they left on a high note with Season 7. I notice that for long running shows, about the sixth or seventh season is right when it hits its zenith. Then it gets kind of hit or miss from there if it goes on. Season 10 and beyond seems excessive, many shows either going through the motions or jumping the shark and straying from what made much of the shows successful. Just an interesting pattern to note.

[@samuelriley1]

I'd argue there was an additional fatal mistake - announcing the Maggie & Negan and Daryl spinoffs before the show actually finished. Once they announced them, any scene where these characters were in danger had zero tension because we knew they were going to be fine because they're needed for the spinoffs! Totally destroyed the idea that no-one is safe and could be killed off at any moment

[@jasonadersonwedion9874]

Agreed

[@valmiro4164]

The show was pretty dead by that point

[@whodatnation1222]

While I would agree, those characters already had super heavy plot armor by that point so their scenes were always inconsequential

[@ramseyabdul1873]

Great point

[@ricardojaye305]

I saw an article where JDM actually publicly complained about that.

[@do0ranfrump260]

Loss of hope, direction, and any character I still identified with.

[@zarcon42]

I quit watching a couple episodes into season 7, my reason was I was sick to death of all the ninja zombies. I remember the exact zombie. One of the characters walked by a tree they just approached from a distance, so could see all around the tree as they approached said tree. But as soon as they pass the tree a zombie comes out from what is now behind the tree. Was the final ninja zombies straw.

[@BigDaddy_Geoff]

It’s so insane to me and a testament to the talent of Frank Darabont that he managed to make such a good show with only 6 episodes that managed to fly that high for 10 more seasons and half a dozen more shows before it slowly rolled to a stop.

[@jonathanlee5314]

You're absolutely right.

[@jdgaf2058]

Never should have gotten rid of frank

[@p0p7art]

@@jdgaf2058 no thanks Michael kandal was better

[@riseofazrael]

@@p0p7art Naw, season 1 is the peak of the show. It just kept getting worse and worse the longer it went on.

[@eliaspickering6470]

@@p0p7art not a fucking chance lmao

[@Demsky83]

Terminus is when I realized the show was on a loop. Travel, find a group, get overwhelmed, regroup, conquer opposition, settle down, encounter another group. Start loop again.

[@HotelMari0Maker]

Funny, I lost interest right after Terminus when they were in Alexandria. I stopped watching somewhere in-between the Glenn fake-out death and the reveal that it was fake, so I spent years being confused cuz I thought he died but was still seeing Glenn merch in stores 😂

[@ogge9296]

agreed. weird that he didn't mention it in the video. the show being so formulaic and repetitive is why many i know quit watching it

[@JohnSmith-bw6pv]

I have never heard a dude complain this much.. over something so mundane too :|

[@tennoo160]

Isn’t it what would happen in real life?

[@Correxis]

​​@@tennoo160That's exactly what would happen in real life

[@ThrobbGoblin]

Walking Dead is what would've happened to Breaking Bad if Gus secretly survived the explosion. And Mike secretly survived on the shoreline. And Hank secretly survived in the desert. And for some reason Gomez, Skylar and Ted are ousted instead. Y'know, because we need the audience to *think* that there are real stakes.

[@peterblood50]

The show crashed at the start of season 7. The brutal 'bat' deaths changed many peoples minds, including mine, about the show. Gratuitous violence isn't a valid story-telling technique to me so I turned it off and never went back. I didn't even talk about the show ever again. If people talked about it, I dropped out of the conversation as quickly as possible. I completely abandoned it during the beat-down in the first episode of season 7.

[@witchykittyy]

Exactly!! At that point there was no reason to watch anymore. We were watching violence and cruelty for no other reason than shock value, with no real story being told behind it. At that point I knew I couldn’t justify wasting my time on that show anymore waiting for it to miraculously pick itself up and become good and worth watching 7 seasons of it.

[@bigbrothertiger4370]

the first four seasons were so immersive, my favorite part of it is how all the characters became a family even though they were all from completely different backgrounds.

[@thebugaboo]

Yeah... and it isn't ever really something that the show SUPER harps on, you just really get the vibe that all of these people REALLY care for each other and they will show it. I wish things could've gone better for the show.

[@cjerp]

i stopped watching during season 4 and never got back into it. then i had 2 coworkers talking about it non stop with spoilers so why bother xD

[@vgm_central]

yes. i discovered the series after i played the first episode of walking dead game on my phone. and all of a sudden i saw an episode on my tv of the tv show and i fell immeadiately in love with it. i loved the first 4 seasons so much.

[@dusteedawg2915]

My favorite was merl fuckin Dixon. Such a rounded unique character.

[@thebugaboo]

@@dusteedawg2915 he reminds me too much of literally every man in my state. He was an ok character, mostly just a racist who got a cool hand and had a redemption arc before dying.

[@TheAnxiousOpossum]

Carl was literally the very soul of The Walking Dead, killing him off like that was the last straw imo. He had so much potential, I wanted him to become the eventual protagonist of the show after Rick's hypothetic death, but off course we can't have nice things.

[@firstlast9846]

In the comics he grows old and becomes Negan’s caretaker / a gunslinger.. for Robert Kirkman’s sporadic writing quality he stuck the landing in the comics.

[@onmoron4175]

he didn't had any potential, carl was a forgotten and missed used character since the start, killing him off didn't do more than giving a refreshed start to TWD, reason why season 9 n 10 are so good

[@NoBodyNoCrime758]

dude who played him was really a good actor and it started to really show

[@darkwoods1954]

I never got this. The soul of the show? He was an annoying character played by a bad actor. Killing him off was clearing out the dead wood.

[@sjbrooksy45]

@@darkwoods1954 🤣🤣 I hated that freaking kid. Then the right when I started to like him they killed him. Carl in the comics was awesome.

[@doctorskara]

You missed the best part of the phone twist. It wasn't just that the people Rick was talking to didn't exist, they were played by the actors of the characters who died up to that point reprising their roles, including Lori. The place they were talking about welcoming them into was the afterlife. They were convincing Rick and his group to die.

[@allnutritionalyeast]

as someone who only watched the series on netflix i can only imagine what it was like to watch those season 4 stories with weeks in between them - it does raise an interesting idea though that someone could theoretically make a re-cut of the show with all the episodes that exist but just edit them and structure them in a fundamentally different way. Kind of like how netflix went back and "re-mixed" the 4th season of arrested development after it had been released to try to make it adhere more closely to the original shows storytelling structure

[@BratzRockAngels]

That would be a good idea. Also I also only watched the show on Netflix and I only watched up to season 9 and then watched the episode where Michonne leaves in season 10 to look for Rick and then watched the Ones Who Live and treated that as the finale for me. Even while streaming, the show dragged a lot in the later seasons and the boomerang storytelling was lackluster. The middle of season 5 got really slow for me honestly and other people consider that to be one of the greatest seasons. It's only until they go to Alexandria that it starts picking up again.

[@kevincano9164]

Just finished the whole show last night and right now I got withdrawals how am I gonna live without looking forward to walking dead ;(

[@jackandrews7878]

They can make 20 different spin-offs and none of them will ever come close to inducing the amount of anxiety that season 1 gave. Darabont is a one of a kind director who knows how to cast versatile actors and make them act in a realistic way that reflects the situation of the characters that they’re playing.

[@Noahloveless1]

You seem to have missed the group that kept track of and manipulated the paths of massive hoards across the whole country in the one with the kids.

[@jackandrews7878]

@@Noahloveless1 that one was dogshit too. no one wants to watch a tv show about a bunch of dumbass teenagers in a zombie apocalypse

[@3RAN7ON]

After Glenn's fake death, it was a huge shocker at the beginning of season 7 when he got it after Abraham. The fans were led to believe there would be only 1 death and I remember how shocked I was. It was so brutal

[@Leechwife]

Honestly, even the second season was absolutely horrible in my opinion. I remember watching it and waiting for SOMETHING that would remind me of season 1 and I did not get it. The difference to season 7 when I stopped watching altogether being that I understood the series being in the beginning of it's story and forgave the senseless bs at the farm. I would endure Lori being the absolute worst of any tv show character because I couldn't give up. At season 7 I was like "No, not this time, I cannot for give this".

[@Noahloveless1]

​@@Leechwife​I didn't see anything wrong with Lori. At least she was 1 an actual unedited character from the comics and 2 actual character from the comics. The trash characters were the wokified girl boss version of Carol, the killing of Carl so they can replace him with a female character that died at birth in the comics then theirs them replacing the awsome redneck character Merl and replaced him with a woke version of a redneck that never exists in the comics. If they just stuck with the comics the show would have been 999x more awsome.

[@Courier_Seven]

My grandmother was absolutely enthralled by this world's story and characters when it started airing in 2010. Sadly we lost her around the time season 4 started. Beautiful woman inside and out and we miss her terribly but I'm thankful she didn't get to see how they ruined one of the most popular and groundbreaking television series of all time.

[@afierymess2307]

I'm sorry to hear that, but hey. At least she didn't have to put up with this horrendous, CW-tier writing.

[@Courier_Seven]

I'm almost certain she would've dropped the show after they killed off Carl. That's when I stopped. Rick eventually leaving I believe we all could've handled if done right, but Carl was supposed to be the one spirit that carried on in the story.

[@Chadius_Thundercock]

Then thank god she passed before she saw the last season

[@Courier_Seven]

@@Chadius_Thundercock even if she did end up seeing the last few seasons, the horrible writing and dialogue alone probably would've taken her out.

[@sarawael8993]

@@Courier_Seven BRUHHH I CANT- stop ill be going straight to hell if u keep saying that

[@totetoresano]

I dropped the show when the Glenn fake-out death happened, but I was growing tired of it long before that happened.

[@dudeonyoutube]

How did they bring him back to life?

[@the_dark_soul_of_man]

The zombie virus came from an Olympic athlete who got sick after swimming in the river Seine.

[@moonie2687]

it's not even fair to the actors what the writers did to this show. they carried it so hard for as long as they could. i am so proud of everyone who blew up because of the walking dead. michonne went from zombie slayer to wakanda warrior, and thats exactly what she deserves. total fucking badass that she is.

[@MikeyDoe]

Grateful she returned for the new show

[@stopthephilosophicalzombie9017]

The Walking Dead became a parody of itself. The show about zombies became a zombie show that would not die. Pretty funny actually. It was really just a cash cow that AMC refused to let go because it kept making money no matter how bad it got.

[@terryrichmond4723]

Season 1 & 2 were the best, only show that stayed good from start to finish was SOA.

[@trishlangford5773]

What went wrong was what is wrong with all Hollywood failures these days. The writing. The writing just went downhill towards the end. Yeah that same mob who are striking for more money and holding Hollywood to ransom. Where did the inspired writers go? The early episodes were great. About halfway through the run it really went off the boil. For me it was taking the focus off the zombies and instead humans fighting each other. The worst villain was Jeffery Dean Morgan's character. Now I love JDM. I think he's sexy but his villain was such an unremittingly evil and brutal person. That's when it went off the boil for me. Surely if the world was really in such a dire place the humans would have to be united in the face of a common enemy. This brutal infighting, human against human was a total turn off. It became your typical humdrum goodies against baddies. The show lost it's feel of the strange, the threatening the unknown.

[@randomguy4781]

@@terryrichmond4723 Breaking Bad stayed good from start to finish too, along with SOA the big difference between those two shows versus other shows like TWD or Dexter is they knew when to end it. shows like TWD/Dexter and many more go on way too long that it kind of ruins it

[@tforbus2]

When negan wasn't eliminated and instead became a full time member of the "good guys" the show ended for me.

[@nickceyssens3699]

ikr, that wasn't logic at all. Storywriters would rather keep the popular character than kill him off like in the earlier seasons.

[@zgama6511]

It happens in the comics too? That's literally just negan's story and if the show had been from his POV from the beginning you would be singing a different tune. And in all fairness to the writers negan was literally the only good character left in season 10 and 11 even Daryl has been watered down to this shell of his original character to a point where his spin off doesn't even make sense. Negans really the only character that got a good arc and as someone who loved Glenn I firmly believe negan has earned his redemption from that act at least. He still does bad things but literally every character does Maggie abandoned her people for years and endangered her and glenns baby bc she couldn't suck it up and deal with negan rotting in prison. Michonne abandons her children in the middle of a war that she thought they were losing bc she found evidence of Rick being alive and although kind of understandable she still abandons her children during a very dangerous time and a very nonsensical time as well. Show died after they killed Carl off for shock value and bc they didn't wanna pay Chandler Riggs more bc he grew up. The entire rest of season 8 just feels like something is missing and all soul left the show for seasons 9 to 11. And not to mention the person Carl died for gets choked out and killed not even 2 seasons later for yet again shock value and he doesn't even fight back. Man wasn't even vital to the story he fucked Rosita and that was about it he dies and she forgets about it him in one episode 😂

[@zgama6511]

​​​@macksunRick believed Carl was right and wanted to make an example of negan that's why he doesn't kill him. As to why the others don't I have no fucking clue I agree it's dumb as shit that they don't but negan's character arc genuinely is the only good thing that came from it lol Edit: They could've fixed this all with better writing but they were too busy killing off the few remaining characters that people actually like then adding horrible replacements to only kill them too and repeat the same process until their entire audience actively hates every character that isn't like fucking Daryl or something

[@user-rw2uh5bv3o]

At least negan had some funny lines.

[@nawan6266]

In the comics he basically becomes an exile, makes much more sense

[@nouk_14]

The fact that this video has over twice as many views as the finale of TWD did💀

[@gplgs4640]

At over 5 million views, this video has likely informed more people that TWD ended than TWD’s ending did.

[@edwinaannor]

the writers killing off Carl was the last straw for me, Rick without Carl just doesn’t make any sense to me

[@angelaholmes8888]

It was really stupid to kill carl off 😠

[@imnotusingmyrealname.stopa6235]

The only episode I watched after that was Rick's last. Even that was mainly because of the cameos.

[@michonnewalker4246]

Same

[@katiemartin6991]

It feels even stupider since they gave him a son with Michonne like one season later (a son that didn't exist in the novels).

[@mackielunkey2205]

Carl living through the whole comic book series made this tv series worse in retrospect.

[@Greeny83]

I liked when Maggie forgot Beth existed for almost an entire season and then the writers realized it and suddenly Maggie showed a ton of concern for her and was ecstatic when she learned Beth was still alive just to kill her off in the dumbest way possible. Bravo, Vince.

[@Disgruntled_Kinkajou]

Are you referring to Vince Gilligan? You know he had nothing to do with the Walking Dead right?

[@sboyle71177]

Right?

[@mantapjiwa632]

​@@Disgruntled_KinkajouSorry you missed the joke

[@Gannoh]

​@@Disgruntled_Kinkajou it's a joke bruh obviously Vince had nothing to do with this dumpster turd show

[@Greeny83]

@@Disgruntled_Kinkajou HE DIDN'T?! OMG!

[@josephquery8752]

I was quite fond of TWD in the beginning. I was done with it after season 3. It's quite interesting to hear postmortem how things played out. This video was a great overview of TWD's decay into a shambling mess.

[@FflawedMetalhead]

I remember having watch parties with my friends for the first and last episodes of each season - I'd make up my living room to look like a bunker and everything - Then S7 happened. I was the last one in my group watching the show by that point, and any of them that tried to catch up just quit after a couple episodes. It felt like the show wasn't going anywhere, so I stopped too. Great vid!

[@shadowslayer205]

38:34 If someone told younger me that the walking dead's later seasons would have survivors cosplaying as stormtroopers while riding on horseback, I would've called them crazy.

[@Ridiculousman3]

I stopped watching way before that came into play. When I saw images of it I laughed my head off. It looked so cheap and plastic

[@Spore9996]

I mean, that was in the comics too, lol. They were meant to be pure white and the design is basically identical between the two.

[@Ridiculousman3]

@@Spore9996 yeah they should have changed the colour since they took liberties with everything else

[@chuuwars]

That comes from the comics thought and it isn't a bad idea by itself when viewed in context, and it definitely wasn't what made the show or the seasons bad.

[@lapplandkun9273]

For real, when I first saw an episode of it, I actually thought they were stormtroopers, no joke.

[@swkrissie]

I am the only member of my family who watched TWD until it ended. It began with my entire family loving it, and me saying goodbye alone.

[@jamesbell1613]

Sounds like me pretty much. 😂

[@SonOfExcess]

Vast majority of people dropped off after season 6.

[@stephencarlsbad]

So the question is... Whats the appeal for being a glutton for punishment? 🤣

[@spodergibbs5088]

Your family stopped watching because it turned to shit. It actually turned into a terrible show.

[@norahorphzinger6721]

Damn, your family experience with TWD was more accurate in the end to a zombie apocalypse than TWD was XD

[@joshdoe7288]

When I was in high school my old best friend would come over every time a new episode came out to watch it together. I truly miss those times. The times around season 3 and 4 where just so good

[@eloyc4245]

I love your video essays. Thank you for making them

[@machodgdon]

Killing Carl off will go down as one of the worst choices ever made in the history of television. But what made it worse was immediately next season they killed off Henry, the character they gave Carl’s Whisperer storyline to, making his death even worse

[@gavina4241]

nah that was a cool ass death

[@chazchoo99]

This!! Exactly this!! Killing off Carl was bad (read the worst possible choice ever), but killing off Henry? Really?? The "border marking" scene in the comics still strikes me as one of the most devastating twists ever, and the way handled it in the show was like Negan's introduction on steroids: subverting expectations solely for the sake of subverting expectations instead of just adapting amazing source material.

[@III_Ed_B_III]

They killed off Siddiq relatively fast too, who Carl had risked his life for.

[@gavina4241]

@@III_Ed_B_III i find that such a silly complaint because people be saying “carl died for nothing” when his sacrifice got the community a doctor who help rebuild this community even bringing in new life for the future

[@III_Ed_B_III]

@@gavina4241 Was that sacrifice mentioned, linked, or developed, in later episodes? I'm talking about character development, and writers having an understanding for their characters and audience, and bringing that to the screen explicitly as well as implicitly (a skill which declined in this show over a period of years, to a laughable point in the latter seasons).

[@crod9905]

Andrew Lincoln is such an underrated actor. He gave the performance of a lifetime!

[@cherryblossom7120]

He's my top favorite with Tom Welling.

[@Em-ih5du]

One day I'll scroll down the comment section of a youtube video without someone misusing the term "underrated". One day... there's still hope... One day...

[@crod9905]

@Em Not sure how I'm misusing it though? It's just the truth that Andrew Lincoln didn't get much critical acclaim for this role compared to other actors from popular shows at the time. And he doesn't have the level of fame he should've had from a role like this.

[@jim191185]

@@crod9905 very true. was was in a sitcom my sister watched in the 90's and nothing else as far as I know lol

[@DarthRushy]

@@cherryblossom7120 Welling really needs another hit show. But if not, I hope that animated Smallville he's been talking about gets made.

[@mpphotofilm]

They fired the only guy with a vison, Darabont. That’s what went wrong.😅

[@Glubtubis_Wepal69]

Well he came back later right? That's why 9-11 were an upswing.

[@joeychicago6436]

Another problem is the picture DIDN'T EVOLVE. Any story, the viewer wants to see movement towards a conclusion

[@UpstageBeast]

It's always funny to me, as someone who always waits for a show to end before binging through all the episodes; hearing about people's reaction to stuff like season finales and cliff hangers lol. I think it's better to enjoy media this way cause you can just find out years later that a show will have a bad end and just skip it.

[@derpmorederp1417]

I had an ultra hard time believing Michonne basically abandoned her kids in the final season

[@KabbalahSherry]

Same! 🤦🏻‍♀️😩 That is unfrigginbelieavable!

[@cherryblossom7120]

Both kids have no character development. It felt like props that were given from person to person. they were suppose to be ricks legacy and they weren't even interesting. What was the point of those kids?

[@Dru2037]

She was shooting Black Panther and I think she wanted to leave.

[@Shockkings0714]

@@cherryblossom7120 Judith definitely had character development

[@cherryblossom7120]

@@Shockkings0714 the strong women stereotype or the golden child syndrome?

[@Krelion1]

Carol: We have killed people and I feel bad about it. Daryl: Dont, we had no choice, was us or them (followed by 5 minutes of somber silence with them staring into the horizon) I feel like they had this same conversation about 20 times in the last few seasons. It is the definition of filler, that I think is the main reason most people left. Not the deaths for shock value, but the sheer repetition of everything again and again and again.

[@imadone]

When they kill off all the people you root for, there is not reason to watch. I was on the fence by the time S5 E10, and fully stopped watching when Glenn died. There’s no purpose with shock & awe. And there were so many plot holes from season to season that are left unexplained that there was no purpose in watching. Clearly that’s not entertainment.

[@reginaphalange9417]

@@imadone glenn death was faithful to the comics though (in opposition to Carl’s ridiculous death)

[@wad316]

This and they're on the run, they find a new base, it gets ruined, repeat.

[@panter8895]

​@@wad316 It only happend 2 times

[@cashel5232]

Carl's death ruined the show period. His development is the entire drive of the story until the end(in the comics), and should've stayed that way imo.

[@sherede1442]

It took me months to finished the last 2 seasons. Not only were they 22 episodes a piece, I had to take a break every now and then because of how much it was pissing me off 😤 and knowing that S11 was the finale, I was so ANNOYED at how they kept creating small story lines, knowing the season had a few episodes left. Had me sitting there like, “well how are they gonna wrap this one up?!” Like having the walkers develop cognitive abilities like learning to open doors and climb gates and use rocks to break glass doors/ windows. And the constant reusing of the idiotic tropes, like being in the forest or a city and BOOM, being surrounded in mere seconds. The finale gave me a headache from the amount of times I hard eye-rolled 😒

[@dralbertsmeinheimer5738]

The menace brought to this show by Frank Darabont was never replicated when he left

[@chadhenderson2922]

Michael Rooker’s Merle Dixon doesn’t get ennough love when we reminisce on this show. He was so good at capturing desperation, vitriol, rage, humiliation, and so many other emotions.

[@EstradaDuran-sg6co]

you're gay aren't you?

[@shanellecarlson9499]

The Daryl Dixon spinoff starts tonight.

[@bobvance-]

You need a hug?@@EstradaDuran-sg6co

[@hearthatbird]

He killed the GOAT Gargulio tho.

[@jackalexande]

@@EstradaDuran-sg6co 💀

[@taylorgayhart9497]

I’m sure some people are going to argue that Game of Thrones had a bigger downfall, but the fact that I didn’t even know that the show had ended, I think speaks volumes to how much of a downfall it had. At least Game of Thrones had people talking until the very end. Hell eight years later, and we’re still fucking talking about it! PS I don’t know if it’s actually been eight years, honestly, it feels like twice as long ago thanks to Covid, but I just threw a number out there.

[@empressfreya9872]

And Game of Thrones ended while there was still a giant fandom. The show was trending every week still. The ending actually managed to make people ANGRY. TWD just fizzled out

[@raffy234]

I thought the show had ended years ago. Until KZbin Shorts showed me clips of the finale and Rick Grimes's scene

[@ryandabian2982]

A bit of false comparison though. GoT ended in 2019 before the streaming saturation that came in the 2020s. The content fragmentation in the recent years have made it harder for newer shows to get that blockbuster/watercooler level success you used to see. Though choosing to drag the show to 11 seasons and bleeding viewers at an exponential rate was a decision that the executives took that damaged the brand and health of the show. Unless your audience is mostly seniors that will literally die watching your show like NCIS or Law and Order, it's best not to keep it chugging along with hundreds of episodes of diminishing returns.

[@roseolivas08]

The only other show I can think of that's had a similar downfall is Supernatural or Grey's, but Grey's is STILL going so only time will tell if they'll keep going for ANOTHER ten years

[@greyblueme9711]

@@roseolivas08 hasn't the lead of greys said she's begged for the show to end for the past like 6-10 years?

[@rohanking12able]

Killing abraham and glenn killed the show. It was purely to look at the fans and go you thought

[@undead_mi]

There’s a huge difference between bad acting and bad writing. In TWD’s case, bad writing is pretty much evident. If only Frank Darabont hadn’t been fired…

[@Amymyhie]

Chandler Riggs didn’t find out he was going to die until the episode he gets bit. It said in his script that Carl was frightened, which confused chandler because this is CARL, he wouldn’t be shaken up by a walker, I think he had to go to a director or something to even be told

[@yashdwivedi9450]

Ikr and they suddenly made Carl pacifist who wanted to stop fighting and wanted his dad to create some imaginary community where no one fights. I think they used Carl’s as an excuse to keep negan that is keepinh JDM on the show, bcoz in no universe he should’ve been spared. And then the rest of story just about how negan is good guy who had to do things and he is the only badass who can take down whisperers.

[@taketinnn33]

Just shows how cheap the people running this were

[@cooperbridge7929]

I believe it also came out that Chandler bought a house out near the predominant shooting location before he found out, which then led to people assuming that AMC just didn't want to pay him the same wage as the other adults

[@VastoFlo13]

The Walking Dead directors and writers did Chandler dirty in order to keep Negan alive. Watching the show Carl went from badass to a peaceful dude. A complete 360 from his character. The writers went woke, which is why people hate woke stuff. Like many have said it’s okay to create stuff that includes woke ness but they freaking drowned the show with it. They kept ass actors like the girl that played Tara, and Denise. I felt like they did it perfect with Rick and Michonne cause you feel both actors chemistry and also Aaron was great, but then they took it to woke level 50000.

[@edmundduke1296]

​@@VastoFlo13Bro what 'wokeness' are you talking about. What part about Negan not killing people is woke but Rick having an interracial relationship isn't??

[@Quick-Silver206]

The biggest problem with shows like this is they don't know when to end. They think they can just keep going.

[@serene1275]

True when they ran out of creative ideas. You did think that figured out to do that for 2 seasons first just in case the show make it to season 2. Than create more interesting storylines for the next 2 seasons.

[@JackCrossSama]

@@serene1275 to me the season should had ended in season 6 where Negan kills the camera man, the audience.

[@550LMS]

Yep. What a lot of producers don't understand it's better to end a series leaving the audience wanting more rather than the audience just begging for it to end. Those series that ended earlier than the audience really wanted, will be rewatched. Walking dead? Rarely.

[@yveltalsea]

This happened to Westworld too. Unlike TWD, there was no comic to grab ideas from. So after two seasons, they just... went with some bad ideas...

[@ArtofFreeSpeech]

The problem for me with the show was not understanding what made the show great in the beginning. The first 3 seasons were great. Season 4 and 5 were okay, but then it just got terrible.

[@db-pl5yu]

This show was my first experience with the negatives of binge watching an active tv show. I was 14 if i remember. I watched all 4 seasons in preparation for season 5 in 2 weeks. I would pull all nighters, watched during lunch at school, walking home from school, study hall. My whole life for 2 weeks was walking dead. Then season 5 came out and i was so excited, loved the premiere. And then it dawned on me that I had to wait a whole week for 1 new episode. Instantly killed any enthusiasm in my 14 year old adhd brain. I didnt watch another episode, and based on how it ended it was a blessing in disguise. I had no idea it would go on for 6 more seasons.

[@BuPhoonBaba]

Negan killed the walking dead.

[@catsrambling]

as someone who only watched the first 2 or 3 seasons, I wonder: where do they think a show like this would end? Because I always saw it as a doomed thing, but now I'm seeing a character going to... Paris? How? Is he swimming? By boat by himself?

[@spoons250]

Dont worry. It will time jump and he will wake up with amnesia, unsure how he got there. There will be vague clues and hints without ever having any real debunkable detail said. Im not even kidding, that's what leaks say

[@TsubasaAnimations]

Helicopters and planes become a thing in the universe in season 8 and the awful season 5 of FTWD 😂

[@aweigh1010]

@@spoons250 lmao peak writing degeneracy.

[@user-yc5lb8fw5r]

That’s a good point. Even the comic book had a kind of weak ending from my understanding.

[@guccifer764]

@@user-yc5lb8fw5r Yeah, from how it was described to me, it sounds like Rick dies, theres a huge time jump, then society is restored. Its really fuckin weird.

[@demiggi]

Before Glenn's fake-out death everything made sense, everything worked, everything was almost 'air-tight'. Everything that happened up to then had logical explanations. But that scene when dozens of walkers stand over him and somehow only ravage the person on top of him, whilst Glenn is able to 'sneak' away, is for me the start of the end for the Walking Dead Series.

[@MrsLPAmy]

Yeah especially 'cuz they literally killed him a few episodes later. It was such an unnecessary fake-out scene.

[@hata6290]

I think that’s just when you got jaded tbh

[@Dave002]

@@hata6290 not at all, he explained it perfectly, you don't have to dislike the show for it, but that scene was completely illogical and unnecessary, whether you liked it or not.

[@hata6290]

@@Dave002 I’m saying I believe the comment is biased, because they call EVERYTHING before the fake out air tight. Yeah, the fake out was noticeably off, but to say the entirety of the show before it was AIR TIGHT seems very biased, almost like that’s where the rose tinted glasses get taken off

[@rohanking12able]

Especially considering he knew how to hide from walkers in plain sight. And just did it here with none of the intuition

[@CraftingGummi]

My mother showed me this show because I was showing an interest in zombies at one point (I was writing a story about them) and I was incredibly disappointed that I either missed something major, or they barely explained how the actual biology of the zombies work.

[@sebastianderry]

W agent 4 pfp

[@ChickenFriedDryEraseMarkers]

I remember the Glenn death differently than you. I remember people being upset he died, but relieved when it turned out he was alive. And it did feel like he became an untouchable as even a show like The Walking Dead needs some of those. A short list sure, but Glenn among them. So then when they killed him for real, me and many others tuned out because it felt really shitty to lift us up by bringing him back to life just to kill him again. And I never came back. Not one episode more. And never wanted to rewatch it bc I knew I'd face the same dilemma when I got far enough.

[@Piratequeen010156]

I stopped watching the exact episode they killed Carl off. Him dying wasn't apart of the comics or plan- the producers just didn't like that the actor was wanting to attend college AND act. So, they killed him off. Carl signified hope to me and I wanted to see him become a leader and to see a world where a cure works- to live for his mom and Judith and be a rock for his father. Him dying was the last straw for me, I didn't care about anyone else's survival as much as his. The kid survived so much shit just to have a random and unnecessary death.

[@kjellkleine]

it wasnt unnecessary or random at all, they were in the middle of a war and he died because he helped a person he didnt even know, and that had a huge impact on everybodys views and thinking, i would have loved to have carl still in the show but his death wasnt random

[@Fackunator]

​@@kjellkleineit was unnecessary and random. The where or what of his dumbass death doesn't take away from that. Carl, THE Carl, should know how to handle a couple of walkers.

[@Piratequeen010156]

fair view point, but because he had survived sooo much since being a child, it FELT random to just get bitten the way he did then to take himself out. That death had been done multiple times before. I guess it could be realistic in that no one is safe and not all deaths need to be grand- but his character wasn't supposed to die in the first place, so it felt out of no where and lackluster @@kjellkleine

[@Piratequeen010156]

I agree with this, It's been years since I stopped the show (on the exact episode of his death) but I remember feeling that exact way: "how did carl mess up against a couple of walkers when he has been through so much more" it didn't make any sense. I felt irritated/annoyed and it pulled me out of the show because I was thinking "what idiot wrote this?" I guess it could be debated that people make mistakes and can get taken down by the most simplest of things, but meh, it really was an awful way to end his character@@Fackunator

[@Fackunator]

@@Piratequeen010156 EXACTLY. Carl, who at that point knew how to deal with the living, should not have been ambushed by a couple of walkers. Yes, one could argue that "people make mistakes", but killing walkers at that point in time, should come as easy to Carl as walking. He was raised in the apocalypse. I'm not saying he should've been a ninja or something, but he should've handled the situation with the expertise expected from a child of the apocalypse. The moment he died is when I tuned out as well, and never looked back. The disservice to his character was my last straw

[@c.w.simpsonproductions1230]

Looking back, I have to give huge props to Vince Gilligan for how Breaking Bad was handled. He had a vision, and he told it in five well-paced seasons. Breaking Bad was able to avoid the same pitfall that Walking Dead and so many others fell into by not stretching out the same loop over and over again. So many shows just want to stretch out as much as possible to milk views, and they lose their audience. They go on for so long they don't know how to end.

[@_runtybeatle36_68]

I had wathced TWD before i watched Breaking Bad. I was under the impression it would drag on the same way and milk for views, but it didn't. It knew when to end, and it was GOOD. Now, I am watching Better Call Saul which I believe is on par with its parent show. I just wish TWD learned from Breaking Bad.

[@handpickflick]

@@_runtybeatle36_68 I'd argue that BCS is overall better than BB

[@cheesesteakphilly]

@@handpickflick I personally liked BB better (but they’re both still S-Tier shows).

[@naybur74]

yes, i spoiled it for myself and watched the ending, at the time i really did not care for a druggie tv show catering to all our pot heads out there, i do not do drugs, and i just could not relate, BUT.. it had a good story telling, and i think i'll give it a watch finally.

[@liam2386]

BB was boring

[@KarelCudej007]

Glen fake death was my last episode.

[@danielsilva-ds2u]

For me it was season 2. I remember the trailers.... "Shes having my baby shayne" "I love her rick" You dont love her shayne" Some zombie in the background. Narrorator, "The Walking Dead" The first season was fun. Very much survival horror. After that it just became a soap opera with zombies as a secondary antagonist...all the time.

[@EuphoricOverdose]

The fact AMC fired the showrunner that started it all for a guy that ran it into the ground all over trying to capitalize on the success from the first season is the biggest mistake they made. Imagine if the show had Frank Darabont the whole time.

[@MakeYouFeelBetterNow]

Frank is one of the best writers of all time. Executives ego was the problem, they want yes men/women.

[@charliemountain82]

I've been saying this since they blew up the CDC.

[@MayfaireOquinn1210]

1000% agreed. Darabont has more talent in his pinky toe than Scott Gimple has in his entire body.

[@averagecarpentryskills7148]

with Frank it could have been a great miniseries for couple of seasons and told a great complete story and been unforgettable but that wouldn't have made AMC the money they wanted dragging it out into a long "fandom"

[@rienjen]

The Walking Dead is a good example of how dystopian universes are great to create easy conflict, but the payoff at the end is almost always nonexistent. Having the entire world burn is a tough problem to solve.

[@lapplandkun9273]

Walking dead is also what not to do when writing a dystopian based fanfiction that isn't zombies or otherwise.

[@MReiter1997]

twd had the biggest falloff Game of thrones: and I took that personaly

[@mr.gutgemeint6316]

You can't compare Games of Thrones with this shit

[@jonsnow300]

@@mr.gutgemeint6316exactly.

[@Megacliff]

When you mentioned having to wait 7 months to get the cliffhanger answered, I had to mentally stop myself from skipping ahead in your video so as not to have to wait so long XD

[@ayydavis94]

I’m glad you made the point about TWD going from being a show everyone you know was watching to a show that nobody you knew was still watching. Same exact thing happened to me

[@tedeitel8060]

I stomached Rick's unbelievable fake accent for 5 seasons just to see Karl get killed off and the best villain the show had turned into a good guy?

[@amferny]

In a way, the walking dead is a metaphor on how the writers killed off their entire fanbase only leaving a few soul survivors/viewers

[@kevinhibbard320]

Went from "did you see" to "that is still going??"

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

EDIT: FSN liked my comment? I am famous! I remember during the middle of season 5, my Dad said to me, "How many times are they going to go to a new location, pick up new characters and have Rick somehow screw everything up...AGAIN until we find a new location and repeat this cycle...AGAIN?" And after he said that, I just couldn't do it anymore and gave up before Beth got rescued from the godawful hospital storyline. I was already bored at that point and I just didn't have a motivation to keep going. I know I gave up before a lot of other people, but once you see what my Dad pointed out, I just couldn't do anymore. I'm glad after watching this that I jumped ship before more frustrations set in. This show used to be something very special and they completely ruined it.

[@RicoSoprano_]

You shouldn’t let someone perspective effect the way you look at something even your Dad’s

[@empressfreya9872]

​​@@RicoSoprano_ that is not how the world works lol

[@asarishepard8171]

Your dad was right. That was the show.

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

@@RicoSoprano_ Except he was right. When you see it, it's impossible not to ignore it. And as it turns out, that was the core problem of the show itself.

[@sophieamandaleitontoomey9343]

@@asarishepard8171 And it got old really quickly.

[@stoneymcneal2458]

Why is anybody surprised about the downfall of this show? How long did you expect a soap opera with zombies to last?

[@justacomment123]

Undermining strong characters' development with no tangible payoff was the real killer of this show.

[@niebo3179]

I remember how hype I was about the idea of searching for a cure. Something that lasted a few episodes. There was a goal. When they revealed that this cure was bullshit, I felt there was no hope at all, no goal to reach, just "Kill the new bad guy" every season. And I got bored with Negan very quick after his shocking introduction.

[@Drak976]

I don't mind the actor guy but too much hype can kill someone. Maybe comic him was great but all I saw was a fat biker that the red haired guy could have easily just bum rushed and curb stomped.

[@chris00nj]

Same. I stopped after Season 6. There's no overarching story progression.

[@LanceB3322]

I stopped watching when they didn't kill negan at the end of the season they introduced him.

[@BillKillerz]

Same, pretty much spot on where it started to crack before i stopped watching

[@sverrebjrbk6965]

I may sound like some purist right now, but I immediately saw the "gangsta-elderly-care"-plot line in the first season as a major red flag of things to come. It was a toneally insane decision to include it in the series, and had nothing to do with the original plot line. At that point I'd read all the comics that had been published. I quit watching after season 2 as I didn't certain directions of the TV show as believable or engaging as the comic. Especially the character of Lori, who was testing my patience from her very first scene

[@jacobherrera8735]

Honestly, Andrew Lincoln made this show what it is. His performance as Rick Grimes will definitely be one of the greatest performances. If only he had a better show runner for a majority of the show, this show could have been peak, but there were just too many internal problems unfortunately.

[@paulinegallagher7821]

Exactly. Negan was the WORST character ever, but i stuck around because of Rick. When he left, i was so done.

[@burakucak]

Show made him a front-man. It made people believe that he was invincible and his authority was piling up like a snowball turning into avalanche. Until of course they met Negan. And it is one of major reasons why i like both Rick and Negan. One of them made us believe and the other made us question.

[@alexandermeiering5216]

@@paulinegallagher7821 Negan made me quit the show basically. His character felt so goofy and out of a comic and i was baffled that they didn't kill him at the end of season 8 when I watched the recaps. Like I would understand if he killed Glenn in somewhat of a normal way but he killed him and Abraham and was mocking the whole squad while he was at it. Thats a psychopath not someone who feels regret and changes. I forgot he also "forced" women into sexual relationships with him for favors so also kind of a rapist.

[@paulinegallagher7821]

@@alexandermeiering5216 His introduction was pretty cool, but it went downhill fast once they made him a regular character. And UGH, i forgot about the forced ffed up relationships with women! He was the worst. All they needed to do, we keep him in the shadows a lot more, ditch the stupid jokes and 'i will knock that shit down' talk from him and make him a scary man with a barbed wire bat. But they obviously thought that was too one dimensional and wanted to flesh the character out. The same character that killed Glen and Abraham, teo characters that people cared about, in the most brutal way possible. He should have been Michael Myers, but he was the complete opposite. He NEVER shut up talking, he laughed and made jokes, and then we get to find out he lost his wife and were supposed to give a flying fuck. NOPE!

[@spndusk2362]

The show was never the same without him many have said. I left after the season 7 premiere so didn't watch beyond. But the new characters brought in were stupid, ridiculous and pointless. When I heard about the zoo guy and the garbage people yah I was glad I jumped ship when I did. This show forgot how to be fun, thrilling and scary. It just became an abysmal, dramatic intersectional feminist disaster where all the women were powerful and more invincible than the men who were all c**ked, pathetic and wimpy.

[@Brandon-ml2zw]

They milked the ever loving grace out of Steven dying. The show turned into Maggie is Super Pissed and never really recovered from that. Dozens of episodes later and they’re still wanting us to care about this relationship that barely went anywhere on screen anyway.

[@scratchy9874]

nobody ever mentions that the begining of this comic/tv show is a huge knockoff of 28 days later. Mostly just the premise of someone in a coma waking up to the world being overwhelmed by zombies.

[@Kopaka-ep7ug]

A while ago I came up with a perfect ending for the show. The main cast find themselves huddled together on a dark street in the middle of a suburb. One by one, the characters are taken out by zombies until only Rick and Carl remain. Suddenly, Carl looks up and sees Rick is now a zombie too. Wearing a red jacket. The zombies break into the Thriller dance. We see zombified versions of all our favorite characters from previous seasons all together dancing as Carl looks on in horror/amusement.

[@mythicg1159]

This would be the moviest movie moment. Bravo AMC!

[@srose1088]

😂 You had for a minute. I'd totally watch that.

[@chattycatty3336]

I want an ending with Carl poppa being sung 😂 that would be golden

[@LunaMortem91]

For a second I thought you were making a Forest of Hands and Teeth reference, which woulda been amazing, but this: this is the ending we needed XD

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

I now wish this had been an SNL skit, I'd actually consider that show funny for that one skit

[@Lowgem]

Glenn's fake out and continous closer brushes with death was definitely frustrating because they dragged it out all season but what really made me question the competency of the writing was Beth's pointless shock value death. It felt like they couldn't find a use for her in the next season so they killed her off but it was in such a wasteful and disrespectful way

[@tsubion8820]

The writing for that death was clunky as hell! Oooops my gun went off by accident after being stabbed in the shoulder with a tiny pair of nail scissors. I mean, seriously... they couldn't come up with anything better than that?

[@DrDolan2000]

I think it was at that point that the show started to feel "weird". It was a death that came out of nowhere and made me upset Of course, one might argue "just because it made you mad doesn't mean it's bad writing" or something along those lines. Which I would agree In fact, if you get upset about a character dying - or even leaving on other terms, the story must be doing something But nope; Beth's death was just plain stupid

[@BigballsTerrence]

The whole hospital story was terrible, but. I never cared for Beth's character so meh. Carls death on the other hand 😐

[@shadokat]

I agree! It actually felt like Beth and Daryl were going to form a close relationship, and I don't mean a romantic one because she had grown up in front of him. Then they killed her, sending an already unstable character spiraling even further out of control. As Negan so often loved to say, not cool!

[@tsubion8820]

@@shadokat Their "relationship" was poorly written and very confusing! I couldn't tell what they were going for at any given time. The writers were obviously conflicted and it was a difficult "sell" what with character and actor ages being all over the place! Daryl and Beth were supposed to be very young in seasons 1 and 2 and not much time had gone by in the story but Reedus was already looking too old for that particular "ship" no matter how much they messed about with his hair! They got it right later on with Daryl's uncle and surrogate father roles cuz the age gap was there.

[@IceQueen3253]

The walking dead has devolved into the song that never ends

[@TalkMyShiit]

Biggest mistake was firing Frank Darabont… mid-season 2 …