Looks like the 15-25 year old fans of the show finally got the episode they wanted.
In previous seasons when the show was going in interesting directions some of the fan base complained there wasn't enough action, so the producers included more action. Now they've got that action and the whole thing is turning in to the comic book that is the source material. Except that it doesn't work well on television.
It's great news for the young fans who just want to see characters 'kicking ass' and zombies being shot. But the problem for the show now, is that while younger fans would have kept watching even when they got frustrated with narrative getting in the way of gunfights, the older fans will simply turn off as the show gets more ridiculous and over the top. And they won't return.
This episode was the breaking point for me. The mustache-twirling eye-patch wearing governor in his town of happy nobodies who liked to watch Thunderdome-but-with-zombies was the other low point that almost broke the show for me. It was so far from reality that not a single one of them showed any range of feeling toward the way that town was run (except to absolutely love it). But I stuck it out through the ultimately painful season 3 and the show was finally building to something interesting culminating in Alexandria with residents who actually had differing viewpoints on the situation and how to handle it. Then it threw it all away for a story line that wanted to focus on making the original characters look cool. Not flawed, not real, not interesting, but just cool. Basic emotions, basic motivations, no gray areas, no moral complexity, just shooting and hooting. (This decline started in the episode where Rick kills Pete conveniently just as Morgan shows up to witness it).
So that's what we've got now. Cool, kick-ass zombie killing. It just feels very boring and one-dimensional. The old show would have had Carl die right as Rick had finished his speech and the audience would have been left hanging, waiting, and wanting to see how he dealt with it. Instead it all wrapped up neatly and conveniently and we can all move on. This show takes no risks anymore.
With so many people today complaining about the standard comic book narrative beats that Hollywood are putting into every film these days it surprises me that when they do the exact same thing in this TV show people seem to love it. The survivors were basically like super heroes. They were superheroes and they inspired the common people to join the fight. Well, that's a story line that may have been passable in 2002 when Sam Raimi's Spiderman did it. But it's sure getting tired now.
How many people can we have walk on, walk off and talk about survival etc...? The show needs to start focusing on character arcs again. All they're doing now is plot and action. Nobody's changing. Remember the second half of season 2 when everybody changed? Daryl was about to abandon them, Lori looked like she was about to join Shane in overthrowing their best friend and her husband, Rick. Beth wanted to kill herself. Andrea tried to convince Beth to do it while finding new life in learning to kill zombies. Dale felt they lost their morals and left them. Rick starting killing real people. Glenn learned to stand up for himself. Carol had to watch her daughter die. Everyone had opinions, argued, changed their minds, weren't sure what to do. Just like real people. Just like interesting complex characters who were lost in an apocalypse.
Well the fans hated that season so this is what we get now - over-the-top comic book action. And that's great if you love cheese but there are plenty of shows that do that these days, so I'm out.
In previous seasons when the show was going in interesting directions some of the fan base complained there wasn't enough action, so the producers included more action. Now they've got that action and the whole thing is turning in to the comic book that is the source material. Except that it doesn't work well on television.
It's great news for the young fans who just want to see characters 'kicking ass' and zombies being shot. But the problem for the show now, is that while younger fans would have kept watching even when they got frustrated with narrative getting in the way of gunfights, the older fans will simply turn off as the show gets more ridiculous and over the top. And they won't return.
This episode was the breaking point for me. The mustache-twirling eye-patch wearing governor in his town of happy nobodies who liked to watch Thunderdome-but-with-zombies was the other low point that almost broke the show for me. It was so far from reality that not a single one of them showed any range of feeling toward the way that town was run (except to absolutely love it). But I stuck it out through the ultimately painful season 3 and the show was finally building to something interesting culminating in Alexandria with residents who actually had differing viewpoints on the situation and how to handle it. Then it threw it all away for a story line that wanted to focus on making the original characters look cool. Not flawed, not real, not interesting, but just cool. Basic emotions, basic motivations, no gray areas, no moral complexity, just shooting and hooting. (This decline started in the episode where Rick kills Pete conveniently just as Morgan shows up to witness it).
So that's what we've got now. Cool, kick-ass zombie killing. It just feels very boring and one-dimensional. The old show would have had Carl die right as Rick had finished his speech and the audience would have been left hanging, waiting, and wanting to see how he dealt with it. Instead it all wrapped up neatly and conveniently and we can all move on. This show takes no risks anymore.
With so many people today complaining about the standard comic book narrative beats that Hollywood are putting into every film these days it surprises me that when they do the exact same thing in this TV show people seem to love it. The survivors were basically like super heroes. They were superheroes and they inspired the common people to join the fight. Well, that's a story line that may have been passable in 2002 when Sam Raimi's Spiderman did it. But it's sure getting tired now.
How many people can we have walk on, walk off and talk about survival etc...? The show needs to start focusing on character arcs again. All they're doing now is plot and action. Nobody's changing. Remember the second half of season 2 when everybody changed? Daryl was about to abandon them, Lori looked like she was about to join Shane in overthrowing their best friend and her husband, Rick. Beth wanted to kill herself. Andrea tried to convince Beth to do it while finding new life in learning to kill zombies. Dale felt they lost their morals and left them. Rick starting killing real people. Glenn learned to stand up for himself. Carol had to watch her daughter die. Everyone had opinions, argued, changed their minds, weren't sure what to do. Just like real people. Just like interesting complex characters who were lost in an apocalypse.
Well the fans hated that season so this is what we get now - over-the-top comic book action. And that's great if you love cheese but there are plenty of shows that do that these days, so I'm out.