TWD...ratings sagging??? (a thought)

I think people don't understand what is going on, hence the drop in ratings.

You have to look at the show in the larger picture. I think most people don't realize the story is about more than just Rick Grimes and his merry little band of zombie killers. Up until the end of last season and now this season, all the viewers have seen is a program focused around Rick, Carl and the rest of the gang, but it's a much bigger world. Now what you're starting to see is glimpses of this much larger world outside of their nucleus.

If you think about it, how boring would the show be if it was just Rick and the zombie killers...over and over? Think about it...their quest all along has been to "find" something else, something better, to find "civilization" if it still even exists.

Now they're finding it, but it's not what viewers expect. And, it's not a reality where Rick Grimes and his crew "win" every time.

Violence on zombies aside, I think the show is a stunning parallel to society today in the real world. It's a metaphor of our own world. Crime, societal differences, religion, politics, cliques, corruption...it has everything.

AND...the most hated character of all is he most interesting ever (to me). Negan. Negan is an enigma. On the surface he just appears to be a violent thug, but to even the most casual of viewers he's far deeper than this. Much deeper. He's got some kind of a plan. You don't know what that plan is yet, but he's definitely got one. And even though you haven't seen it yet, Negan (surprisingly) actually has some honor as a human being.

The thing with Carl is shocking to most, but he's evolving. He's becoming an independent force of his own. Oh...and he truly does "scare" Negan.

Personally, I think this is the best season so far! There's far more mind-candy. It's not just more of the same old...Rick kills a bunch of zombies...Rick gets beat up...Rick eventually wins...ad nauseum.

It's the only show I watch on TV actually. (We record it on Sunday night and watch it on Monday night sans commercials...because there are a TON of adverts!)

Oh, and one last thing...don't expect Negan to be taking a dirt nap anytime soon.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I watched the first few season of the show before it got too dark for me. I mean I appreciate that it is a visceral look into what happens to the human soul when the SHTF, but it was becoming more of a burden to watch it than enjoyable.

What made this show stand out were two things:

1) the fear generated by the danger of zombies; and

2) the exploration of of the question, 'who are you?' when the world you live in no longer resembles the normal society of the past.

The show has largely left both of those themes.

Frankly, I find it boring now. And it feels very soap opera-ish.

But I will give TWD this....the episode with Carol taking out Lizzie was one of the best things I've ever seen on television.

I'm still watching, but I doubt for much longer.

Still one of my favourite shows and I was honestly looking forward to this story arc. Not dissapointed.
Although I have to admit I did think Ezekial and his tiger was a bit stupid, easy to forget this is based on a comic sometimes.
I think it was the tiger that probably did it for me. If Ezekial had been just some post-apocalypse cosplayer minus Shiva, I think I could of tolerated that.
From talking to friends, it seems the whole tiger thing is what kind of turned them off from the show and was a bit OTT. Seems more like the kind of thing you'd see in Z Nation.
I mean for me it is still centered around the core Rick gang, as much as the Governor arc.
Other reasonings is that many I have spoken too found the first episode of the season a bit too brutally graphic. Made them feel the show was becoming a bit too gore porn focused.
(Crazy for a horror right? But there is such a thing as too much in anything. I prefer to let my imagination do most of the work personally)

But yeah, overall still love it and will still watch it. Just hope they avoid more Z Nation shenanigans.

And I think Negan makes perfect sense, in a KoS sight world where every person has become an everyman for himself type. I think you'd need to be brutal and instill fear to restore and keep some form of order. (Heck it is fear of repurcussuions that keeps our real societies playing nice.)

It seems to be, obey the rules and you can live safe and comfortably. Break the rules and you get rekt as the kids would say (again like real life). I mean like with Rick and Co. They attacked first killed a lot of people on another groups say so, so the consequences should of been no surprise for anyone.
If anything I felt Rick and friends were the bad guys of the moment, and still being the bad guys for wanting to get revenge etc.

I think the only real unlikeable aspect of Negan overall is how he treats women. No one likes rapey people, even when the world ends, otherwise he is doing what he feels he needs to do to keep his people alive.

P.S. I love the show but it needs to pick it up or I'm gonna drop kick it.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
I think people don't understand what is going on, hence the drop in ratings.

You have to look at the show in the larger picture. I think most people don't realize the story is about more than just Rick Grimes and his merry little band of zombie killers. Up until the end of last season and now this season, all the viewers have seen is a program focused around Rick, Carl and the rest of the gang, but it's a much bigger world. Now what you're starting to see is glimpses of this much larger world outside of their nucleus.

If you think about it, how boring would the show be if it was just Rick and the zombie killers...over and over? Think about it...their quest all along has been to "find" something else, something better, to find "civilization" if it still even exists.

Now they're finding it, but it's not what viewers expect. And, it's not a reality where Rick Grimes and his crew "win" every time.

Violence on zombies aside, I think the show is a stunning parallel to society today in the real world. It's a metaphor of our own world. Crime, societal differences, religion, politics, cliques, corruption...it has everything.

AND...the most hated character of all is he most interesting ever (to me). Negan. Negan is an enigma. On the surface he just appears to be a violent thug, but to even the most casual of viewers he's far deeper than this. Much deeper. He's got some kind of a plan. You don't know what that plan is yet, but he's definitely got one. And even though you haven't seen it yet, Negan (surprisingly) actually has some honor as a human being.

The thing with Carl is shocking to most, but he's evolving. He's becoming an independent force of his own. Oh...and he truly does "scare" Negan.

Personally, I think this is the best season so far! There's far more mind-candy. It's not just more of the same old...Rick kills a bunch of zombies...Rick gets beat up...Rick eventually wins...ad nauseum.

It's the only show I watch on TV actually. (We record it on Sunday night and watch it on Monday night sans commercials...because there are a TON of adverts!)

Oh, and one last thing...don't expect Negan to be taking a dirt nap anytime soon.

You gotta realize that most people don't want an intellectual exercise hence the popularity of Real Housewives and other like shows.

They want blood and gore. I enjoy the comics and the series, but a six year run is good for any show. It is probably getting long in the tooth for casual viewers. Nerds like me will generally watch any zombie flick regardless of how bad it may be (FTWD sucks and I didn't finish the first season, but will try to binge watch it).

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I think it's bad narrative.

In the beginning, the narrative was that we followed Rick and the gang around as they tried to make sense of the new world. By following them through what was new to us too, it gave us a sense that we were one of them, making the show more exciting and seemingly realistic.

But as you said, the storyline progressed, and the narrative gained a wider lens...

Sadly though, with that wider lens, we gained cartoonish villains and tropes that transformed the main characters into caricatures of themselves, and with that, we lost our connection to them and the show.

Right?

I admit, after the last season finale I was starting to lose interest. Just another Governor type that the crew will dispatch eventually. Then seeing Rick turn into a little girl, WTF? You've beaten everyone you've come up against and now all of a sudden you want to roll over?

Then I started noticing small things. When Darryl was back in Alexandria, he was not allowed to talk, but he seemed to be blinking Morse code, confirmed by the glimpse of a Morse code chart inside one of the houses. Last episode, there was a scene with Negan, Carl, and Darryl. When Negan turned his back for a moment, you could see Darryl saying something to Carl.

I'm thinking Rick realizes he needs intel to take out the Saviors. Troop strength, weapons, communications, other equipment, etc. I think he also realizes that there must be a Savior spy in Alexandria. I suspect the balloon girl, she seems to come and go as she pleases. Also, I noticed that Negan seemed unconcerned about the balloon flying through the air during his Alexandria visit.

So Rick realizes he needs to coordinate with the Hilltop and whatever factions he can find against the Saviors. He also needs to continue to play the role of the cooperative coward to keep Negan off balance while he marshals his forces and forges alliances. Since he doesn't know who the spy is yet, he needs to keep the rest of Alexandria in the dark. I think he realizes that the Savior's biggest weakness is their reliance on supplies from groups like the Hilltop.

I think his plan will be to send an army of walkers against the Savior stronghold, forcing them to use their resources. Then when Savior groups go out to collect more supplies from their various targets, pick off the collection parties. By the time Negan realizes what is going on, he will be low on food and supplies and will be forced to come out in force to get more. Then they will be vulnerable to a coordinated attack from the allied forces.

Based on conversations I've had with the folks I know, it seems like people have stopped watching basically at each point where Rick & Co have settled down for a while — the farm and the prison being the two biggest points.

I thought last season was the best season since the first and possibly of them all and it's a shame that some of these people didn't wait it out a little longer. I'm guessing that a certain number of people also stopped watching following this season's premiere. It's not a good time to see characters you've been watching for years — that you've rooted for and seen persevere time and time again — beaten to death with a baseball bat as the rest of group are on their knees, powerless to stop it.

The show's had its bad guys but Neagan is next level. He's a sadistic sociopath with a hair trigger. Every Neagan sequence seems like waiting to see what horrible thing he's going to do next with a smile on his face. It's a little taxing to watch and there's not much respite because most of the other scenes are Rick and the group being forced into submission, enduring some new humilation, etc. Then there's Dwight who embodies the possible future of the group and he's a disfigured cuckold who has chosen to live as a sycophant lapdog to the man who has ruined his face and taken his wife.

I'm hoping to see them regroup and take off to build their numbers somewhere for a confrontation with Neagan.

***Spoiler***

Carl should have blown Neagan away but I guess that would have been the end of ol' one eye.

I like how Neagan is being portrayed. JDM is extremely charismatic.

Jesus needs to step up and become a more dynamic character again.

I for one wasn't upset when Glenn died. I like getting rid of the old to make room for the new.

This show is a serial. The ratings are bound to fluctuate throughout the years.

The reason I stopped watching: the cable company.

Plain and simple. AMC wanted more money (as did some other channels like IFC) and cable company said "no" to their demands. So, remember all those, "If you like AMC on blah-blah date you might no longer see..." endless commercials? Well, on that date those channels went away. The cable company said, "tough, watch it on your computer". Of course, my rates did not go down at all!

So I made it to the halfway point of last season. I will purchase the Blu-ray and binge one of these days. May just wait until this season is available.

That is the reason I stopped watching. I was wondering why Sunday nights are free!

Thanks to all who put up spoiler alerts! And FCD, if what you said about venturing into the wider world is happening then I am still interested.

I'm just finding this season extremely boring.

90 minutes that last episode, and what actually happened? Virtually nothing.

It's taking way too long to get anything done, and I'm getting bored.

a reply to: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

It's on Netflix.

Every week I watch it is the last time I watch it. Until the next time.

Here's my thing. I just don't think the world - physically speaking - would have gone to # in such a short amount of time. I get tired of the dirtiness and squalor. It makes no sense to me that Negan doesn't just move into Alexandria and better fortify that place. It's actually more off-putting when a zombie is juxtaposed to a nice, clean setting. I live in GA and it didn't look like that.

I am loving the play between Negan and Carl. Carl is no kid anymore. And Rick doesn't even stick around to keep him and Judith safe. I'm hoping Carl will take the best of Rick, Darryl, Michonne and Negan - and end up ruling the Apocalypse.

TWD...ratings sagging??? (a thought)

Here's another thought.

After six seasons, and a main character with multiple personality disorder.

Most people are finally tired of it.

Nothing to be ashamed of since most zombie flicks last an hour and a half to an hour forty five minutes to begin with.

It's time came, and has gone.

originally posted by: TEOTWAWKIAIFF

...

Thanks to all who put up spoiler alerts! And FCD, if what you said about venturing into the wider world is happening then I am still interested.

Heck, we haven't even seen the real enemy yet!

a reply to: neo96

It's time came, and has gone.

Ummm...with a weekly viewership of over 10.8 million, you'd be wrong.

Not too many shows can command that kind of an audience!

a reply to: AtomicKangaroo

Exactly correct, it is based on a comic - and i think it actually pulls this off very well (when compared to other tv shows based on comics).

Spoiler for those not in the know....... there are worse villains than Negan yet to appear......

I think it's two simple things....

1) Splitting up the characters is not going to sit well. It just makes folks wait and binge watch.

2) I get the pull to go dark, but you are going to alienate some viewers if you take it too far...and this season did. (and continues to).

Those are likely the main two...but there are other factors as well. We're used to seeing Rick's group kick ass. While short periods of things going against them is fine...too long, and we simply stop rooting for them...especially when they continually make really dumb mistakes.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

i jumped ship rather early , dont remember making it past season 2.

it became the same cookie cutter script composed of 5% scifi and 95% drama in an endless cycle of human stupidity.