Where is the Walking Dead actually going? *Spoiler for RTE Viewers*

charlieharper

I think this series has run it's course as it looks like the Writers are dragging it out & run out of ideas. I believe all the writers from the 1st series were sacked because their scripts weren't good enough but I seriously doubt they could've been any worse than season 2 & 4.

Now that the Govenor is gone do we really care what happens to the rest as they all just seems to get killed off anyway!

Season 2 was a joke but Season 3 was brilliant(Govenor made it) & I'd hoped it would kick on from there but over halfway though season 4 & we know less now than we did in season 1!

Also it's criminal that David Morrisey isn't in alot more movies, what a role he played.

What are your thoughts?

12gauge dave

I havent seen the recent two episodes but i do still enjoy the series it isnt without its faults though it is getting a bit stale and im not sure on where it will/can go now?
Something big needs to happen to get our attention and catch our imagination again.

Grimebox

In terms of running out of ideas, there are still a ton of comics. The governor arc finished at around comic 50. There are around 120 comics at present.

whomitconcerns

the comics really take the story forward. Lots Im looking forward to seeing how pans out...

Adamocovic

I wouldn't worry about the story, I am sure the comic book has more interesting plots coming up. Interesting how the show goes but in terms of plot well be grand, hopefully the execution is good by AMC!

Paddy Cow

I think the big break between episode 8 and 9 killed the momentum. If we had seen episode 9 the week after 8 it would have had more of a flow to it. Episode 8 left with a big bang and after such a long wait I had huge anticipation for the second half of the season but the slow character development has fallen flat.

They've only four episodes to go, so not a lot can happen apart from the group meeting up, presumably at this new camp, which presumably isn't going to turn out to be a safe haven, but they won't have enough time to develop that arc. It better go somewhere because I'm starting to get bored of the whole thing

CollyFowler

We really need a progression in the overall outbreak story. How did it happen etc. The continuous killing of walkers has really run its course and Season 4 just continues on with no story progression.

I'll keep watching but its all very.......meh!!!

Agricola

CollyFowler wrote: »

We really need a progression in the overall outbreak story. How did it happen etc. The continuous killing of walkers has really run its course and Season 4 just continues on with no story progression.

I'll keep watching but its all very.......meh!!!

Just came in here to post the very same thing. I didn't know what it was that was making me tire of TWD, but I think that's it. The most unrealistic thing about this whole show is that no one ever discusses the massive elephant in the room, i.e. what the hell happened to the world, how did a zombie outbreak begin and what are we going to do to find out about it.

Paddy Cow

Agricola wrote: »

Just came in here to post the very same thing. I didn't know what it was that was making me tire of TWD, but I think that's it. The most unrealistic thing about this whole show is that no one ever discusses the massive elephant in the room, i.e. what the hell happened to the world, how did a zombie outbreak begin and what are we going to do to find out about it.

They did that back in season 1. The group outside Atlanta decided to make for the CDC. When they got there the doctor told them it was hopeless and then wanted them all to die with him. He also told Rick it was caused by an airborne virus with no cure, everyone was infected and would turn into a zombie even if they died a natural death (something Rick decided to keep from the group).

When the group found out that there was no cure and they would all zombify anyways, it really put a damper on their mood. It would make no sense for them to go looking for answers when they believe there is none. This new doctor claiming that there is hope in Washington is interesting. Either he is full of sh!te or getting to Washington will give them a purpose (and a plot) again.

charlieharper

CollyFowler wrote: »

We really need a progression in the overall outbreak story. How did it happen etc. The continuous killing of walkers has really run its course and Season 4 just continues on with no story progression.

I'll keep watching but its all very.......meh!!!

That's my main gripe too. So it looks like they've come across "Cannibals" now, I can see that dragging for a season but at least they may be an intensity to that at least.

Nearly every Zombie movie focus' on the the cause of the outbreak and it's what drives the story so a few hints in the next series might revive it but I'm not holding out for it...

Paddy Cow

charlieharper wrote: »

That's my main gripe too. So it looks like they've come across "Cannibals" now, I can see that dragging for a season but at least they may be an intensity to that at least.

Nearly every Zombie movie focus' on the the cause of the outbreak and it's what drives the story so a few hints in the next series might revive it but I'm not holding out for it...

We have the story that they have to get to Washington because Eugene holds the key to a cure. I hope that goes somewhere.

mzungu

I think I must be in the minority, but I thought Season 4 was great. The second half was better than the first because it gave us some extra time with the characters and flesh them out a bit more (eg Darryl and Beth). After the thrilling end of the first half of the season, I think they made the right choice in slowing things down in the second half.

It all sets up some great stories for the next season. What happened to Beth, how will Rick and co escape Terminus etc. I cant wait until it starts back. Granted the show is not without its faults, but at the end of the day is downright entertaining.

charlieharper

So what does everyone think of this season so far?

mzungu

This season they are doing a good job of balancing the action of the first half of season 4, with the character orientated drama of the second half. The area of Walking Dead that I enjoy most is when they focus solely on characters in an episode eg. Darryl and Carol. We have been following them for four and a half seasons so gaining an insight to their psyche is always welcome. I hope there is a similar episode in future featuring Rick and Abe, so we can understand a bit more of what makes them tick.

If things continue like this ill be a happy camper. Season five is good by me.

pc7

Season 5 is up there with one of the best for me, really loving it, dreading the mid season break as I felt it lost a lot of momentum last year when that happened.

5starpool

I don't like the entire episodes being devoted to certain characters who have splintered off approach they are going with. It's been 4 episodes now since we've seen Michonne/Rick and that's too long imo.

charlieharper

5starpool wrote: »

I don't like the entire episodes being devoted to certain characters who have splintered off approach they are going with. It's been 4 episodes now since we've seen Michonne/Rick and that's too long imo.

A very good article here about it:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2014/11/10/the-walking-dead-season-5-episode-5-review-confessions-and-self-help/

A lot of valid points there, the Beth / Daryl episode was painful in season 4, thank god for Sky Planner because most bits were fast forwarded.

IsMiseMyself

I think this season has been terrific so far. I'm not too bothered by either Rick or Michonne so I don't mind them being off screen.

NUTZZ

There was an interesting article posted on Forbes a few days ago on the future of the series (a bit long but worth the read);

How Many Seasons of 'The Walking Dead' Can We Realistically Expect From AMC?

A week ago, I posed the same question in the title about the other big “event” show on TV, Game of Thrones. There’s been some debate about how long exactly the show will last, and its constant struggle with butting up against unwrriten books, which will really start to impact the show as it moves forward in season five.

The showrunners want seven seasons of the show, while HBO would love ten, and I predicted the end result would be somewhere in the middle, given the state of the show and the books to come. But now turning to The Walking Dead, we’re in a much different situation, where the source material is practically endless, and it seems like AMC’s show could go on forever, if it really wanted to.

Will it, though?

There has to be a limit and I’m curious as to what that will be. We can look to the comics for a mathematical extrapolation of how far there is yet to go, and Robert Kirkman himself has revealed he has a long, long life envisioned for the print series, meaning the show may never catch it.

(Though we’ll be discussing the comics, I will stay away from any and all comic spoilers. )

Right now, the show has mostly gotten back on track with a very specific part of the comics. Often times, AMC’s Walking Dead tends to deviate from the comic version by adding in even more content than what we see in print. For example, Terminus didn’t exist in the comics, and the Beth/Noah hospital plotline wasn’t there either. The show tends to do its own thing from time to time, but now that we’ve made it to Alexandria, it is much more closely aligned with what’s in print, so we can get some sense of exactly where we are in the grand scheme of the series.

The Walking Dead is about the release issue 139 this week. At the moment, events of the show are coinciding with issues 73-74. If I had to guess based on what I’ve read in the comics and the trajectory of the show (which has only two episodes left in the season) if they sprint forward a bit, I don’t think they’d get past issue 80. Given a semi-major event that happens in issue 75, we might not even get past that with such little time until the finale.

You can see already what this means. In five seasons and 67 episodes, the show is barely halfway through the existing set of comics. At the current pace, assuming AMC keeps adding in their own little detours like they have been, it could take almost ten seasons before the show even reaches the current point in the comics. If AMC cut out their own additions, perhaps they could do it in eight if they really tried.

But it’s not as if that’s the end of the rainbow either. Unlike Game of Thrones where George RR Martin has planned seven books in the series for years, The Walking Dead is likely to run much, much further than 139 issues, as creator Robert Kirkman explains:

“I do plan on doing at least 300 issues, but if I’m having this much fun, then I won’t stop there. Also, if I suddenly start having a lot less fun, I may end it earlier, but I don’t see that happening. I’m in for the long haul."

That’s 300 planned issues, and right now after five seasons, the show is on issue 74. As much as we all think we’d like to see 20 seasons of The Walking Dead, it’s hard to imagine that would be possible. Even ultra long-running dramas usually cap out between 8-12 seasons, unless they’re procedurals or animated series. The longest running scripted shows that are still on the air today are The Simpsons (26 seasons), South Park (18 seasons), Law & Order: SVU (16 seasons) and CSI (15 seasons). When looking toward “prestige” cable shows, you have The Sopranos which ended at season six, Breaking Bad which ended at season five, and Man Men which is about to end at season seven. These are not the kind of shows that run for ten years, and certainly, not twenty.

Then again, The Walking Dead has broken so many boundaries already, could it break this one too? Could this really be an “eternal” show which constantly updates its cast and sees the entire story to its conclusion?

That kind of thing would require a huge level of commitment from both the cast and the crew. Given the state of the world, I don’t know if any of the characters could survive the entire length of the series, even the leads, though it’s likely they’d last longer than anyone. The rest of the cast, as we’ve see, usually has a tendency to get picked off one at a time, and I doubt there would be few who would be immortal if the series stretched this long.

But despite the fact that The Walking Dead could turn into a 20-season, American Idol-esque behemoth, that does seem unlikely. I know the show is still gripping in season five, and still breaking ratings records, but it’s tough to envision how long that will last. The Game of Thrones team has repeatedly expressed their desire to end the show before people are begging them to stop. I have to imagine some people involved with The Walking Dead feel the same way, though I bet AMC would love 15-20 seasons, given how reliant the channel has been on the zombie-fest, ordering beefed up seasons and now even crafting a spin-off show to ensure they retain an audience during the original show’s off-season.

Right now, at issue 127, The Walking Dead has a hard cut between a long-running plotline and then a completely new chapter that features a fairly significant time jump. That’s 50 or so issues away from where the show is now, so perhaps TWD could squeeze out two more seasons and end after season seven before this entire new plotline starts. The comic could continue on, and the show could rest in peace, having fulfilled an important arc.

And yet, it’s hard to imagine only two more season of The Walking Dead at this point, and unless AMC sees a sharp drop in ratings, I have to imagine the show will run at least nine or ten seasons before there starts to be serious consideration about wrapping things up. I think plans for a massive, two decade-long run is overambitious and would likely turn out poorly if audiences lose interest or the people currently making the show great (like godsend showrunner Scott Gimple) decide it’s time to move on to other projects. I know AMC loves The Walking Dead probably more than any other program they’ve ever broadcast, but they will have to let it go sometime. But for now, there’s no way in hell anyone has to worry about running out of source material.

Update: I dug this up from producer David Alpert who spoke about series length about a year ago:

“I happen to love working from source material, specifically because we have a pretty good idea of what season 10 is gonna be. We know where season 11 and 12…we have benchmarks and milestones for those seasons if we’re lucky enough to get there.”

The producers are willing, but will the audience stay around long enough to make that happen? In any case, 12 seasons of a serialized, high-cost drama like The Walking Dead would indeed be practically unprecedented, but if any show could do it, it’s probably this one.

Forbes Article