It's Official! The Walking Dead is now "Snuff TV"

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:21am

Not only did "TWD" jump the shark last night, it bludgeoned it so badly you couldn't even serve it in soup!

I won't reveal any spoilers. I knew before watching it that "something bad" was going to happen. I may anger some die hard fans, sorry. After last night's episode of "TWD" I think I'm through. While taking nothing away from the tremendous acting (especially Andrew Lincoln), the show just turned a corner last night that portends the same sort of thing for the future. The sadistic murders were agonizing to watch, unbelievably brutal and definitely evil in intent. Therein lies the problem...the intent. You see, zombies don't know what they are doing when they attack; they are eating to survive, brainless. Last night that all changed. The intent to kill, the intent to mutilate and murder became a character.

TWD has previously been often, almost and completely, about character studies of surviving in a bleak apocalyptic world. You could believe there might be a future in human nature, to see just maybe there might be hope in the human race (and you throw in the gore and zombies).

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/24/the-walking-dead-just-isn-t-fun-anymore.html

I can't imagine that seeing an actual murder would be any easier to watch. Call me "crazy" but I'll stick with "Crazy Ex Girlfriend" and "Westworld".    

 

 

Updated On: 10/24/16 at 11:21 AM

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 11:43am

Agreed. I've been a big fan of the show for six seasons but last night's episode was it for me. I can't stomach Game of Thrones for the same reasons.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 1:33pm

omg - glad I'm not the only one who considered just shutting it off. As if Abraham's death wasn't graphic enough...what they showed when Glenn got it (eye and all) was just vomit inducing. 

I am SO glad that here in the United States we are protected from seeing penis/vagina and hearing F-Bomb type words but watching the bludgeoning of someone with a barbed wire bat is ok. I understand that the point was to show how this villain was breaking Rick emotionally but less would have been more in this case.

Drop the violence and bring out the body parts and bad words!

[Petralicious]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 1:50pm

Steve C. said:. Call me "crazy" but I'll stick with "Crazy Ex Girlfriend" and "Westworld".    

 

 

 

"Crazy!

I love this show, but the last half season did not live up to the shows high. But it was better than I had hoped.

 if you watch, you know that horrendous awful, graphic, gross deaths have always been a part of it. Beth shot in head, Noah eaten alive while trapped in a revolving door, Lori giving birth while becoming a zombie and her teenage son having to give her a carsarian, then having to shoot her in the head... Andrea shooting herself in the head while being eaten,a mother watching her son being eaten. Rick biting thru someones next.

It wouldnt be realistic if none of the shows main characters died.  The suspense, the acting, the story are just topnotch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 1:55pm

I've seen some online surveys and tweets so far and a lot of people are feeling the same way. One online survey says 70% of respondents say they will stop watching the show now. The producers and writers may have just done what the zombies have been trying to do. Kill it all.

I don't know how they can come back from this and really, that's it for me. On to Westworld! 

Updated On: 10/25/16 at 01:55 PM

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 2:02pm

Dearest P,

Maybe instaed of soo much tellyvision you might leerrn howl to spelll and conjugate a verrb.

(yeah, I'm crazy!)

[Petralicious]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 2:07pm

On line surveys and tweets are pretty useless when it comes to being accurate. 

 

I guess we will see when ratings come out.  It is still the highest rated show on the television.  Now in Season 7 when most shows are showing their age.  I do like Westworld too.

 

Crazy is Good!

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 2:48pm

Petralicious said: "if you watch, you know that horrendous awful, graphic, gross deaths have always been a part of it. Beth shot in head, Noah eaten alive while trapped in a revolving door, Lori giving birth while becoming a zombie and her teenage son having to give her a carsarian, then having to shoot her in the head... Andrea shooting herself in the head while being eaten, a mother watching her son being eaten. Rick biting thru someones neck. It wouldn't be realistic if none of the shows main characters died.  The suspense, the acting, the story are just topnotch."

Yes I agree that there have been some violent moments however they have been quick with the execution in most cases. While you saw it happen it did not last as long as it did in this most recent episode with "Lucille"!

I have absolutely no problems if any of the characters die. I would have been totally fine if Daryl or even Rick died! My comments had nothing to do with any specific character's death.

I really do not agree with the suspense part. Since the cliffhanger episode I was not counting the moments to find out who exactly died. Actually thought this past cliffhanger episode was my least favorite episode: drive, turn around, drive, turn around...

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 2:57pm

Steve, I agree to a certain extent. The bludgeoning last night really crossed a line for me, and I think many of the complaints about last night's episode would have been mitigated by a much stronger warning than they normally use.  That being said, it was spellbinding television, and I can't remember the last time that I was that moved by any form of entertainment.  I was transfixed and repulsed in equal measure. I still can't stop thinking about it. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 2:59pm

Petralicious said: "I guess we will see when ratings come out.  It is still the highest rated show on the television."

Can you explain to me how you will determine whether 70 percent of people who took a poll have stopped watching a show based on the weekly ratings? That seems to be a rather unique skill.

[Brian07663NJ]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 3:14pm

The most compelling part for me was actually watching Rick melt down over the decision to cutting his son's arm off. Carl was resolved to accept that this is the world they live in. Carl looked calmly at this father and vocalized that it should happen. He accepted that his arm was going to be cut off and tried to assure his father that it was going to happen for the group to survive. Watching Rick struggle with the decision. Seeing the line drawn on Carl's arm. Hearing Negan tell Rick "cut it like a salami (on an angle), we have good doctors to..." it was not graphic but it was in the same sense it was. The tragedy of the moment was more powerful than watching the bat fly and the blood spray! The potential amputation scene is good writing/acting without the gore of Glenn's eye popped out while mumbling his last sentence to his wife.

[luvcaroline]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 3:49pm

Brian07663NJ said: "The most compelling part for me was actually watching Rick melt down over the decision to cutting his son's arm off. Carl was resolved to accept that this is the world they live in. Carl looked calmly at this father and vocalized that it should happen. He accepted that his arm was going to be cut off and tried to assure his father that it was going to happen for the group to survive. Watching Rick struggle with the decision. Seeing the line drawn on Carl's arm. Hearing Negan tell Rick "cut it like a salami (on an angle), we have good doctors to..." it was not graphic but it was in the same sense it was. The tragedy of the moment was more powerful than watching the bat fly and the blood spray! The potential amputation scene is good writing/acting without the gore of Glenn's eye popped out while mumbling his last sentence to his wife.

 

Agreed. I almost fast forwarded through that part (watched it on DVR), because I just couldn't take any more. I'm so glad I didn't.  The interaction between Carl and Rick at that moment was one of the most heart wrenching things I've seen on television this year. 

 

[hork]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 4:03pm

I'm still traumatized by Glenn's death in the comic book. I will never, ever watch the TV version.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 5:08pm

The reactions to last night are ridiculous, I think. People are mad that it was so violent. People are mad that it was so drawn out. People are now mad it wasn't "funny". People are mad and it appears as if they've never seen an epiosd of this show before. 

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 5:50pm

Jordan, Jordan...

I'm not mad...I'm just done I think; I know you love JDM and I think he's the "best-est" too. Don't get upset and break your crayons.

ps. are you going to see "Sunday ITP?"... I'm going Wednesday

xo SC 

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:16pm

I won't be able to watch this season until the dvd comes out.  I don't think the graphic violence is going to kill this show.  What is going to kill it is redundancy.  I just watched last season about a month ago.  I was kind of bored with it.  What has made this show so great is the character development, acting and the writing.  As you have said it isn't really about zombies but people dealing with the end of the world.  There has always been a high emotional level to the writing.  That is how I sold friends on watching it for the first time.  Then, like me, they were hooked.  Last season, had none of this,  Usually when watching an episode, I'm glued to the tv.  This last season, i found my mind wandering during the episodes.  

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:16pm

double post

Updated On: 10/24/16 at 10:16 PM

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/24/16 at 10:36pm

Not to beat a dead...err.., exiting cast member but yes ArtM I kind of agree too. The best things about S6 were:

1) Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh) bringing her humanity and warmth and hope

and

2) Paula (Alicia Witt as a "baddest" of bad asses) She scared me as much as Negan. Terrific acting from AW. Oh well, it was fun while it was fun.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 10/25/16 at 8:12am

See I found the writing to be really poor...at times eyerolling.  When they led the herd out of Alexandria, 30 miles away, the herd would have eventually travelled to at least one of the other communities.  They didn't.  Just disappeared.  When Deanna was getting ready to bite the dust,  walkers were surrounding her as she fired at them.  However, out of all the walkers who attacked Alexandria, Spencer was able to find her in the woods, fully intact without a bite on her.  When Denise died, I presumed she was loved by the Alexandria community.  When they buried her,it was only Daryl and (I think Rosita) who was there.  No funeral..nothing. Yes, I know it is a fantasy show, but I expect better writing from them.

Updated On: 10/25/16 at 08:12 AM

[Petralicious]

Posted: 10/25/16 at 9:27am

Most fans of the show agree that the last half season has been the weakest.

This new show is a good start to getting it back on track

As for the gore, some people are just too sensitive of fake blood and should stay with less gory shows.

Updated On: 10/25/16 at 09:27 AM

[Petralicious]

Posted: 10/25/16 at 1:21pm

haterobics said: "Petralicious said: "I guess we will see when ratings come out.  It is still the highest rated show on the television."

Can you explain to me how you will determine whether 70 percent of people who took a poll have stopped watching a show based on the weekly ratings? That seems to be a rather unique skill.

 

"BOOOOOOOM

The Walking Dead premiere beat the holy hell out of everything else on television.

The ultra-violent seventh season opener of the AMC zombie drama Sunday night delivered 17 million viewers and an incredible 8.4 rating among adults 18-49. 

That’s a bigger demo rating than NBC’s Sunday Night Football – let alone any other mortal series on the air. Over the last couple weeks, the closest scripted shows to being competitive was CBS’ The Big Bang Theory and Fox’s Empire, with a comparatively puny 3.5 rating each.

But how did TWD compare to its own legacy of insanely high record-breaking ratings? Negan and Lucille swung for the fences and just barely fell short of the drama’s all-time high – the season 5 premiere – which still stands as the show’s biggest overnight rating with 17.3 million viewers and an 8.8 rating. AMC expects the ratings will set a new record once more forms of viewing are added.

Interestingly, the rating was up 22 percent from the season 6 finale – you know, the one with a cliffhanger that left so many annoyed fans swearing they were going to quit watching the show. As annoying as that stunt may have been, it’s tough to argue it was a mistake when looking at these numbers.

http://www.ew.com/article/2016/10/25/walking-dead-season-7-premiere-ratings

Updated On: 10/25/16 at 01:21 PM

[Steve C.]

Posted: 10/25/16 at 4:06pm

Hey P,

You don't need to cut and paste a whole EW press release word for word and then add the link to the same article. (I couldn't figure out why the spelling and grammar were correct; next time I'll know)... 

[Petralicious]

Posted: 10/25/16 at 6:49pm

Hi S! I do apologize for spelling. I will try and be more careful

Anyways it wasnt the whole article. Just the part that showed how huge the audience was. Way bigger than the finale that had  lots of fans who said they were going to quit watching 

Yours Truly,

P

[javero]

Posted: 11/5/16 at 8:16pm

I've never seen an episode but am suddenly intrigued based solely on this thread.  I don't get to watch much TV and chose The Strain over TWD to get my gore fix.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/1/16 at 5:43pm

I'ts no surprise after that dreadful season opener that ratings have plummeted to an all time low. 

It bites: why I'm giving up on The Walking Dead

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2016/nov/29/the-walking-dead-why-im-giving-up-on-the-zombie-apocalypse?CMP=fb_gu