The Walking Dead

[hishedale]

Some of the greatest films are excessively gory.
Doesn't make them bad movies.

Some great shows are very gory or gritty.
Doesn't make them bad shows.

 

[TheGentTrent]

Say what you will about the cliffhanger, but it did something right.

Walking Dead premiere ratings just beat everything | EW.com

 

[Andysol]

Say what you will about the cliffhanger, but it did something right.

Walking Dead premiere ratings just beat everything | EW.com

They are the masters of appealing to the masses. They cross gender lines and multiple ages/incomes as well. They're a machine with no end in sight. We might get 15 seasons+ of TWD.

CSI is extremely popular, and has been for a decade. As has American Idol and now the Voice.
But let's not confuse popularity with quality or them making the right moves in terms of creativity. Sometimes the best decisions aren't the most popular ones. You know, like bringing Glen back from the dead? What a joke, just to appease an audience with a "gotcha" moment. That moment alone was lunacy, yet people still watch. GoT and Breaking Bad easily could have gone multiple seasons- but aren't we glad Breaking Bad didn't drag on and ended the way it did?

 

[hishedale]

'Walking Dead' premiere slammed by Parents Television Council | Fox News
Silly.

 

[awhen]

Say what you will about the cliffhanger, but it did something right.

Walking Dead premiere ratings just beat everything | EW.com

I watched it just to see the resolution of the cliffhanger since I knew it would be impossible to avoid any discussion about it. I'm probably going to skip the rest until it hits Netflix and I can binge watch it while rearranging my sock drawer.

I'll be honest though, about halfway through I was sort of rooting for him to club the lot of them so we could move on.

 

[Brian G.]

Say what you will about the cliffhanger, but it did something right.

Walking Dead premiere ratings just beat everything | EW.com

Did it? After all the "who's dying?" Hype and not have an all-time record shows they didn't and don't need to resort to cliche cliffhangers.

 

[Cschaaf]

It'll be more interesting to see what the ratings are next week and through this season.

One thing we'll never know is - what if they showed the shocking events at the end of last season - what would the ratings have looked like then?

 

[Scott W.]

I've had a day to think about this and I've put my finger on why I found this episode disturbing. In hindsight, the gore was probably no worse than what has already been shown in the series but this is what personally stuck out to me. I didn't really bat an eye about Abraham's death and that's pretty much the main reason why I'm probably done with this show, I don't really care if anybody in it dies. I feel no connection to any of the characters nor do I find them particularly likeable. The only part I found overly gruesome was Glenn's death for several reasons:

• The caved in skull and popped out eye. When I was younger I seen a cat being run over and it's eye popped out and this is something that traumatised me. Coming from an overly rough part of Scotland as well, I've seen plenty of fights where people have had serious injuries from getting their head jumped on. My wife works as a nurse in neuro theatre as well so I know that things like this are still happening on a daily basis.
• Typically in a show like this, something gruesome will happen with little reprucutions. Either the person dies quickly or they're back to normal in no time. I've known 2 people to have a severe brain injury. One through stroke and one getting kicked down a flight of stairs and hitting their head on the corner of a step. Knowing the people well before and seeing how completely different they were after, it was difficult to watch. Especially when Glenn started slurring his words after the first hit.
• Lastly, having Maggie watch her husband brutally dying. Being recently married and getting life insurance sorted recently, something about this hit home hard.

I know for a lot of people, this was just another violent moment on The Walking Dead but this is just my two cents.

 

[rhino4evr]

People have often criticized this show for not being as "ballsy" as the comic books. The Glenn scene was right out of the books, and people complain that it's gone too far. I feel like people criticize this show no matter what they do. Personally? I thought it felt a bit too dark for mainstream audiences. The entire episode felt like a sadistic experience.

Now you can either cheer or be repulsed by this decision, but it definitely was ballsy.

 

[hishedale]

I really enjoyed the episode, personally.

 

[Plastic Person]

Some of the greatest films are excessively gory.
Doesn't make them bad movies.

Some great shows are very gory or gritty.
Doesn't make them bad shows.

Doesn't necessarily make them any good either.

Either way, this has been an interesting test of what a mainstream audience is willing to stomach in terms of violence. If this truly does change up the landscape of the show and make the writing more varied, then great. Personally I'll believe it when I see it. And by see it, I mean read it an episode synopsis begrudgingly.

 

[fryoj]

I really enjoyed the episode, personally.

I did as well. I kinda expected the Abraham and Glenn deaths, but the scene with Carl really had me second guessing. Him losing an arm would be something they could do without straying from the comics too far, so I really thought they were going to do it.

 

[hishedale]

Doesn't necessarily make them any good either.

Either way, this has been an interesting test of what a mainstream audience is willing to stomach in terms of violence. If this truly does change up the landscape of the show and make the writing more varied, then great. Personally I'll believe it when I see it. And by see it, I mean read it an episode synopsis begrudgingly.

The point is that violence shouldn't automatically ruin the show. Look at Quentin Tarantino movies. Almost everything he does is heavily gory, and then criticized. They are still great films.
I just think it's silly to complain about the gore. Was it excessive? Sure. But if you don't like it, ignore it. I think that complaining about it and trying to lobby for a NC-17 rating of television is just a waste of time. Just don't watch it and move on. It is just a TV show.

 

[Scott W.]

The point is that violence shouldn't automatically ruin the show. Look at Quentin Tarantino movies. Almost everything he does is heavily gory, and then criticized. They are still great films.
I just think it's silly to complain about the gore. Was it excessive? Sure. But if you don't like it, ignore it. I think that complaining about it and trying to lobby for a NC-17 rating of television is just a waste of time. Just don't watch it and move on. It is just a TV show.

I don't really understand this either. I've made my reasoning about my dislike for this particular episode but I'd never want it to be banned.

 

[hishedale]

I don't really understand this either. I've made my reasoning about my dislike for this particular episode but I'd never want it to be banned.

I think your reason was completely fine, and I like that you explained why you didn't enjoy it too much.
I believe the banning has to do with overprotective and oversensitive parents. Pesky little bunch.

 

[cameronw99]

TWD might seem repetitive and thats because it is. But the series is about hopeless survival. There's no happy ending in sight. Personally I find it kind of hard to watch for that reason. It definitely has its moments but it just causes me anxiety overall

 

[Brian G.]

TWD might seem repetitive and thats because it is. But the series is about hopeless survival. There's no happy ending in sight. Personally I find it kind of hard to watch for that reason. It definitely has its moments but it just causes me anxiety overall

Apparently this Season is a reset, per the producers/writers. As in, there's B.N. and A.N. (Before/After Negan) timeline. Future seasons prob will be less about walkers and more about the living and turf wars. Especially when we get to the Whisperers.

 

[cameronw99]

Apparently this Season is a reset, per the producers/writers. As in, there's B.N. and A.N. (Before/After Negan) timeline. Future seasons prob will be less about walkers and more about the living and turf wars. Especially when we get to the Whisperers.

That would definitely make sense since we see Rick completely break. In the past we see him become hardened from whatever death or attack they were faced with. Now he seems completely hopeless. I might continue watching just to see how he gets his "groove" back

 

[anihilnation]

I am glad they finally had some real gore, then, I like a lot of Italian zombie flicks which tend to be rather gory, as are the original Romero zombie flicks, and I like Takashi Miike who has done dome rather violent films lol. Wish they had not got rid of Abraham, but I guess the wanted to keep Daryl because many consider him eye candy. I think Morgan will become more important in this season, Rick is now revealed to be a failure, as all of this is because of his decisions. Negan is very interesting, there is a structure to him and he is not mad (I think) the way the Governor was. Morgan would be the ideal person to counter him I think. Glad Michone is still alive, always liked her.

 

[yankees13]

I feel like ever since I started watching the show and learning of Negans existence, I've been waiting for his arrival and this very scene/episode. Now that it's happened I fear the show will start to lose its luster for me a little bit. I'll continue to watch of course, but after that, everything else will seem inferior. I don't really have any knowledge of what happens in the comics after all of this. I am intrigued though by King Ezekiel and his tiger and how he has one in a zombie apocalypse