Walking Dead - like or not? And why, please

[ChristineBCW]

Mars has me rambling about Carol's astute vs insane behaviors, and I thought perhaps we could slip those analyses and arguments onto a thread that might deserve more long-winded debates without my further clutterings of the "Season 4.5" thread.

First, I don't like The Walking Dead because of such uneven scene construction and dialog. 

The writers have spent so much time falling back on tried and true soap-opera/12-part-serial writing which usually includes avoiding saying Exactly The Right Thing.

But then, they (or at least one writer) occasionally nails a scene.  Under argument with Mars, I nominate the Carol's Cookies Or Death dialog with the Little Spymeister Boy. 

I argue that Carol isn't showing any delusion or insanity by that scene, but that she uses her flat tone and dead-calm face to make sure the boy hears what she needs him to hear - that he can create real problems by further talking. 

Or he can have a cookie.

And what further problems?  Well, as the rest of those Alexandria episodes show, there would be an effort to get rid of the New Arrivals.  And Rick's new arrivals would not have left quietly.  A lot more deaths would have occurred in the effort to remove them.

So, was Carol insane for understanding this clearly and giving the boy a sinister but dead-on perfect appraisal of his future, and of Alexandria's?  I think she did him a BIG favor by using her very smart brain.

And kudos to at least one writer on the show who delivered that scene. 

There are far too few of those, however, to gain my Like Vote for the show. 

One of the other all-too-few Perfect Scenes was from Season 2 (??), the first episode in the Prison when they'd just freed the convicts.  A harsh (and seemingly lopsided) deal is struck to clear out a new cell-block for these freed inmates.  Their leader - a jerk who wanted to flex his leadership muscles - gets the group in trouble during their first mass zombie attack.  Facing Rick afterwards, it is clear that both men are thinking, "I don't want the other to live."  The Inmate Jerk ends up with Rick's machete in his skull.  Immediately.  No further talk.  The black eyes of two dogs ready to fight.  And the machete to the skull was the answer. 

A succinct and even 8-second perfect scene.  Well done, writer!

These writers most often fall back to alternative dumbed-down mechanics, however: "We're too dumb and too uncreative to think of good scenes, so let's keep using our idiot characters over and over in irritatingly dumb ways to tease the audience."

Go back and watch all the Dale scenes, over and over.  Go back and watch all the new Preacher Gabriel scenes, over and over.   "Dumb characters used over and over to no end whatsoever."  GILLIGAN'S ISLAND was more inventive.  (And certainly had a better theme to sing along with.)

And when dramas spin their wheels as uselessly as The Professor patching a simple hull, the drama's at fault for even being close to that competition.

I vote "dislike" on WALKING DEAD because the writing is so incredibly unbalanced towards the "dumb" side.

[Mord]

 I'm definitely on the "like" side of the coin. In an entertainment culture that is stuck in the Kardashian- style reality TV mode, TWD is like an oasis of literacy. IMO, it's great to have this surge of horror based television.

[marsattacks666]

The Walking Dead is a show I could never take too seriously. In reality, the premise would NEVER work. The show is just entertaining.

[Mike Scott]

I vote "dislike" on WALKING DEAD because the writing is so incredibly unbalanced towards the "dumb" side.

So, why are you still watching it six years later? (Not defending the show. Just curious.)

[Mord]

 I just have a problem with "like" or "dislike". Even if the show wasn't great, "dislike" is a harsh term. Believe me, there are plenty of shows out there to truly "dislike". "The Walking Dead" isn't even close.

[marsattacks666]

I just have a problem with "like" or "dislike". Even if the show wasn't great, "dislike" is a harsh term. Believe me, there are plenty of shows out there to truly "dislike". "The Walking Dead" isn't even close.

I just want cake and watch the show.....that's all.

[Scatter]

I loved the show until last season..........now it's just too repetitive. I don't DISLIKE it, but it's no longer appointment TV.

[ChristineBCW]

So, why are you still watching it six years later?

There are elements I enjoy about it but I prefer to have specific reasons to argue for and against.  This IS a forum for entertainment purposes, yes?  And having specifics seems to be the best method to encourage discourse.  (Just don't bother asking me for series I don't watch!  That's a considerably heftier load than this server would maintain.)

So, with all the elements stacked up and weighed, my balance-scales tilt towards "dislike".  (If that's an offensive term, please feel free to use "favored" and "unfavored", perhaps. )

I also don't find a great value in 'realism' or non-realism.  As other replies pointed out, it's entertainment. 

Personally, I'd think the zombie-apocalypse survivors would head for parts of the world that had long, long growing seasons with ancient histories of crop production (ie, no need for seeds because there's plenty of native crops), an abundance of fresh water, and lotsa big big leaves, since they no longer shop for toilet paper. 

And then, there's Marsy and his blasted cake.  Lordy... Marsy, if I start having cake dreams, yer gonna pay!  No steenkin' German choco substitutes.  Maybe a great angel-food with strawberries and cream... blast.  See there?  Now he's got me wallowing in cake.  Marsy, yer gonna git it.

[Mike Scott]

There are elements I enjoy about it but I prefer to have specific reasons to argue for and against.

I think you like it more than you dislike it.   I know I have better things to do than watch shows I don't like.

and lotsa big big leaves, since they no longer shop for toilet paper. 

Considering that only about 10% (I really have no idea what the number should be) of the population still uses TP, there should be enough to go around for a while. Hopefully till they get society up and running, again. Of course you've got to find it! A Chamin factory warehouse would be nice to run across.

[ChristineBCW]

Mike, I'd argue that you probably watch a lot of shows with elements you don't like.  Everyone I've met has nicks and picks against even their most favorite shows and movies.  "I wish they'd have done this..."  "I wish that character would have said that instead..."

"Why don't the writers try this?" 

And of course, the acid test for me is re-watchability.   The Good Stuff is re-watchable (except SOPHIE'S CHOICE, which is simply too hard to re-watch it).  Some shows - movies, in particular - seem to take on new life during re-watchings.  DRACULA on the big screen is like that.  I don't watch it on TV - not in many years.  But we have it playing locally twice a year and we'll go see that, on the big screen to a packed out, and the lifeless loss of a mostly silent soundtrack is discarded because of the energy of the audience.