r/thewalkingdead • u/Tiny_Dance • 8d ago
Show Spoiler Its my first time watching The Walking Dead, and i kinda lost the point of the show Spoiler
I’m on season 9 now, and the absence of Rick, Carl, and Maggie really stands out. I’ve enjoyed the show a lot and tried to understand the writers’ choices, but at some point, I found myself wondering why I’m still watching who am I supposed to care about now? Michonne and Judith could be the answer, but I’m just not as invested as I was with Carl and Rick. It feels like a big part of the story is missing, and the writers are trying to fix it, but it doesn’t quite work. I’m not trying to complain, just sharing my thoughts maybe I’m not the only one who feels this way.
I do like how they’re trying to develop Negan’s character and give him a redemption arc, but killing off main characters or just writing them out without explanation feels sloppy.
And well new characters that feels like they spawned out of no where lol, idk how i feel about them yet but i do kinda like them
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u/forlornforbit 8d ago
That's just the way it goes. You've had 8 seasons of brilliance (some more than others). The rest is watchable if you really want to, and I did, but there's no real point after where you've already got to.
Have to say, it was inevitable the quality would dip after so long, with so many key actors leaving, but the writers did bring in a heck of a lot of minor characters with limited screen time and it was hard to care
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u/Individual-Thought75 8d ago
ehhh, season 7 is already too slow. Even late season 4 isn't as good as season 1. You can't keep a show interesting forever.
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u/Snoo-49231 8d ago
Season 4b is definitely better than 1. 1 is a mess besides the pilot. 1 is good because stuff happens. It's entertaining, but not really well written. But 4b is one of the only half seasons with good dialogue and character interactions. Not that it's perfect, but is infinitely better than any season before and for the most part after.
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u/NovaFan2 8d ago
That sums up how I felt watching the show from season 9 through 11, I just didn't care for the newer characters and watched it to see how the series would end. My enjoyment of the show ended after season 8 and even that season was kinda ehh.
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u/Snoo-49231 8d ago
Eight seasons of brilliance, lol. The only seasons that are good are 1, 4 and 6. And 1 and 6 are mostly just entertainment.
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u/HalloweenH2OMG 8d ago
As someone who watched every episode of the show on the night it aired, starting from the day it premiered on October 31st, 2010… I stopped watching 2 seasons before you are at right now. I stopped enjoying the show.
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u/Tiny_Dance 8d ago
I'm still trying to give a chance, since i invested so much time into it, but never expected myself googling why some characters just vanished from the show or died. Man, i also miss Morgan so much
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u/Ok_Map_1918 8d ago
MORGAN?!?! If you want that man go watch FTWD.
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u/Leather_Dragonfly529 8d ago
Just started and it’s so good. Idk why I waited so long to watch it.
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u/Ok_Map_1918 8d ago
Personally I think the characters are at their best in season 9 & 10. Some great development and I think it’s because they’re really able to focus on other characters and build them up. Daryl & Carol are great in these 2 seasons imo. I never really liked Daryl but I really like who he becomes. I really like how well they handle characters like Enid, Henry & Tara! Really great development tbh
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u/Tiny_Dance 8d ago
I do like how Carol got her loving husband, they such a cute couple, and well sometimes silly.
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u/russellamcleod 3d ago
I honestly really liked Andrea and that was around the time I started getting annoyed…
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u/Slhallford 8d ago
I couldn’t forgive them for Glenn.
I’m trying again, just finished season 2 and I’m hoping it hits differently this time.
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8d ago
[deleted]
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u/Slhallford 8d ago
Oh good. Now I can be a mad about that too.
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u/Ok_Map_1918 8d ago
Lmaooooo. You should check out the comics! It’s kind of crazy how much they switched character deaths. Glenn might be one of the only ones to stay true.
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u/Slhallford 8d ago
I was so invested in him and Maggie and the pregnancy.
I think if I could have had Glenn get to become a father first then it would have been more meaningful.
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u/Ok_Map_1918 8d ago
I think that’s why it’s so heartbreaking and what makes TWD so sad. The real villain are people and they take loved ones away left and right. I was mortified when Beth died and didn’t think I could watch again. But then I watched GOT and realized for the most part TWD is calm until season 9 cause girl…killing so many characters not even in the finale is crazzzy.
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u/John-Twick 8d ago
Season 9 is fantastic and yes, while the show isn’t the same without Rick, it still delivers, and there’s a lot of good characters that get a bit more focus.
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u/Ok_Map_1918 8d ago
Personally I think the characters are at their best in season 9 & 10. Some great development and I think it’s because they’re really able to focus on other characters and build them up. Daryl & Carol are great in these 2 seasons imo. I never really liked Daryl but I really like who he becomes.
I really like how well they handle characters like Enid, Henry & Tara! Really great development tbh
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u/Dogpoundd22 8d ago
Fucking same. I started watching the show earlier this year and burned through seasons 1-9 in a month and loved it! Since then it’s taken me another 3-4 months and I’m still trying to push through season 11. It’s been the loss of Rick and Carl mostly that has made me lose a bit of interest, but also going from Negan and the saviors straight into Alpha and the whisperers reminds me of the MCU building up Thanos for a decade and then having a great payoff in endgame to then immediately turning around and being like, “hey you know that big baddy who we’ve been building towards forever and seemed unbeatable? Well guess what? He really wasn’t shit. Meet Kang!”
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u/Tiny_Dance 5d ago
Im still trying to watch it, i don't have much passion as i used to, atp i just want to finish and move on. Also love the reference lol
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u/unlovelyladybartleby 8d ago
Jerry. You're watching to make sure Jerry is okay and that cobbler remains on the menu.
Princess. She will teach you the lasagna trick, and it will change your life
Dog, Connie, and Luke
There's also a glorious moment coming up where Gracie proves that the whistle is mightier than the sword
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u/Educational-Gold-546 7d ago
I also stopped on S9 like years and years ago bc of your same feelings…. I think a lot of people did. But on a whim I just picked it back up for the remaining 2 seasons and I was shocked at how good it’s been! Without spoiling too much there is still a GREAT villain left, some tear jerking plot lines, some really nice late-game character arc struggles for some of the baseline characters, and the way they wrapped up the show left me bawling. I was genuinely surprised I liked it so much!! Maybe take a break and then give it a shot would be my rec. 😜
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u/My-Name-Isnt-Joey 8d ago
I watched weekly till rick left, then I watched the last season only because it was advertised as the last season, writing went way down hill
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u/Senior-Status8815 8d ago
TWD really died I would say by season 6 however was watchable once Negan was introduced, but the writers really dragged out the whole Negan storyline, which made me not care to watch anymore. Rick saving Negans life was probably the thing that made me really disdain Rick, therefore making the show difficult to watch (in my opinion).
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u/Minimalistmacrophage 8d ago
In S9E6-S9E8 (the transition from Main to Ensemble) is rough. It may feel like it has lost the point. but by the end of E8 it's likely you will feel they have "righted" the ship or shortly thereafter
Disliking Magna's group is normal, so if you kinda like them you may be more pleased with the turnaround than most.
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u/MoFoRyGar 8d ago
I really find after rewatching that the show plummets after season 6. I find Negans character so annoying and his character shift from bad guy to good guy is just stupid. When he first comes on the show he is so annoying to listen to I find it hard to continue. Then he goes to jail for a long time and its just a complete different character. I like him more during the last season but by then the show was terrible.
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u/Dry_Midnight545 8d ago
Thats funny that you posted this! I just watched the episode where Rick leaves last night, and fast forwarded through the next two episodes pretty much trying to see if it was worth watching. My decision was no as well; It feels like an empty story without Rick. It already sort of felt that way with Carl but I gave it the benefit just to get blindsided with Rick’s sudden absence.
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u/MmmSuite 8d ago
I liked the show until the end. Like the opening of season 11 is a favorite for me. Some of the choices they made due to Covid really gave people the chance to shine. The Connie centric episode…well…you’ll see.
It wasn’t like it was at its peak, but there is a lot of good stuff there. It never flatlined for me even if some of the choices aren’t for me.
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u/Philander_Chase 7d ago
The first 5 seasons are about Rick and his group trying to survive.
Seasons 6-8 are about Rick trying to save the communities.
Seasons 9-11 are about the communities trying to survive, without Rick.
It’s basically 3 different shows in one
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u/Daydreamer631 7d ago
I think it’s best to have the mindset that the show is about Judith and all the people who helped keep her alive. Thats kind of how I justify the last few seasons after Rick and Carl get written off
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u/Tiny_Dance 5d ago
the thing is judith end up having sm less screentime, its just seems like a mess with bunch of characters at once for me
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u/Unsomnabulist111 5d ago
The show was an off-the-rails mess by that point, IMO.
They disappeared some of the most popular characters to create hype for spin-offs…then chucked in a bunch of new people who nobody really liked beyond the deaf one. I always scratched my head as to why they did that.
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u/Tiny_Dance 5d ago
I just kept comparing to comic books, and what is going in the show, and realise its either writters either being greedy or just bad.
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u/Logical_Trouble547 4d ago
I quit watched the show while it aired on tv and I quit after Rick didn’t kill negan. That was the last straw for me.
I have since gone back and finished it in the last year and yeah it continued to suck. Some decent episodes mixed in like “here’s negan”
Funny though. I quit because negan didn’t die but man the show would have sucked even worse if he did die.
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u/Living-Tiger3448 8d ago
Maggie comes back but imo the main highlight of the later seasons is daryl. The later seasons are a little tough to get through and the earlier seasons are obviously better, but once they get into a groove it’s really Carol, Judith, Daryl, Aaron, Gabriel etc