Is The Walking Dead Circling The Drain?

Something just isn’t right about AMC’s hit show The Walking Dead. The once most popular show on network television just doesn’t seem to have the steam it used to. Once a show that cast and crew felt like it could go on for years to come, seems to be on it’s last leg as of late. The story has become stale, the ratings are in a slow decline, and they’re losing the original cast at an alarming rate. After killing off Glenn, they’re on their way to killing off Carl, and now there’s news that Lauren Cohan is joining a pilot for ABC as her contract is set to expire. (Comingsoon.net)

So why the sudden change in quality for the audience? It all started with the Negan, the beginning of the end for the die-hard fans. One of the comic book’s strongest characters is portrayed brilliantly by Jeffery Dean Morgan who brought the character to life on the small screen. It’s not the character that has the show on a downward spiral but the build in extreme hate for the character that hasn’t gone over well.

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Yes, they have done a wonderful job of making the character match his counter part on the show but his intensity and dominance of the group has stripped all hope. Even with previous villains like the governor, there seemed to be a sense of hope that one of the characters with the group or not would save the day. Since Negan was brought in, every single character has been stripped down to the core and seems a shell of their former self. If there’s no redeeming moments soon, all connection to these characters will be lost.

Speaking of character connections, The Walking Dead has done a great job severing all connection to the audience with characters as of late. One of the few things keeping a stale story fresh is the characters and how they fit into the overall plot. Much like Game of Thrones, we’ve learned not to get too attached to the characters on The Walking Dead, tragedy can strike at any minute to any character giving the show a sense of realism. However, unlike Game of Thrones the plot is not the strength of the show, it’s the characters. When you look at it as a whole it’s very wash, rinse, repeat.

The group moves to a new place to settle, someone tries to take what they have, they fight them off, the zombies invade. That’s it. The strength is how will these characters survive and get back to a normal life. By dropping series regulars the rate that they have been the connection to the show is lost. You can replace them with as many interesting characters as you want but once the audience is no longer invested, the magic of intrigue is gone.

Sure everyone loves Daryl and wants to see Michonne hack and slash her way through zombie hoards, but pivoting from the central characters season after season is beginning to sink the ship. While being able to take liberties with certain characters on the show has given a unique feel from it’s comic counter part, changing too much throws up a red flag. Both Carl and Maggie are alive and well in The Walking Dead comic and how they’ll replace them in future stories will be a challenge for the show’s creators. Whatever their solution is, the’ll need to pull an ace out of their sleeve to keep the game going. Without something big to pull people back in, The Walking Dead might not make it past another 2 seasons.