Originally written May 8, 2018

I don’t really know how to feel about season 8 of The Walking Dead. On one hand, season 8 is a definite improvement over season 7, so that makes me happy. Also, season 8 tackles one of my favorite story arcs from the comic, so I was excited to see it played out on screen. On the other hand, my overall feelings toward the show have just become so apathetic that it’s hard to care anymore. While I liked the content and premise of the season, it wasn’t always the greatest presentation, and it fumbles in spots.

Anyway, though, after an entire season of waiting to fight back against Negan (I still can’t believe they spent an entire season on this), season 8 is finally the big war we’ve been waiting for. The season involves Rick’s group fighting against the Saviors. And…that’s about it. Like I said, I was a big fan of the All-Out War storyline in The Walking Dead comic, so I was happy to see this adapted on-screen. For what it’s worth, the show does adapt this storyline pretty well. There’s just not a ton else to say about it storywise, since it’s pretty simple premise.

There’s something that I definitely need to bring up about this season, though. Season 8 makes what I consider to be one of the biggest mistakes of the entire series. Halfway through the season, the show kills off a character that definitely shouldn’t have been killed off, at least not at this point in the show. It’s the kind of death that was only done for shock value to get people talking, and I don’t think that’s ever a good reason to kill someone off. You could argue that this death influenced character decisions made later in the season, which gave the death meaning, but the characters in the comic sensibly reached the same decisions without needing anyone to die in order to get there, so no. It was an unnecessary death and I think it was a completely poor decision because it kills off any future longevity this series could have had. I’m not saying that I was upset about the death because of liking the character, but rather because it’s a terrible decision from a storytelling perspective. You don’t kill off a character in this position unless it’s to propel the story into its final stages.

Anyway, that’s my big rant that I needed to get out at least. Aside from this one horrible decision, the season does at least go in mostly positive directions. I only really have two other complaints. The first is still from a story perspective…while some characters (such as Eugene or Dwight) are handled exceptionally well in this season, others (such as Daryl or Morgan) are just handled extremely poorly. There are decisions and arcs given for these characters that just make zero sense, and it’s the kind of thing where you can tell that they’re only acting in the way they are to either artificially create conflict or to get the story to move in a certain direction.

My other complaint isn’t specific to this season, but it’s been a recurring issue I’ve had with the series for a while. I just hate the way it’s presented a lot of times. There are so many moments where a character will just give a long monologue to another character in a dramatic overacted way, and it always comes off as cringey to me rather than being some epic thing like it’s intended. This also comes along with a presentation of how the story is shown that is sometimes just stupid. It’ll do that thing where, for example, events are shown out of order. However, shows (and other stories) that do this are only doing it when it’s beneficial to show events in the order they’re being presented. It feels like The Walking Dead is only doing it because other great shows have done it, and it wants to be included in that echelon. I dunno, I just feel like the show has been pretentious for a long time now. It needs to recognize itself for what it is and embrace that more. I felt like the first few seasons did it very well, and so I just don’t get why they always feel the need to present things the way they do.

However, aside from those things, the season is actually pretty decent. I feel like the thing that this season really excels in that some of the past seasons have fumbled with is entertainment value. I’ve had the problem in the past with The Walking Dead where the season/midseason openers and finales were great, but the stuff in between moved really slowly. This isn’t the case with season 8, and I’m really thankful for that. It keeps a pretty exciting tone all throughout the season, and so even though there are issues with storytelling, presentation, and character handling that make the show frustrating when you think about it in hindsight, when you’re actually watching the show it’s hard to not be entertained. There weren’t many episodes that felt like filler or that bored me, which is definitely more than I can say about some past seasons.

I feel like the strongest thing this season has going for it more than anything else is the central Rick vs. Negan conflict. This rivalry is the core of the season, and it’s absolutely amazing every time these two characters get to interact with each other in any fashion. I really like that the season explores a complex relationship between the two. Both characters are able to see each other in more than a one-dimensional fashion, recognizing that both of them have good intentions while having flaws in their world views. I’ve heard some argue that this is bad because it makes Negan less of a villain and makes him seem to be a better person than Rick at times, but I think this is more of a strength. It’s great to see these two go back and forth, sometimes trying to come to a compromise with each other, and other times just completely hating the other. I like this fluctuation because it made for a more complex, interesting hero vs. villain relationship than we traditionally get on this show. Also, it’s helped by the fact that Andrew Lincoln and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (who play Rick and Negan respectively) both do a fantastic job playing their characters. It’s easy to tell that these two are the most talented actors on the show, and it really shows when they’re going to head to head with each other.

All in all, while season 8 is a definite improvement over season 7, I just feel like I need to accept the fact that this show will probably never be what it was in the beginning. It’s just gone through too many changes and has kind of wore out its welcome for me (and I think a lot of people). I really want the show to focus on moving toward an end goal soon, because right now it just feels like it’s meandering along. The comic doesn’t have this problem because of the inherent difference in structure between a monthly comic and a TV series, so I feel like the show needs to have more of a focus on a specific direction it’s going to head in. I also think that now would be the perfect time to start looking towards wrapping up, so that we could maybe end on a semi-high note rather than make people lose all interest before it’s over. As they say, it’s better to go out with a bang than a whimper, and at this point it just feels like we’re starting to beat a dead horse (with a barb-wire baseball bat, of course). I plan on seeing this show through because of how much time has been invested in it at this point, but it’s definitely the case that I don’t have the same excitement for this show as I used to. I’m even beyond the point of hoping for it to “get back on track” or anything. I just want it to end. But, in the meantime, season 8 was fine. It wasn’t one of the best or worst seasons, but it’s at least pretty entertaining.

3.5/5