Looking at the show from a broad, semi-objective lens, The Walking Dead is in an interesting place right now. As the show has entered its ninth season, it has started to experience all-time low ratings. I believe that the season finale had its lowest viewer numbers in the history of the show. Some of this can be attributed to the ways that people have changed their viewing habits, sure, but in general this indicates that a lot of people aren’t interested in the show anymore. And, sure, to an extent this is going to happen with any show that’s in its ninth season. However, despite these being the lowest ratings for the show, the aforementioned finale still had around 5 million viewers, which is way higher than most other shows on cable. There’s also the fact that the show is almost unrecognizable from where it began to where it is now. I believe that by the end of season 9 there are only two characters in the large cast that have been on since the first season, which is absolutely crazy to think about. This season featured the end of main protagonist Rick Grimes (which I’m not spoiling, since it was heavily advertised after Andrew Lincoln announced that he’d be leaving the show), which was obviously going to turn some people off. Also, I don’t think you’ll find many people that would disagree that the show has really dipped in quality over the years, especially in recent seasons. Despite all of this working against the show, I actually think that season 9 of The Walking Dead is probably one of the best seasons the show has had in years.

For a long time now, The Walking Dead has featured Rick and his community fighting against Negan and the Saviors. This storyline started halfway through season 6, and just finally finished up in the season 8 finale. Now that that’s over with, season 9 moves things in a new direction. The first half of season 9 features Rick and company trying to move forward with rebuilding. There are some unavoidable tensions between factions that interfere with this, but that’s where we’re at. However, as stated earlier, this season features Rick’s exit from the show, and so this happens in the fifth episode. After this episode, the show has a significant time jump of a few years. At this point, characters are in a much different place in their lives, although this is something I don’t want to go in-depth with since I think it’s a spoiler. For the rest of the season, though, the community encounters a new threat: the Whisperers. This is a group that cuts off the faces of Walkers and wear them in order to blend in with the dead. I loved the Whisperers in the comics, so I was happy to see them featured on the show. They’re a really interesting threat, and I felt like they helped provide a breath of fresh air for the show.

Now, look, I think the biggest challenge The Walking Dead is going to face moving forward is finding a compelling main protagonist to fill Rick’s shoes. Rick has always been a very interesting character, and in previous seasons I always felt like the show was at its best when its focus remained on Rick. That’s not to say that other characters aren’t interesting, but rather that no one has been as interesting as Rick, and so his lack of presence is definitely felt once he exits the show. The big problem here is that the show doesn’t really have an obvious replacement for him. The best choice would have been for Carl to fill the shoes of his father, but the show stupidly decided to kill him off last season, so there goes that idea. Another obvious choice would be for Maggie to come forward as a new leader, but Lauren Cohan also left the show this season (although the show barely acknowledges it). After Rick’s departure, Michonne steps in as the new leader, but it’s recently been revealed that she’ll be leaving the show in season 10. So, while she worked well enough as the leader, this won’t last long. Judith could eventually work as a leader, but for now she’s just a young child, so that can’t work in the short-term unless there was another significant time jump. The only other obvious options left are Daryl or Carol, but if I’m being completely honest I’ve always thought those two work much better as side characters, so I can’t imagine the show being interesting with either of them leading it. The only other option here is to have a new character become leader, but at that point I don’t see the point in continuing. I think the smartest choice here would be to have season 10 be the final season, but unfortunately I don’t see this happening since it seems like AMC has no intention of ending the show anytime soon. So, we’ll see where this leaves us.

However, all of that is just a discussion for the future of the show. The real question for this review is how season 9 was. Like I said, I actually think this was one of the better seasons of the show in recent years. It’s weird that I feel this way given that Rick is gone for most of it, but that’s where we’re at. I think the show gave a really fitting end for Rick, so the first batch of episodes in the season are handled with great care. I don’t want to talk spoilers, but it makes for a strong start to the season. The time jump was also a great choice, because seeing how characters have evolved during that time really helps accelerate the plot after Rick’s departure. His loss is definitely felt among its characters, but we’re at least able to see them move forward rather than meander and mourn over his loss for multiple episodes. Then, like I said, I’ve always really enjoyed the Whisperer storyline, and I think it’s handled well here. The first half is interesting because of character development, but then the second half is interesting because of tension and drama.

Look, I’m not going to sit here and pretend like this show is still amazing. The first three seasons of The Walking Dead were fantastic, and honestly things have never quite been the same since. I can’t give the show the same high recommendation as I was able to years ago. So, if you’ve given up on the show, I can respect that. And while season 9 might be better than 7 or 8, it’s still not season 3 quality. However, for those of you that are like me and like to see shows through to the end, you can at least rejoice that season 9 has improved. I think the show should have ended a long time ago, but if it’s going to continue on I’d like to at least have it be good. In recent years, the show has almost died and still continued to meander on, much like the zombies that it portrays, but season 9 does at least inject some new life into the show. It’s not high art, but it’s better than what we’ve been getting.

4/5