So, that Walking Dead season finale [spoilers]

Bedrockgames · Apr 6, 2016

Morrus said:
I got that, I promise. You have made your opinion extremely clear.

Are you sure? Because I'd be happy to continue expressing it.

Maxperson · Apr 6, 2016

Morrus said:
Yup. The only cliffhanger in, what, two decades, that actually was a cliffhanger? And clearly audiences have been trained out of what is a wonderful dramatic technique. But then, I heard people complain about trailers that it didn't tell them the whole plot, so they didn't want to see the film. We're getting old it seems. Actually cinematic techniques are not wanted any more.

I enjoy the old movies. Before special effects the writers had to actually develop the characters and sustain the movie with good writing. Now special effects and one liners seem to dominate and take away from what was once a craft.

Flexor the Mighty! · Apr 6, 2016

A generally mediocre finale. Really they had 30 minutes of storyline padded out to an extra long episode. The whole bit with Carol and Morgan was weak as well. Thought the ending was meh, really the whole build up for the second half of the season was who will Negan kill but that is pushed off until next season. This show is never that strong for writing though so I just go with it.

Mark CMG · Apr 8, 2016

Morrus said:
Well, in that case it worked.

(Up until the last half season I had to be dragged to watch the yawn-fest that was TWD; seriously, dullest show on TV where nothing ever happens. The last 6 episodes or so actually had me interested, and the last couple I couldn't fake my eyes from the screen. I don't know if they changed scriptwriters or anything, but watching it turned from a chore to event TV).

I agree. Fairly predictable until lately, though I didn't see it coming when Carol saved them from Terminus.

Bedrockgames · Apr 10, 2016

Flexor the Mighty! said:
A generally mediocre finale. Really they had 30 minutes of storyline padded out to an extra long episode. The whole bit with Carol and Morgan was weak as well. Thought the ending was meh, really the whole build up for the second half of the season was who will Negan kill but that is pushed off until next season. This show is never that strong for writing though so I just go with it.

The episode itself didn't bother me at all (I felt all the lead up to Negan showdown really did a good job of building and taking away Rick's confidence bit by bit). It was just the end that put me off. I am a lot more chill about it now though than I was when I first saw it.

Personally I think the show writing has been exceptionally strong (which was why the cliffhanger felt like such a fumble to me). But after a week of getting other peoples' opinions, which I expected to be pretty in line with my own response, I was surprised to see a lot of folks found the ending compelling. So I don't honestly think this is a bad a writing issue (even though I invoked that in my rage at the show). I think it was a calculation on the part of the writers, one that was a big risk, and obviously didn't pan out for a view like myself, but worked for others. Increasingly I find criticisms like 'bad writing', 'lazy writing', etc are are really non-arguments to mean "I didn't like". So I have to cop to falling on it myself here. It wasn't bad writing, it just pissed off some viewers (though still not a fan of that ending).

redmonde · Apr 11, 2016

I think Negan did not kill Rick in the finale because Negan want Rick to work to him.

Wednesday Boy · Apr 11, 2016

Bedrockgames said:
I usually am the one defending shows I watch, and rarely get bent out of shape by problems in the writing but this episode failed hugely for me and it all boiled down to that pointless cliffhanger at the end (which sucked out all the power of Negan's introduction).

I'm with you. It felt unfinished and unengaging to me. I would have preferred them end with a cliffhanger about what the future holds for the characters and one that would have me think and wonder about what will happen next.

Bedrockgames said:
I was defending the whole Glenn ducking under the dumpster thing when it happened, now I am not so sure.

I wasn't a fan of that part. It seemed like a pulled punch to try to trick the viewer, to me.

Bedrockgames said:
I don't really care much about the comics and show being the same (that they are different is one of the cool things about tuning in).

This is one of my very favorite things about it as an adaptation. I'm a reader and viewer of Game of Thrones too and I much prefer TWD show because its divergence from the comic makes it surprise me more than GoT does.

Bedrockgames said:
I definitely read the lines differently in my head as well (more like a Bruce Campbell voice or something). But I don't pin the blame for this on Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I think he interpreted the character well, just different from how I pictured it, and I think he has the charm and personality to pull of Negan.

I can see a Bruce Campbell sort of delivery. And I don't blame Morgan either. It's a different take but I think he'll do a good job.

Hand of Evil · Apr 11, 2016

redmonde said:
I think Negan did not kill Rick in the finale because Negan want Rick to work to him.

I am thinking the three that could die would be Rosita, Eugene and Spenser. Leaning to Eugene because he was doing a lot of hugging and passed on the recipe to Rick. Will be surprise if it is not one of them.

cmad1977 · Apr 11, 2016

So... Spoilers and all....

According to the comics the victim is Glen. I don't care if they change things from the comics personally, however I think Glen's death would have real weight given his tenure in the show and the fact that his pregnant wife will witness the death.

... And yeah, the cliffhanger kind of neutered the drama of the moment if you ask me.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk