*SPOILERS WARNING! IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE SHOW YET AND YOU HAVE INTEREST IN SEEING IT, PLEASE DO NOT READ ON!**
I remember how excited I was when the very first commerical presenting the Walking Dead aired. It looked so exciting, with an interesting story, and characters I could get behind. I'll admit right away that I never read the comics, and probably never will even though I've been told they're spectacular. The first season was incredible, and arguably the best opening season out of any show in the passed ten years. There was real drama, there was real tension, and the zombies were a huge threat. The characters felt rich and had so much depth to them that it made me want more from the show.
Season two showed signs of the show slowing things down. While i still really enjoy season two, I felt it was a step down from its predecessor. The writers played it a little too safe in the first half of the season, taking very little risks until the main characters reached the farm house where Herschel and company were. From there on out the Season got better and eventually ended on a high note with a huge twist revealing that the virus that caused the apocolypse was in everybody.
Season 3 is my personal favorite. It featured smart writing, extreme tension, horror, and introduced one of the best villains in TV history with the Govenor. Each episode was memorable and better than the last, and the mid season finale was a heart stopping adventure. I only have two gripes with season 3 and its the character Andrea and the Season Finale. These, in my opinion were red flags as to what was to come for the show in the future. Andrea is such a horribly written character; she is very inconsistent and is often complaining about things and when she's not complaining about things, she's being screwed by men she just met. When she died, I just didn't care because her character went from having depth to being as plain as a piece of printer paper. The season finale was very anticlimatic. The filmmakers built it up to being a huge action packed finale where several main characters would be killed off. I was excited; the show was just building up and building up with each episode and then in the final episode, barely anything happens. The Govenor and his men show up to kill everybody in the prison where Rick and the other characters are taking refuge. Rick and everybody ambush the Govenor, spokes his men and the Govenor retreats. Oh, and Andrea dies. The feel of the episode was so disappointing, it seemed as if the writers were afraid of taking any risks with the story. It left a bad taste in my mouth but overrall I think season 3 is the best.
Now we come to Season 4. From the first episode I knew something was wrong. The premeire felt like a soap opera; people were just standing around talking about meaningless things, and they were doing nothing but hearding and planting seeds. I get that the writers were trying to show the audience that everybody was at peace and all was well but at least give us excitement! Every season premeire before Season 4 gave us a lot we could sink our teeth into; it got our blood pumping and got us excited. All season four's premeire wanted me to do was go take a nap.
The writers tried to make things interesting by throwing in a disease that was taking over the prison, causing people to die. However this problem is resolved rather quickly; little is discussed as to what caused it and somethings are explained with quick one line cover ups. Characters are introduced and killed off in the same episodes, people fight about relationships, and the zombies just growl in the background. This isn't Walking Dead! This is a sorry excuse for an afternoon soap opera! Not to mention the extremely disappointing Govenor arc. The writers once again build up to the viewers that the Govenor is back and he wants blood and they spend two episodes with him. Of course not much happens with the Governor other than the fact that he finds a new group to live with.
Season 4, in my opinion, didn't get its first good episode until the Mid Season Finale where the Govenor once again attacks the prison. The mid season finale should have been the finale of season 3. Something tells me the writers were a little worried that they couldn't do much with having the Govenor in season 4. Its unfortunate thing however that the Govenor was only in 3 episodes in a rather long season where barely anything happens. Some die hards of the show will argue that this season is just setting up character development. Is that so? Because most of the characters have been reduced to plain melodramatic indiviuduals who have nothing interesting to say. Almost every episode features the characters sitting around talking about stuff and in the final two minutes we see shit randomly go down only to end in a cliffhanger, only to have it resolved in the first five to ten minutes in the following episode.
Season 4 isn't an incoherent mess, they make it very clear as to what is happening, just you don't really care. The second half of season two picked up, but not by much. They seperated the characters after the Govenor attack and try to induce some flashbacks for the characters. Michonne's flashbacks were nice, but I feel that they were unnecessary. To me, Michonne didn't need a back story. It was nice having her be this dark and mysterious person that would open up a can of whoop ass when she needed to. I'm not trashing the flashback they had of her, I'm just saying it would have been better without it.As the season drags along, it builds up to another disappointing climax.
The season 4 finale was better than Season 3's, because it was intriguing, it had smarter writing than the rest of the season, and ended on a cliffhanger for next season. However, when you step back and think about what happened, you start to feel a little disappointed. The season ends on one of the cheesiest lines in recent memory with Rick saying, "They're gonna be sorry...[15 second pause]...that they messed with the wrong people." One of the characters, like Glenn should have said, "LOL, seriously!? That's the best you can come up with?" I will say in the episode's defense that it gives me hope for Season 5.
There is just one other thing that I have a problem with in this Season, and its the biggest flaw that the show suffers from--THE ZOMBIES ARE NOT A THREAT! In a show that features zombies everywhere should be filled with a lot of horror and tension. As stated earlier, I said that Season 4 has little to no tension in any of the episodes aside from a select few. The nonexistent tension can be directly related to the fact that the Zombies are no longer a threat to the characters. I say this because now it seems so easy to kill a zombie this season whereas in previous seasons it was extremely hard to get away from just one. Now all it takes is a slight tap on the head and the zombie is out of the way. Yeah there's a few cliche scenes where a character trips and falls as they're being chased by a zombie and they kill it just in the nick of time before the get turned into lunch. They might as well rename the show because the freaking zombies are no longer the center piece of the plot!
Here's how I'd rate the seasons:
Season 1- 9.1/10
Season 2- 7.5/10
Season 3- 9.5/10
Season 4- 5/10
What I would suggest, that in Season 5 they introduce a new breed of Walkers. Walkers that sprint after their prey. I know that idea probably wasn't in the comics but it gives us viewers something to be excited over in this now "lifeless" show. Bring back the Rick we knew from Season 1! (although I am enjoying this new, crazy Rick because it finally gives him balls).
What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Disagree?
Comment below and let me know!