THE WALKING DEAD's Season 8 Finale Ratings Were The Series' Second Lowest Ever

THE WALKING DEAD's Season 8 Finale Ratings Were The Series' Second Lowest Ever

It appears as if the mediocre eighth season of AMC's The Walking Dead has killed interest in the series quicker than Rick Grimes takes out walkers, because ratings for the finale were not at all good...

News
By JoshWilding - Apr 19, 2018 02:04 AM EST
Filed Under: The Walking Dead
Source: Variety
The introduction of Negan was just what The Walking Dead needed. Unfortunately, a lot of viewers were left alienated by the deaths of Abraham and Glenn and despite season eight promising "All-Out War," shots of the survivors kneeling by cars and firing their guns really wasn't all that exciting. The whole thing played out way too slowly and the decision to kill Carl Grimes also upset a lot of viewers. 

With that in mind, it's no surprise that Sunday's finale was a ratings disappointment. It averaged a 3.4 rating among adults 18 - 49 and a total of 7.9 million viewers. That's an increase from the what the penultimate instalment did but a whopping 37% demo drop and 30% viewership drop from the season seven finale. The season five finale did 15.8 million viewers in comparison so The Walking Dead's glory days of breaking records are clearly behind it. However, is this really bad news for the AMC series? 

Well, despite the massive drop, the show is still considered a hit in terms of ratings but a new showrunner being appointed is obviously a reaction to these failing numbers and if they continue to plummet, season ten or eleven could be its last. What did you think of The Walking Dead's finale? Are you excited to see where things go from here? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts below.
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CaptainElrond
CaptainElrond - 4/19/2018, 2:33 AM
Watch the terror instead. Much better.
Kevwebsz
Kevwebsz - 4/19/2018, 2:44 AM
@Toffee - or Channel Zero
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 4/19/2018, 2:37 AM
Required viewing in my household, but I spend the whole time fan-casting the people in superhero roles.

Especially now that Steven Ogg is gone. Love that guy.
CaptainElrond
CaptainElrond - 4/19/2018, 2:39 AM
@Spock0Clock - Ah i love steven ogg. Who would you cast him as?
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 4/19/2018, 2:59 AM
@Toffee - Realistically? A slightly gritty Montana from the Enforcers.



With Michael Kelly as Fancy Dan:


...and probably Chad Coleman as Ox:


But I would really want them to have room to be fleshed out (always felt the Enforcers got neglected in adaptations in favor of flashier villains). But if we're talking real pie in the sky stuff, I'd love to see him play something other than a villain.

For something like a live-action Nextwave, I wouldn't hate the idea of him as the Captain.
CaptainElrond
CaptainElrond - 4/19/2018, 3:07 AM
@Spock0Clock - Always thought of him as interesting choice for puck from alpha flight


There was also a time i pictured him as wolverine
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 4/19/2018, 3:11 AM
@Toffee - CG augmented to be short to play Puck? I can see that.
CaptainElrond
CaptainElrond - 4/19/2018, 3:19 AM
@Spock0Clock - Probably short, although i would defiantly not mind cg augmented. Perhaps a bit of both.

Also he is Canadian, as a bonus.
GeneralZod
GeneralZod - 4/19/2018, 6:19 AM
@Spock0Clock - love The Enforcers
Luminus
Luminus - 4/19/2018, 2:37 AM
Episode was mediocre, at best. I was disappointed.
Vigor
Vigor - 4/19/2018, 2:56 AM
Josh you always inject why you think walking dead is doing bad but reality is, the quality of the show has gone down in recent years. Hell, arguably since they kicked the show runner out after season 2. People are slowly waking up to see it
Spock0Clock
Spock0Clock - 4/19/2018, 3:02 AM
@Vigor - I think seasons three and four are pretty solid stuff for the most part, but yeah... since Terminus it's definitely been pretty rough going. And teasing the next conflict as Rick vs. Maggie or whatever... I don't know about that....
Vigor
Vigor - 4/19/2018, 3:47 AM
@Spock0Clock - yeah I'd agree with that. I can write a whole dissertation on where walking dead faltered but I'm way too lazy for that
CaptainElrond
CaptainElrond - 4/19/2018, 4:12 AM
@Vigor - They should just bring back the army and bring back some of that cure stuff from season 1.
TheGrayGhost
TheGrayGhost - 4/19/2018, 5:48 AM
@Toffee - I think that may be where they could be going with the people that gave Maggie the book and supplies. The helicopter flies around looking for communities and then are observed to see if they are worthy of being given that book to adequately build a new society. Then somewhere hidden they have a compound with a community consisting of government officials, scientists, or VIPs.
Nightwing1015
Nightwing1015 - 4/19/2018, 2:56 AM
And this is the show the network wants to continue for another decade.
ThePhantazm
ThePhantazm - 4/19/2018, 2:59 AM
Killing Glenn and Abraham was not the prpblem. I actually thought that was one of the best episodes of the show ever. Ratings went down after that because they kill momentum with filler episodes. And killing Carl was such a stupid decision.That was when I quit the show.
zeon00
zeon00 - 4/19/2018, 4:16 AM
@ThePhantazm - me too
Mysterion
Mysterion - 4/19/2018, 7:13 AM
@ThePhantazm - I agree 100%, the filler episodes for the past two seasons have been brutal, and is one of the main reasons my interest in the show has been fading.
I personally think the show should go back to 13 episodes instead of 16.
LordHarryLatts
LordHarryLatts - 4/19/2018, 3:18 AM
You can miss 4 episodes without a problem now...because nothing ever happens.
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 4/19/2018, 4:23 AM
The thing that killed this show is when the characters started behaving moronically to force the story into where the writers wanted it to go, rather than keep writing believable characters making thier own beliavable choices. Not the choices the hack writers wanted them to make.
ThouBear8
ThouBear8 - 4/19/2018, 7:12 AM
@CLTMAN29 - this is extremely well put. They have these ideas of where they want the show to go, then they decide which characters will make that happen. Then they have characters doing complete 180s, with zero build up whatsoever. It's how we keep getting characters (literally at least 5 or 6 at this point) changing their minds on whether or not it's okay to kill.

Carol was a killing machine, then she didn't want to kill anyone, then she was killing again, then she wasn't. Jesus had no problem leading everyone to a Saviers outpost to kill them in their sleep, then he wouldn't kill ANYONE, now he's plotting to kill Negan. Morgan was insane & willing to kill anyone, then he refused to kill ANYONE, then he had to kill EVERYONE, now he doesn't want to kill again. Carl was angry that his dad wasn't killing enough people, then he became mister pacifist. Or how about just this season alone, where Rick got into a fistfight with Daryl cus Rick didn't want to kill innocent people, then he had to kill everyone, then he spares Negan & won't kill anyone.

Most of that has happened just in the last 2 seasons. That is remarkably lazy storytelling, all because they keep deciding they want to have conflict, but they're too inept to actually build up to it. Scott Gimple drove this show into the ground & the worst part is, he thinks he's a [frick]ing genius. You can tell in the interviews with him.
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 4/20/2018, 8:26 AM
@ThouBear8 - Preach it brother. EXACTLY what I said - with much better examples to back it up! A+
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 4/20/2018, 8:37 AM
@ThouBear8 - Also, look at the Carl thing, it was again, a forced attempt to get someone to behave out of character. You look at the Rick Grimes in the show up until Negan arrives, that was a mother[frick]er who would not spare anyone. There was no way he was ever, EVER going to let Negan walk away. So killing Carl was a desperate attempt to create some sort of doubt on Ricks part or honour his son just to keep Negan on the show. Rick should have put a bullet in the [frick]ers head the minute he pulled up outside the sanctuary. Season 5 Rick would of, instead of mouthing off just to keep Negan on the show.
ThouBear8
ThouBear8 - 4/20/2018, 1:20 PM
@CLTMAN29 - once again I completely agree. They obviously decided they wanted to keep Negan alive (like in the comics), then after the fact they had to figure out the only possible way Rick would show him mercy. The really dumb thing about it was that they didn't have Rick softening his stance AT ALL leading up to the finale, with him repeatedly telling him that he was still going to kill him.

It makes zero sense for him to spare Negan within the context of the show. I knew they were going to do that, but they never made it believable. It just happened because they wanted it to. & they killed off Carl (destroying any chance to see all his great moments from the comics in the process) to make that happen (& to shock people & get ratings, albeit temporarily).

It sucks cus this show was genuinely great but Gimple steered it in a really shitty direction. Hopefully with a new showrunner they can get back on track. I also hope they don't try to keep this show going indefinitely. The drop in quality is already noticeable by pretty much everyone. An endgame plan could only help this show.
CLTMAN29
CLTMAN29 - 4/19/2018, 4:23 AM
Just jump over to Fear with Morgan, the season 4 premiere was brilliant.
slickrickdesigns
slickrickdesigns - 4/19/2018, 5:25 AM
Haven’t seen anything since the episode where Carl was bitten.
This shows more dragged out the new Dragonball Z episode.
knocturnalzen10
knocturnalzen10 - 4/19/2018, 5:38 AM
@slickrickdesigns - super would've dragged longer if the film wasn't coming up lol lol i think they cut a tleast a month off when you see how gohan got knocked off
diabolik
diabolik - 4/19/2018, 7:26 AM
I think it was more kumbaya than zombie apocalypse..don't know whats wrong with this show ..it used to be so good
Facade
Facade - 4/19/2018, 1:51 PM
@diabolik - FX and stunties ruined the show...it all about flash and bang rather than story telling.
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