The Walking Dead Season 6

[Driver]

Sure, I get you. But a cliffhanger like that is 80s evening soap 101. So is renegotiating contracts between seasons.

[Pong Messiah]

Well I am not pooping on serial drama's rich history of cliffhangers or the practical aspect of contract negotiations; I just didn't like it in this case.

 

Take for example season 1 BSG when Adama got shot. It was very by-the-numbers and there was little doubt he would pull through, but it was extremely well-crafted and the emotional stakes were super high because we (or at least me) were invested in the characters and could really feel their exhaustion and turmoil. However, had the buildup to him getting gunned down been dragged out 2-3 more episodes, had we been repeatedly teased by it, I think that its impact would have been virtually nil, and the audience would have been very dissatisfied because by boom time we (me) would be feeling just as emotionally exhausted as the characters. But they way they did it -- POW POW POW -- done was just awesome. I literally rewound it 4-5 times when I first saw it!

 

So I dunno... I'm not sure if it was the execution of the cliffhanger itself or a culmination of how many times we have already been teased and all the promotional material, but I definitely felt cheated -- "JUST GET OVER WITH IT I CAN'T CARE ANYMORE!"

[ShadowDog]

Somebody on twitter predicted the season 7 premiere will be almost all Savior/Negan backstory and you won't find out who dies until episode 2. LOL

[Pong Messiah]

Somebody on twitter predicted the season 7 premiere will be almost all Savior/Negan backstory and you won't find out who dies until episode 2. LOL

That cruel bastard is probably right!

[Driver]

Haha-- if not giving away a season ending kill is soap opera 101, non-linear trickery for the sake of dragging out the reveal as long as possible is Walking Dead 101.

[ShadowDog]

Reminds me of when Lost pulled that shit to open season 2 and keep the Hatch reveal spinning until the end of episode 3. fuckers

[Pong Messiah]

GOD YOU GUYS STOP IT

[Driver]

My BFF Gale Anne Hurd has said they won't stall revealing the death in S7.

[NumberSix]

I'd be madder if Negan had turned out totally lame. Never read any of his comics appearances, but so far those five minutes are most interesting thing I've ever seen Jeffrey Dean Morgan do.

 

To me all the dead/not-dead fakeouts in previous episodes were a lot more aggravating. This final scene bugged me for a few minutes, but then I got some sleep, forgave them, and moved on with my life.

 

Wish I could say the same for the rest of the internet, acting like TWD was their fiancee dumping them at the altar. A full day later and dudes are still throwing chairs all over the place -- even at poor Chris Hardwick, and all he did was openly like the show and the episode. Clearly we as a mob-based society must MAKE HIM PAY WITH F-WORDS.

[Driver]

I can only DREAM of someday having a show that gets this much of a reaction out of people.

 

That said-- fandom is terrible.

[ShadowDog]

It is but at the same time WD been trolling mofos all season long.

[monkeygirl]

GAWD I WANT this to be Carl but I'm guessing it's Eugene or Abraham.

[Driver]

Based on Neegan's dialog it isn't Rick or Carl. Morgan and Carol made it to Hilltop. Enid is in Alexandria. Anyone else is fair game...

[CoLA]

As soon as it went to the victim's POV, I knew they weren't going to let us know until next season!

And holy crap, the GTA V actor looks just like his character in that game!

[Stevil]

I think it was Rick.

 

It made sense to be Rick. Cut the head off the snake and make everyone subservient to you.

 

I had a feeling Rick was going to die all day before watching the episode. I was still thinking it afterward. Then I watched some talking dead and they said that the new storyline will be about the group having to adjust to this loss and finding a way to deal with the change in the group.

 

Negan told his men to feed Carl his other eye if he squeals. Scott Gimple said on TD that there were clues in the episode

 

Which got me thinking about who could die and change the dynamic of the group? Maggie maybe? But I doubt they'd stove a pregnant girl's head in on TV. It can only be Rick. He is the other leadership position. The rest are just soldiers and won't really alter the make up of the group if they die.

 

Writing a story about a new leader emerging sounds interesting to me. I know someone mentioned there hasn't been any development in that direction. I think Morgan has been the closest challenger with his own ethos. I would also argue that there had been no room for development as long as Rick is in the hot seat.

 

Conversely... I could just be completely wrong.

[Driver]

You are. Rick is the only one that's untouchable.

[Odine]

That was the lamest season finale I've seen in a while. Total cop-out not showing who dies. By the time next season comes around I'm not gonna care who got killed, because I will have forgotten most the plot of season 06 and lost my emotional attachment to any of the characters. It would've still been an epic cliffhanger if we knew/saw who got beaten to death. The fact we don't see makes me think:

 

1: AMC are a bunch of ******* and are too scared to make a decision just yet about who they're gonna kill off until it's discussed in a board room

 

2: they're gonna cop out next season and it'll be someone we don't really care about like Eugene, or the ginger with the bad moustache. And that'll be lame. They could've had some moxie and forced us to see Rick get mashed, or Glenn or Daryl or Carl. People would still be itching to come back after that.

 

Best part of this episode was Trevor from GTAV.

[Driver]

It's hilarious how everyone is mad about it-- and yet, they can't stop talking about it and pretty much everyone can't wait until S7 to see who died.

 

This was their plan, they executed it, and are getting exactly the reaction they wanted.

 

Being mad that you don't know who died is like a little kid mad that he can't open his christmas presents early.

[Odine]

It's not that. I mean I literally will not care. (I care now because I literally just watched the episode). My attention span is not gonna keep me interested and the story won't be fresh in my mind to make me care. Unless they grow a pair and kill Daryl. Then I'll care. But they won't. It'll be a fizzer.

 

I get your point, Driver, but it was just a cheap trick to force us to keep watching. Like cheap jump-scares in a bad horror movie that just piss me off cause it's not actually scary or whatever

[Odine]

As a side note. Neegan is sick character. I'm looking forward to seeing more of him. Much better character than the Governor! Would be an interesting play if Rick dies and we're forced a new perspective under the leadership of Neegan. I haven't read the comics so I dunno if that would be doable.

[Pong Messiah]

It's hilarious how everyone is mad about it-- and yet, they can't stop talking about it and pretty much everyone can't wait until S7 to see who died.

 

This was their plan, they executed it, and are getting exactly the reaction they wanted.

 

Being mad that you don't know who died is like a little kid mad that he can't open his christmas presents early.

Disagree.

 

I think teasing and trolling is a proper, even good element of storytelling (especially in a serialized format)... but to a point.

 

As stated before, I would probably have been cool with the season finale had we not already been jerked around so many times this season, but after a certain point, it feels less like the show is playing with you and your expectations so much as just playing you.

 

I understand the history of serial dramas generally (Internet threats are nothing; Charles Dickens actually caused riots) and TWD specifically (long history of weakening emotional/narrative payoff by dragging things out waaaaaaay too long). I even briefly left TWD once before when it felt like the show lost its bearings and had resorted to random killings to sustain interest -- R.I.P. Beth and Tyreese -- so I realize coming back and being there for the season 7 opener is on me. Fool me once, right? But despite the many high points of season 6, watching TWD is is starting to feel like letting my genius junkie cousin crash on my couch. Sure he's awesome and loads of fun most of the time, but he also spectacularly and irrevocably ****s things up on occasion, too -- and it's always the same damn mistake... so how many chances does it get? At what point do the net negatives outweigh the net positives?

 

I'm not raging about TWD like some of the fanatics, think the piling on is dumb, and will continue watching because overall it is a good series (one of very few I make time to watch each week). But I do consider the finale very weak and disappointing and don't begrudge anybody for feeling let down. It is grossly narcissistic to act like the audience is at fault for not liking one's art -- and Gimple, if he hasn't already crossed that line, is coming very, very close in the last few days.

[ShadowDog]

There's such a thing as Darkness induced apathy in which a show is consistently dark and the heroes always lose ( looking at you Game of Thrones) where the audience just stops giving a s*** because they rightly assume things will always turn out badly

 

But this may be the first case of trolling induced apathy

[Driver]

I agree with what Pong says for the most part. I still think that fandom is terrible in that fans claim some sort of ownership over their stories and think they know best, and throw a fit when it doesn't go their way.

 

But I won't for a second deny that Walking Dead has taken the teasing, trolling, and dragging out reveals as long as possible above and beyond anything reasonable.

 

I am marginally biased these days, but I can't begrudge people who feel jerked around either.

[ShadowDog]

I still think that fandom is terrible in that fans claim some sort of ownership over their stories and think they know best, and throw a fit when it doesn't go their way.

 

Have you grown since your days of hating on the PT or is there some difference I'm not seeing? I'm not being snarky, I'm honestly curious.

[Pong Messiah]

But this may be the first case of trolling induced apathy

LOL OK that is genuinely funny, and may even prove to be true with TWD.

 

I agree with what Pong says for the most part. I still think that fandom is terrible in that fans claim some sort of ownership over their stories and think they know best, and throw a fit when it doesn't go their way.

 

But I won't for a second deny that Walking Dead has taken the teasing, trolling, and dragging out reveals as long as possible above and beyond anything reasonable.

 

I am marginally biased these days, but I can't begrudge people who feel jerked around either.

Oh, I think fandom can be downright vile, especially when the deconstruction of art couples the extreme emotional neediness/instability of fanboyism with a specific philosophical outlook. And ownership issues aside, what drives me nuts is that it's not enough for them to be perpetually wavering between dissatisfied and enraged, everybody else has to be, too... and all the time (I make fun of myself for proselytizing my hatred of the final 1.5 seasons of BSG, but at least am aware of it and try to avoid it as a general habit).

 

And to be clear and reiterate my stance: when handled well, I actually prefer to feel a plot unfold over time. We've seen a lot of this in television over the last 15-20 years, to the point where I think it has actually become a superior storytelling medium than what you can get in a 90-150 minute film, and I love this. But there is a stark difference between well played dramatic unfolding (which TWD, to its credit, has done) and noodling about in search of a compelling song, throwing in teases and shocks so people don't fall asleep/go home (which TWD has also done on more than one occasion). The season 7 opener could be great, but while I have high hopes for Neegan, I'm definitely getting the vibe that they're noodling about, praying they figure everything out in time. Prove me wrong, TWD!