Season 8

“My mercy... prevails over my wrath”.

The Walking Dead season 8 was...underwhelming. Anticlimactic and really predictable. I would go as far to call this bad. This shouldn’t be the case, right? All out war has begun and Rick, or should I say the Alexandria crew will face off they biggest challenge yet. Yet, gets old really quick and you wish the season wasn’t like this. Most of it is shootouts with easy results and no tension. My relationship with this show is complicated to say the least. Not to say it was all bad, because that isn't the case which I will get into right now.

What can I say that hasn’t been said already by me, yet with every season I feel the need to gosh over the impeccable Andrew Lincoln. I think it has to do with his eyes which express so much emotion without him saying anything - Basically windows to the characters soul. He’s honestly the reason I’m still watching despite my critical thoughts with the recent seasons. We finally get to see Rick savage side again during his lowest point.

Also, Chandler Riggs was really damn good and improved a lot throughout the years, especially in the last couple of episodes where he finally showcase his skills. Giving his character a powerful send off. Plus the music for Carl’s death was so emotional, and the way it builds up to the climax, it’s just so heartbreaking. I can’t explain it properly in the best way.

Lauren Cohan was excellent this season and always has been since her first appearance. The character arc from being a farm girl, a grieving widow, and now a touch leader. Her mental breakdown in the episode ‘Wrath’ was truly heartbreaking.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan continues to light up the screen with his cold sarcastic tone that makes him evil and appealing. However, we finally see a softer side to him that humanize him and more down to earth. We have seen this briefly, just in small sections when his bullying goes too far. He’s becoming more open and vulnerable, proving he’s nothing like the Governor, in terms of being too far gone.

The cinematography was pretty good with the mixture of lighting and shades of dark that could easily represent the characters state. A little far fetched, although it’s another way of looking at it. And that’s really it for positives or the nicest thing I can about this season. Time to be negative:

Whoever made the decision to kill off Carl should never work on this show again. While my feelings have always be mixed on the character, but I can see Carl carrying on Rick’s legacy years after he dies. Like passing the touch, but not now.

The dumbest part is everyone shooting skills suddenly disappears away when the main villain is in good range. It’s not like there’s a far distance - Nope, just let the villain talk and give him time to easily get away. Oh and this is just the start of the episode, which confirmed my worries that this is the season overall. Rick was right when he said, “I’m gonna kill you. Not today, not tomorrow. But I will kill you”. While killing off Negan will be a waste of a great villain and actor, but makes the characters look useless.

Don't get me started on the stupid extreme close up compilation of the characters faces. Like, why?

How about Morales, a returning character from season one and this should be a major surprise to any fan of the show, but instead everyone is looking up who the character is, because nobody remembers him and it's not like he stays around for long anyway.

Now if you go back to my previous reviews, you start to notice a similar pattern in positives and negatives - Because that’s the season formula that infected my reviews. It’s like poetry, it rhymes.

OK, let's talk about the small guy in the room - Scott Gimple might be one of the worst producers/writers ever existed. Every terrible decision that’s been made on this show is Gimples fault. I honestly think the number of episodes needs to be trimmed down to avoid filler and pointless episodes that don’t development anything, just sleepwalking to the climax. Does it cost more money to make longer episodes?

Still, I’m hopeful for season 9 returning back to form with C**t Gimple out, despite the critical backlash and low ratings. Judging by everything I’ve heard so far about the new season, sounds like a soft reboot and will bring a fresh spin. By bringing life back into this already tired show. And with Andrew Lincoln leaving the show it will be difficult to watch, but hope they do something incredibly satisfying.

I’m not a ‘TWD’ hater, just addressing issues that have yet to be improved. We shall see.