but yeah, this show honestly just has a terrible pacing problem, and I think asking 14-16 episodes per season of this show is entirely too much. Major plot points occur once every 3-4 episodes and it takes fffooorrreevveerrr to resolve them or move them along. The reviews regarding the premiere do surprise me because usually the premieres are some of the best episodes, but we'll see for ourselves this weekend.
I also have grown to greatly dislike Rick. He's a different person on the opposite spectrum of what he was the season before, EVERY SEASON.
Lol I know so many of the cast members are beloved but they can't all just hang around so long. The death fake outs are so old and there's absolutely no development for some of these people anymore. Just flip flopping like with Rick.
my favorite rick is "un-hinged beat a man bloody in the town center and then ask everyone wtf theyre looking at" rick lol it's not quite "bite out a mans jugular" rick but it's a lot better than "just accept that your best friend boinked your wife" rick man there's a lot of ricks
there's also just entirely too many damn characters in the show at this point - main story crew (including alexandria folks) - hilltop - saviors - the kingdom - trash people - forest women all HUGE groups who all need screentime and at least a vague backstory. too much.
If they only allocated the screen time properly, it might not be so bad. When they start a plot, leave off on a cliffhanger, then they don't address it again for four episodes, you kind of stop caring about the characters. Especially when the segments before each cliffhanger would bore you to death. They kind of lost me when they started abusing that formula. It became a very cheap way of making sure you tuned in next week even if you didn't enjoy the episode.
yeah it's like they would exclusively end each episode on a cliff hanger to make sure you came back. i guess it worked.
Haha I feel like such an old man when I watch it now... "Fine. I'll watch....but I won't be happy about it."
I'm confused as to why Rick, or any one of the 70 people armed heavily, didn't just take a shot at Negan when he walked out unarmed. So dumb.
I hate neegan's long scene chewing speeches and it'd be so satisfying to watch him get shot in the middle of one lol
Reading these reactions has me instantly annoyed. Recording tonight, watching tomorrow, already bummed.
I guess I should spoiler this from the IGN review but this made me laugh Stop trying to make "s***in' pants" a thing, Negan. Nobody has pants designated for that.
So I stayed up and watched cause I have insomnia, and wow what a stttttuuuupppidddd premiere. First and foremost, the family story time jump makes absolutely no sense and completely takes away from the momentum of the episode. Not to mention, they've already done it before. There is no explanation to Rick sitting and looking traumatized, yet it's something they jump to 4 times. Carl helping a homeless dude also had no purpose or was even remotely interesting. There is a huge point made that only Negan has to die. They get him 20 yards away and have 20 people with semi automatic rifles....Rick is the only person who tries to take a shot at him after talking for 10 minutes. Once they have him in a position where somebody can just run up and shoot him on the ground....Rick thinks about "the group" because of something pretty shallow that Gabriel says and retreats. 2 minutes later, Gabriel who was just talking rational goes and chooses to make the dumbest mistake possible, which is go save a traitor. HE THEN WATCHES THAT TRAITOR GET UP AND SLOWLY STEAL HIS ONLY CAR OUT. HE ACTUALLY SITS WITH A GUN IN HAND AND JUST YELLS "STOP." Thennnnnn, the first voice you hear across from you in an RV is the one guy you know you're out to kill. You just showed up to war with him, and you still have a rifle and you know he only had a bat....but you quiver in fear and let him just come apprehend you with the corniest line in the show? And after AMC has had 7 seasons to get this right and hear feedback, this is the best you can do? This isn't just bad writing, it's beyond moronic. I'm actually done with this show.
Any of you listen to the Baldmove podcast? Can't wait to hear the guys no doubtedly eviscerate this horseshit episode.
They've hit the point where you pretty much know what cheap writing tricks they're going to pull. Obviously Negan has to survive for a while but just don't write him into positions where he could easily be shot and killed over and over. If the only reason he is repeatedly left alive is the stupidity and inconsistency of the other characters, something is wrong.