The Walking Dead Review: The Hope for Something After

I just recently finished binge-watching The Walking Dead’s seasons 7 and 8 after a long time of setting it aside to watch other shows. I wasn’t disappointed with how things went but I wasn’t all that excited either. However, I was saddened at the death of one of the central characters of the story, Carl Grimes because he died after getting bitten while he was trying to help a stranger, Siddiq.

I think the show has touched upon the idea of having a meaningful death and the hope of a better tomorrow, especially in season 8. Due to the war that broke out between the Saviors and the other communities, people were just dying one after the other. And I believe the viewers have also felt exhausted and frustrated with how trivial the show treats these characters’ stories, ending in haphazard deaths that don’t really make much of an impact to the overall narrative except for the shock value that they bring. Although I do think it’s staying true to its uncompromising stance when it comes to killing off characters however, I feel that they might just be doing it to cut on the budget instead of propelling the story and making it more interesting by delving deeper into the characters’ development.

I haven’t read the comic books so I’m merely basing my thoughts on what I’ve seen in the TV series thus far and I guess I’ve also been desensitized from so many deaths that I only look at the narrative from a practical standpoint rather than being attached to the individual stories of the characters. Don’t get me wrong, there have been so many characters who have made a significant impact in the story. Characters who adapted themselves to survive in the zombie apocalypse and that is a testament to the human fighting spirit, the will to move on, and the resilience to keep moving forward.

As much as we see humans “rise up” to the challenge of the zombie apocalypse, I think the show also fairly depicted how living in this world would affect people physically, emotionally, and most importantly, psychologically. We see what happens when society breaks down and every person is left to their own beliefs and values. The actions, the thoughts, and the words spoken by the characters depict just how we can easily devolve into savages when we are left to fend for ourselves in order to survive.

Putting the threat of the undead aside, society itself turns against its own. So far, it has been a back-and-forth debate between protecting our own no matter what the cost versus giving others a chance to be part of our society. Kill or be killed, we are only looking out for our own interests. I think the show bluntly depicted these conflicting ideas among characters as well as within them. All of the characters had to face that decision. Should I simply kill off those who are not part of my own or should I let them live and possibly face the threat of an attack?

For the first six seasons of the show, it has always just been Rick’s group versus the other groups that they encounter. And most of the time, it ended up with the other group crossing Rick’s group so Rick and company had to kill them off. That happened with the Governor from the Woodbury community and then Gareth’s group in Terminus. At times, however they encounter groups whom they get along with and assimilate later on into their own group just like the Greene family, the Woodbury survivors, and a few ragtag groups like Abraham and company. That’s how their family grew to become what it is today. However, at the end of season 6, we are introduced to a wider perspective that included several other communities like the Hilltop Colony and the Saviors. In season 7, we find out about the Kingdom, Oceanside, and the Scavengers.

After these other communities were introduced, things became a little more complicated for our heroes. Now, they had to deal with an egomaniacal psychopath in the form of Negan, a manipulative opportunistic sweet talker in Gregory, a benevolent pretender in Ezekiel, a reclusive pacifist in Natania, and the enigmatic Jadis. Now, essentially many of the characters have gone through inner struggles about what was right and wrong. In the end most of them believed that it’s not about that, rather it’s about what’s best for them and their people.

But the thought of “what comes after” has been salient throughout season 8 and in characters like Paul “Jesus” Rovia and recently, Carl. Other characters espoused proactive but pacifistic beliefs like Eastman who passed that on to Morgan until he broke down and became a delusional, raging killing machine. Carol once took no prisoners, took no chances, and killed anyone without hesitation but she later changed after seeing so many from Alexandria die especially Sam. Rick also believed that it would be best to put people to the test and see if they are able to become part of their group but changed after the many horrors and betrayals he endured. And having all these characters together make it difficult to progress in some fashion. Much like in politics, for things to get done, there should be some form of compromise but toward the end, nobody wanted to compromise and it made the story very frustrating. Not to mention there were so many characters both young and old who were making too many rash and foolish decisions, I just couldn’t bear to watch.

Is there really a possibility of the kind of future that Carl had envisioned? Yes, there is always that possibility but the probability of it happening in the near future is low with the current state of affairs among and within the communities. Carl’s death was a tragedy and some have pointed out that it was just too soon for Carl to die. It didn’t really move the story forward, only perhaps it made an impact on Rick’s inner struggles and the way he dealt with the situation with Negan. Maybe the cast is just getting too big and we haven’t had a major character death since Sasha and that’s why they killed Carl off. Whatever the reason for Carl’s death, it has not shown and it’s such a tremendous loss to the show. But the idea of having hope for something after the all-out war, I would like to think that it would be a great idea but it’s just wishful thinking given the dynamics within the communities. I am an optimistic person but I am also realistic so I don’t see that happening anytime soon even though Rick’s group won against the Saviors. And sure, they kept Negan alive, perhaps to honor Carl’s wishes. But that’s not enough.

I think the problem with the show is that it’s confused. It has entangled itself too much with this conundrum that makes it difficult to focus on the bigger issues at hand. It seems that it’s a perpetual conflict that would never be resolved. They should have just let Negan on a killing spree, annihilating half of the characters just like what Thanos did. Instead, we end up with petty squabbles among members and people going off on their own, making stupid decisions, and escalating their problems even more. We know that the rules of this world is either kill or be killed however, if you want to re-establish a new code, then you should just get on with it. I think that’s what they wanted to do with Carl’s death. Of course, they could have done that in some other fashion, but killing off a main character is always a satisfying thing, isn’t it? Feel my sarcasm. Anyways, I think the show focused too much on the tension between to kill or not to kill and that’s why it became boring.

I would want the producers of the show to introduce something fresh to the narrative. In that sense, I do have hope for something after and hopefully, it’s something better. I just feel that the show has somewhat stagnated with all the drama and tension within and without such that they lost sight of good storytelling. Right now, they’re just banking on the violence, shock value, and excellent acting from an ensemble cast. The question is, “Where is this story leading up to?” I hope season 9 has a good answer to that question.