The Walking Dead

Season 1 – 70% – The only way you could win me over in this genre was by telling the story purely through the main characters. The forced gunfights in seemingly peaceful moments or unexpected deaths add some nice spice, but since I strongly dislike zombies, I wished only to fall in love with Rick, Shane, and co. And it worked. It's a shame, therefore, that most of the dilemmas are projected through supporting characters you've only known for about five minutes and whose doubts and suffering I quite frankly could care less about. But after the excellent finale, I was left with a surprisingly strong appetite for answers. I see plenty of mistakes and forced clichés, but thanks to the atmosphere and the surviving gang's instinct for self-preservation, I'll certainly forgive a few. Season 2 – 90% – Just slow down the pace, don't bring in hordes of walkers at all costs, and quietly drift into the farm. After all, suspense works far better when there's room for moments when seemingly nothing is happening and the characters are just finding their way to each other or, conversely, becoming estranged. Then every twist and turn has a much stronger impact and saying goodbye to a favorite hurts more. And whether the viewer is closer to the tough guy Shane, the determined Andrea, or the brooding Hershel, that fear for their fate is not easy to put behind you. Thus, in my eyes, the second season saved the fate and the standard of the entire saga. Where the story will take us next remains very pleasantly unclear. Season 3 – 75% – My rating of the prison odyssey is clearly a positive one, but still leaves a slight aftertaste. Indeed, its denouement had tension, gripping action, and great confidence in the characters, while the second half didn't quite live up to those high expectations. Not that the Governor isn't a pleasantly ambiguous element, but the whole story literally stands still at unexpected moments and then again at other times unnecessarily changes the rules of this familiar world. It's still enough for a reasonably good viewing experience, but in the face of an all-too-quiet finale, I found the fall season, with its more than one devastating twist, to be a class above. Season 4 – 75% – For sixteen episodes, a really bold and diverse mix. It's just a shame that not all of its components work and the creators clearly want to drag this dead-end odyssey out for a good few more years. While the insight into the antagonist's soul or the deadly gradation of the last episodes deserve an underlined A, the overwrought plot with the epidemic and especially the unremarkable episodes from the "How to make your way through the end of the world wordlessly by yourself" handbook are almost fatal to the final impression. But the finale itself delivered such a portion of suspense that, despite my annoyance at the fact that the better characters are essentially dying to make room for uninteresting ones, I'll still be back next time. In fact, the chance that some triumph will suddenly fall out of the script is still quite tempting. Season 5 – 80% – More than ever, it still differs widely between the individual storylines. While the dealing with the mysteriously named Terminus area already delivers almost unexpected suspense and shocking twists, the subsequent meandering around the hospital unfortunately proves that even a promising location can become a tedious bore when the writers want it to. And like every time I was beginning to think that it was at this point that it was only going to go downhill, the creative team around Robert Kirkman surprised me and fashioned a perfectly functioning social drama out of the surprisingly carefully crafted storyline with Alexandria. As a result, I forgive that dead end from the fall season and take the fifth season as the second best, against all expectations. If the quality had been just a little more stable, the world of The Crying Dead might even be a sure thing after so many years. This way, the only certainty is that it will continue to break records in viewership next year (quite incomprehensibly, given the occasional anti-tempo). Season 6 – 80% – The quality remains more than stable and the writers know what they want to say from start to finish. At times they stall unnecessarily for an entire episode in seemingly pointless snags, at other times they manage to wring nerve-wracking tension out of an atypical situation. And if it weren't for the unrealistically peaceful character of Morgan (whose behavior isn't vindicated even by the unnecessary two-parter about his character development), season six might well have gone for the highest rating. Still, I can't remember the last time I've been so tense over the course of sixteen episodes, and a big thank you for making the oppressive and appropriately spiked wait for Negan worthwhile. Season 7 – 80% – At a time when a significant number of viewers are abandoning the series, perhaps because of the brutality on display, perhaps because of dissatisfaction with its direction, I for one have found a great thrilling stalwart in it. As usual, the previously unlikable characters finally won me over, and Morgan or Sasha suddenly work as some of the most reliable narrators. And even the previous favorites, even if they only have space in maybe a third of the episodes due to the expanding cast of characters, are still reliably entertaining. But the touchstone of year seven remains Negan. I can understand why some people are bothered by his sing-song monologues, but the truth remains that as soon as he picks up Lucille and sizes someone up with his gaze, to conclude that he's going for broke would be a gross understatement of the gravity of the situation. Moreover, Jeffrey Dean Morgan's take makes the current villain much easier to understand than the Governor of his day, who switched from psychopath to cool-headed dictator far too haphazardly. Season 8 – 70% – For so long, the majority of viewers cried out for more fighting instead of psychological analysis, until it happened. To me, this is an unnecessary step backwards and worse, the viewing majority ironically remained perhaps even more annoyed than they were before. The series unfortunately stands at a crossroads, where various forms of undead and living enemies have been interspersed countless times, only benefiting from the charisma of the veterans and Negan (to a greater extent) or the surprising twists that don't come from the source material (to a much lesser extent). But I'd prefer a return to true suspense, when it wasn't obvious where any storyline was headed. Season 9 – 70% – A few perfect moments in a huge amount of cotton candy. The hard-boiled scene exits, mass deaths, or jarring time jumps are matched by an unnecessary amount of thinning dialogue, new characters that take a long time to get used to before I even start to care, and situations that smack of banality. All sorts of violins or trips to the projectionist for parts don't fit into a world built in this way. Not to mention that every moment with the newly arrived villain is sheer agony. I'd love to be wrong, but The Whisperers feels like a dead end so far, which is all the more disappointing after the tension and action-packed fall half. Season 10 – 80% – Finally, the room for all sorts of new groups is shrinking, and most of the plot focuses on long-standing or potentially popular characters or groupings. It's just a shame that the potential of The Whisperers remains untapped, mainly due to the insufferable Alpha saving most of the storylines for Beta or any of the (anti)heroes. And it's because of them that the series could have had a renaissance in at least its classic sixteen episodes. In terms of character relationships or narrative techniques, it's like that once again, and the major obstacle is really just that the antagonist is the Greek alphabet. Bonus Episodes – 50% – If it weren't for the final origin of the relentless Negan, this would quite frankly be a mockery of the concept of dramatic development. Daryl's bonding, Carol's cooking, or Gabriel and Aaron vs. the deranged traveler are all webisode topics that the viewer unknowingly misses yet is none the worse for it. Their narrative power is at most a quarter of an hour and stretching them to three times that length is an ordeal. The pros therefore shoulder the final episode, full of J.D. Morgan's charisma and a story that I badly needed to see without being properly aware of it. As a whole, though, these six chapters are an unwelcome slap in the face while you're waiting for the final season. Season 11 – 90% – Perhaps because of the enforced global hiatus, perhaps because everyone tried their best – the final season is the most balanced season for me, and the best because of it. It has it all: spectacular action scenes, intimate dialogue exchanges, and entire episodes that aren't afraid to slow down and thoroughly chart new ground. Combined with a cast that churned out some of their best performances in perhaps their entire run (Eugene, Negan, Rosita) and a barrage of excellent new characters (Mercer, Hornsby), I wasn't holding my breath, and despite knowing that The Walking Dead has long since crossed the line where it could have ended on time, I found myself wishing for a while that this wasn't the end. That's how packed the ending was, and that's how poignant a final episode Angela Kang and Co. served up for me. I enjoy watching the fates of the chosen characters, but I appreciate saying goodbye to the classic core of the fandom. Perhaps it's because I've never been a mindlessly devoted fan, and only ever sniffed the fandom out of curiosity, that I've now been able to enjoy its strengths as part of a richer experience. (2012-11-30) (less) (more)