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‘The Walking Dead’ – Season 8 - Sundays on AMC
- Thread starter RatskyWatsky
- Start date
The finale was interesting bar the Oceanside, a 10 second appearance for basically nothing. I'm assuming there's a "civil war" story coming with Maggie,Daryll (and maybe Jesus) against Rick, Michonne (and perhaps Negan), which would make the next season feel more "meh" than this one. I know it seems that Maggie just wants to show that Rick is wrong by keeping Negan alive, she's still grieving Glenn's death which is expected. And didn't get her "revenge" as such, so as expected she's unhappy and angry as Glenns killer is still alive. There has to be something more in S9 than Maggie just being angry and trying to prove that Rick is wrong. I guess only time will tell, and with new people on board, hopefully things turn around.
Might start watching FTWD in the meantime.
Might start watching FTWD in the meantime.
Damn they made Jesus look creepy as fuck at the end, being in that meeting. Why would he be agreeing to make Rick pay or even kill Negan, when he's spent all season not killing people and trying to stop people killing, makes no sense for his character.
Also anyone think the mass of zombies at the end kinda teased the Whispers for next season ?
Also anyone think the mass of zombies at the end kinda teased the Whispers for next season ?
Well he didn't agree to anything. But Gimple's claim he might go along with Maggie sort of made that whole thing even dumber, he seems to have no clue the impact character portrayals should have on story consistency.
Yep it felt dumb. Even if he didn't agree, the fact he had a stupid smile on his face and didn't speak out and say "hold on a minute, WTF is happening here?" when Maggie was talking revenge, it was like he suddenly turned into a different character from what he's been all season long.
Maybe Morgan's madness is catching lol
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IMDb ratings show a dip in season 2 with a jump up in season 3. I personally gave up on it after the season 2 break but I have heard it got better:
S1 - 7.34
S2 - 7.09
S3 - 7.75
Ok thanks...I may check it out then. I was hoping S8 would be the end of the Negan arc...but looks as though they are dragging it out even further and the Maggie black ops storyline is just plain silly. It needed a new antagonist to be introduced for S9, but then we would have ppl saying it will be a rehash of Govner or Negan.
Maybe the show has run its course and should have ended after 8 ? I guess they need to end on a high rebuilding society etc....which may reach it's conclusion at the end of S9....I can stick it out for 1 more season at least.
As someone who's hated nearly all of the episodes this season I actually thought this finale was pretty good. That is, until the Maggie/Jesus/Darrell scene. I wasn't shocked and it didn't make my jaw drop like I'm sure the writers intended it to. Instead I just burst out laughing because it was so hilariously unbelievable for those characters.
Ah well. They left it in a place where I'm at least intrigued enough to keep hate watching it next season. Hope we get some new scenery, though. Seeing only the Hilltop and that ugly factory every week has gotten very stale. I wanna see more wilderness types of locations.
Ah well. They left it in a place where I'm at least intrigued enough to keep hate watching it next season. Hope we get some new scenery, though. Seeing only the Hilltop and that ugly factory every week has gotten very stale. I wanna see more wilderness types of locations.
Well that's kinda lame. I probably should've just read the comics and lowered my expectations accordingly.
A massive battle seemed like the perfect opportunity to thin the herd a bit, there's too many cast members that serve very little purpose. Like besides his scenes in the finale, I don't even think Jesus was in the back half of this season at all? Seems like he just disappeared for eight episodes and the writers suddenly remembered he existed. To me that's a sign they're juggling way too many characters.
Another thing that doesn't really sit right with me is how post-death Carl is viewed as this philosophical bastion of all things good and peaceful in the world....yet when he was alive he had no problem killing living people if the situation arose. Just seems like a mis-match of personality in how he has been portrayed (in the letters etc) since dying and how we remember him when he was alive.
To have a whole season finale pivot based on this seems like terrible writing and the reasoning for keeping Negan alive just seem very thin.
To have a whole season finale pivot based on this seems like terrible writing and the reasoning for keeping Negan alive just seem very thin.
I liked the finale except for that scene. It felt like the actors were doing a parody or SNL skit of their own show. I fully expected one of them to burst into laughter when Maggie suddenly turned sinister.
During this season we saw once or twice ( cant remember) a helicopter flying around, are there any hints on what group this could be? Some kind of military i presume?
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Twice. Rick sees it once, and the helicopter was going to make a trade-off with Jadis. We also had Simon note the helicopter pad and solar panels.
Could potentially be
the Commonwealth, who are a massive community of 50,000 that the group is just getting involved with.
The finale was decent. I don't know if I agree or am happy with the direction they went with Rick and Negan, but it's at least something. I was very sick of the whole Saviors arc.
The decision between Maggie and company doesn't really feel like something they'd do. It feels like something the writers threw in to try to get people to come back.
Glad Eugene redeemed himself. His character had become awful.
That's what I thought. But then Maggie didn't look pregnant and I couldn't remember if she'd given birth.
The decision between Maggie and company doesn't really feel like something they'd do. It feels like something the writers threw in to try to get people to come back.
Glad Eugene redeemed himself. His character had become awful.
That's what I thought. But then Maggie didn't look pregnant and I couldn't remember if she'd given birth.
I'm surprised Rick, Daryl, and Maggie didn't kill Gracie while they were at it this season. Kid lucked out.
Maggie civil war scene was horribly written especially Jesus' involvement. Overall, it was a poor finale to cap off a shitshow of a season. Writing is horrendous and the only saving grace was Negan.
If next season is civil war, I am out for good. I would have preferred some exploration of the heli that showed up briefly. Basically, exploring some of the unknowns out there.
Can people please post comic spoilers about what to expect next season?
If next season is civil war, I am out for good. I would have preferred some exploration of the heli that showed up briefly. Basically, exploring some of the unknowns out there.
Can people please post comic spoilers about what to expect next season?
Comics reader here. This is probably exactly what it is.
How many seasons is this going to go for?
TBH I'm not sure how much of the comics will be in play now after this season took a steaming dump on it with Carl's death and how they treated the characters throughout. For instance, there is no Maggie revolt behind the scenes, just some bitter acceptance that Glenn would prefer it this way.
However, here's what the landscape is in comics right after All Out War and what may happen (not including impossible things due to this season and others):
- There's a 2 year jump. The communities are working together, though the Saviors keep to themselves mostly other than Dwight. Sherry and a few seek to no longer be a part of things and go their own way and rebel.
- Gregory attempts to poison Maggie while plotting with Hilltoppers who were pissed at an incident between Carl, Sofia, and their violent kids. Enid could be a stand in possibly. Jesus saves her by witnessing the act. Maggie executes Gregory through hanging, breaking Rick's no killing rule.
- A new group comes along. Some initial mistrust happens, particularly in finding Negan in a jail cell. Everything works out smoothly though. Introduces a solid lgbt couple.
- Whisperers target the group when Dante (the good Savior who pleaded for Rick to give some Saviors a chance) and others come upon their territory. They are a group that behaves in a primal fashion with an Alpha and Beta. They wear walker skin suits so they can move among and weaponize herds, whispering to talk safely hence the name.
- A young whisperer named Lydia is captured who doesn't want to return to be raped by the others all the time and live in that way. She became a lover for Carl, but this may end up going into Enid's court if they attempt this storyline still.
- To keep people off their land, Alpha infiltrates a huge fair the community is throwing and kills a large number to spike their heads on the territory line. Ezekial and a pregnant Rosita (involved with Eugene but pregnant with Siddiq's kid) are among the several victims.
- A man pissed at Rick sets Negan loose. Negan kills the man and seemingly joins the Whisperers to the kill Alpha and return to Rick with her head. Negan is allowed out under Dwights command and supervision. Maggie doesn't know of this as shes running Hilltop. This kicks off the war proper with Beta leading the assault.
- Gabriel dies by Beta. Hilltop is burned down. Lucille is "killed" in a fight between Beta and Negan.
- Michonne, Dwight, and others disguise themselves as Whisperers to get behind the "lines" and kill them and redirect the massive herd of thousands.
- The war "ends" with only Beta and a couple others surviving and the massive herd bearing down on Alexandria. Sherry is plotting with sympathetic Saviors to rebel once Rick and co. get through this, and the new Kingdom leadership is also plotting agaist the status quo.
I left off much of what occurs after the next conflict as they have enough material likely for a season with it.
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They've already said that it won't be.
No one knows what to expect really, but in the comic
the story picks up years later and all the communities are thriving, etc. when a new threat emerges in the form of the nomadic Whisperers - a group of people who, in addition to eschewing possessions and names, live in the wild and wear zombie skins. They freely walk around with the zombies and have a gigantic herd they can manipulate. Carl and Lydia (the daughter of the Whisperers' female leader Alpha) fall in love, prompting Rick to go into Whisperer territory to bring him back, which causes Alpha (who has snuck into Alexandria as a spy) to kill a bunch of Rick's friends in retaliation for crossing their border. Rick gets captured and once Alpha returns to the Whisperer camp, has a talk with Alpha where she disses his ideology and threatens him with her herd. As Rick and Carl are leaving, Lydia confesses that she isn't happy living with the Whisperers (they're all about survival of the fittest and shit) and wants to know if she can go with them - an angry Alpha allows it. Alpha says that if they cross their border again, the Whisperers will send the herd toward their communities. On the way back, Rick and Carl see all the people Alpha killed earlier, including Rosita and Ezekiel, and Rick vows revenge against the Whisperers.
Meanwhile, Negan is sort of reformed after having spent years in prison, but some idiot dude lets him out of the prison cell in the hopes that Negan will join forces with the Whisperers to defeat Rick because Rick killed his dad or something. Negan is like "okay fine". The guy takes Negan to the general area where the Whisperers are, but Negan kills him before he walks into the Whisperer camp. The Whisperers accept Negan because he's tough, but Negan doesn't agree with their barbaric way of life. Still, he hits it off with Alpha and just when you think they're setting up a romance between those two, Negan beheads Alpha. Negan returns to Rick with Alpha's head in a "look at what I did you can trust me now" kind of way.
There is a big battle between the Whisperers and Rick's people, which ends in the Whisperers unleashing the large herd and fleeing. Andrea (who is basically Rick's wife), Eugene, and some others lead the herd off a cliff. During this, Andrea gets bitten while saving Eugene and has an extended farewell (similar to Carl in the show) before dying. Rick and everyone else is sad.
That's the main storyline, but there are several smaller ones like the Saviors (lead by a woman) trying to take over again, Maggie becoming a tougher leader than Rick (she executes Gregory and beats the shit out of Rick for being weak), and Eugene communicating with a mysterious woman over the radio...
Meanwhile, Negan is sort of reformed after having spent years in prison, but some idiot dude lets him out of the prison cell in the hopes that Negan will join forces with the Whisperers to defeat Rick because Rick killed his dad or something. Negan is like "okay fine". The guy takes Negan to the general area where the Whisperers are, but Negan kills him before he walks into the Whisperer camp. The Whisperers accept Negan because he's tough, but Negan doesn't agree with their barbaric way of life. Still, he hits it off with Alpha and just when you think they're setting up a romance between those two, Negan beheads Alpha. Negan returns to Rick with Alpha's head in a "look at what I did you can trust me now" kind of way.
There is a big battle between the Whisperers and Rick's people, which ends in the Whisperers unleashing the large herd and fleeing. Andrea (who is basically Rick's wife), Eugene, and some others lead the herd off a cliff. During this, Andrea gets bitten while saving Eugene and has an extended farewell (similar to Carl in the show) before dying. Rick and everyone else is sad.
That's the main storyline, but there are several smaller ones like the Saviors (lead by a woman) trying to take over again, Maggie becoming a tougher leader than Rick (she executes Gregory and beats the shit out of Rick for being weak), and Eugene communicating with a mysterious woman over the radio...
It's been the #1 show on cable for like 8 years, and the comics are still going strong, so a very long time.
Comic spoilers
Negan's whisperer arc is fucking awesome and I hope they actually pick up the pace and get it all done within a season. Throw in a "Here's Negan" inspired bottle episode and people who hated him will warm up to him. Most of the problems with S7 and S8 were because they dragged on AOW way, way, way longer than it was meant to go.
Depends on what is going on with the cast and numbers. It's on a low point, but maybe the writers room shakeup can lead to better episodes and direction. Cohen and Gurira have other big projects, so they may or may not stick around more than a season or so.
Right now, they can comfortably get two full seasons out of the comics.
- 9a: Establish the time skip. Introduce Whisperers. Meet "Lydia" and explore her/his relationship with Enid. Explore Negan and Rick dynamic. Conclusion to Maggie and Gregory conflict with his execution. Finale with the territory marker, killing Ezekial and Rosita.
- 9b: Negan is let loose (under Dwights guard). Alpha is killed and kicks off the war. Gabriel dies. Hilltop burns. "Lydia" fights Whispers to protect Maggie and Enid, cementing her loyalty. Finale ends with the massive zombie herd cliffhanger. Kingdom and Saviors plot behind Dwight to get out of Rick's leadership. Eugene hears a voice over the radio.
- 10a: Zombie Herd invades Alexandria. Negan and Rick teamup. Someone close to Rick, Michonne or Daryl, is bit attempting to lead the back of the herd away. Farewell episode and Rick is left shattered. Eugene makes contact with the voice and begins communications. Saviors attempt a coup that kills Sherry and reveals Negan is loose. Establish Laura warming to Dwight. Maggie and Rick physically fight over Negan being out of his cell, and Negan is banished.
- 10b: Dwight and Rick drama over Sherrys death. Aaron and Jesus romance. Eugene reveals his contact and a number leave to find this new community. Meet Princess. Negan episode that culminates with Maggie tracking down Negan with Dante's help to execute him, and decides that he is too pathetic now to be worth killing as Negan begs to die for everything he's done. Finale where Beta attacks the group, and ends with floodlights and armed and armored soldiers holding up the group.
I can't see them stretching it out with much else even by loosely following the comics. By the end of those 2 seasons there will probably be 1 to 1.5 seasons of comic material. It's starting to get tight on source material, but to last over 10 seasons will be a monumental achievement for an AMC show.
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When all is said and done it will comfortably be the longest running cable drama of all time (current champ is Stargate SG1 at 10 seasons). Shameless will be up there too - it's still Showtime's highest rated show going on 9 seasons now.
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Season 1 didn't really end on a cliffhanger iirc. Season 3 didn't either, really (well, sort of?).
I get that the whole barely anyone dying in All-Out-War is frustrating, but too much seems to be put on deaths happening in this show. Character is poorly written, call for improvement? Nope, kill them.
This show can and deserves to have more going for it than that.
The plotting scene is a bit of a cliffhanger, weak and terrible that it is.
This show can and deserves to have more going for it than that.
The plotting scene is a bit of a cliffhanger, weak and terrible that it is.
Thing is, they've lost important characters for the stupidest shit, see Carl getting bit by a random zombie while saving a random character who isn't even in the comics AFAIK. Then this epic finale comes with this incredibly fierce group, an all out war that should also be luring a lot of zombies thanks to the insane noise a shootout like this would generate... and then nothing really happens. All enemies' weapons blow up in their faces, Negan gets injured but not killed, not a single person in the good guys' group sweats a bit. For this being the biggest threat they ever defeated in 8 seasons, it sure felt underwhelming, and it's not because of the lack of deaths per se, it's because they lost characters in stupid ways in the meantime, and all the setpieces inbetween (like the first attempt to attack Negan's group or the zombie trap they prepared for them this season) were actually far more epic and exciting than this. Over here in Italy they advertised it as if it was going to be an epic battle, "nothing will ever be the same", vengeance, blah blah. Exploding weapons, rolling in the grass, fake murder, credits roll. It was probably the weakest battle in the entire All Out War section, so much for a finale. Even the Governor saga had a far more engaging ending.
I am also of the belief that this show shouldn't depend so much on killing off characters, especially in a very predictable manner by doing it during the likes of mid season or season finales where the audience is usually expecting it.
I still feel the best death of the series were those that were unexpected. Lori (and I guess T-Dog) dying so suddenly early on in season 3 or what could have been Glenn dying miserably with Nicolas. I feel it adds a level of authenticity to the setting, in that in the post-apocalypse, anyone can get got at any time and its not always during some spectacular plot point or during some blaze of glory.
Carl's death was the exact opposite of this (despite the circumstances of his death considering he was randomly bit by a walker for being dumb), as it was timed to reveal he was going to die during the mid season finale so we can then spend a hour and a half watching him die during the mid season premiere. It just feels cheap, and probably one of many reasons why of death was terribly done.
The final battle at the prison was and still is the most intense gun fight throughout the entire series. None of the shooty shooty bang bang of season 8 has been able to recapture it.
I still feel the best death of the series were those that were unexpected. Lori (and I guess T-Dog) dying so suddenly early on in season 3 or what could have been Glenn dying miserably with Nicolas. I feel it adds a level of authenticity to the setting, in that in the post-apocalypse, anyone can get got at any time and its not always during some spectacular plot point or during some blaze of glory.
Carl's death was the exact opposite of this (despite the circumstances of his death considering he was randomly bit by a walker for being dumb), as it was timed to reveal he was going to die during the mid season finale so we can then spend a hour and a half watching him die during the mid season premiere. It just feels cheap, and probably one of many reasons why of death was terribly done.
The final battle at the prison was and still is the most intense gun fight throughout the entire series. None of the shooty shooty bang bang of season 8 has been able to recapture it.
Characters die when they shouldn't and avoid death when it doesn't make sense. That's the gist of what's wrong with the show
Exactly, and it's a shame, because Negan was a far more menacing and interesting villain. For the first time ever, the protagonists' were stripped of their freedom, their humanity, their certainties. Negan arrived and almost literally shat on them to break them. They had a lot of battles inbetween, some very interesting and well thought-out, but none of that was enough to eliminate Negan's forces because they are hardcore motherfuckers. And this multi-season war ends... when the most annoying character in the show's history rigs the bad guys' bullets (very predictably so, so it feels twice as stupid Negan and the others didn't even try them out), which conveniently takes out every bad guy except Negan, who then has a short fistfight with Rick. It was so underwhelming compared to what could have been. The Governor saga was actually far less interesting thematically, and yet had a far more satisfying and epic resolve in the end.
As a fun parallel, imagine if Infinity War had all these movies setting up an insane war, and then the battle ends with Thanos tripping over a rope and falling into the lava. Credits roll. That's how this finale felt.
Umm... Maggie is a fan-favorite? She's a badly-acted flat character.
http://variety.com/2018/tv/ratings/walking-dead-season-8-finale-ratings-1202754602/
'Walking Dead' Season 8 Finale Ratings Lowest Since Season 1
Oof. Not a good look.
'Walking Dead' Season 8 Finale Ratings Lowest Since Season 1
Oof. Not a good look.
It was okay, at least for recent Walking Dead standards. I'm just glad that they are ending the Saviors war storyline. Time for something new. But looking at the ratings, it may be too late to recapture the excitement after a 3 season battle with the Saviors that dragged on forever, and with bullshit like the "who does Negan kill" cliffhanger and Glenn's dumpster diving that pissed off a lot of fans.
Meh. Finale was still #1, despite running against stiff competition last week. Still the #1 show on cable overall. Not seeing anything here that's going to set off alarm bells with the network. Sure, they're seeing slippage over time, but as long as the show is still cable TV's #1 advertising delivery vehicle, they're not going to do anything radical on the creative side.
In the comic however, shortly after the defeat of Negan and the Saviors, there is a seismic event.
Several key characters are murdered by a group called the Whisperers.
Ouch. I feel like this could soon become an Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. situation where the ratings and views are starting to get in the cancellation zone, but due to the marketing value and the connection to other elements (in Marvel's case the MCU, in this case the videogames, comics, etc.) and the international revenue it goes on and on. I want the show to continue, mind you, but the stats have been going down down down...
Still the most-watched on cable, yes? There is so much more competition now than there was even just a few years ago.