I get what you're saying. I do. I used to defend the show a lot.
But I find it really hard the past two seasons.
I loved Season 1. Season 2 had some really trying times (The farm), but was still good. Everything since then has been up and down (Most of that season three Lori stuff, Killer Carol -> I don't like killing Carol -> Killer Carol), but it is largely an enjoyable show. These last two seasons have lower highs and lower lows. I like some stuff like Negan and Eugene, or that scene from last episode with Jadis and the crusher (it was nice to have a moment that was emotional for a character and not something the audience was supposed to feel). The biggest problem it has is pacing. The show likes to drag on, as if spending more time on something = audience investment. The last two seasons are especially guilty of this (Though the Andrea and the Governor stuff dragged a bit too earlier on), and the slow pace is exacerbated by the multiple story-lines.
Said story-lines:
A) Involve characters that suddenly get a lot of focus and aren't interesting (Tara) and/or
B) Act as filler material to give characterisation to the main cast without doing anything (I'm thinking of that Rick and Michonne episode from last season with the deer) and/or
C) Are completely new material, that gets bad audience reception and gets nipped in the bud (Trash people, those "Wolves"/ "W" guys from several seasons back, I'm sure there are more). I guess this is a debatable point - whether ending these threads early is a good or a bad thing.
You could probably cut the last few seasons down by several hours into only the important scenes, and it would be better. Take out every scene where X shoots at Y and nothing important happens except a few no-name extras die and you could bring back the tension in gunfights again. Or hell, make it so that Walkers are actually threatening even to smart people that are paying attention.
I swear, for a zombie show it really goes out of its way to make the zombies an inconvenience rather than a main threat.