3) Inconsistent Quality From Episode To Episode
I’ve already pointed to the horrible ups and downs that The Walking Dead forces viewers through, but let’s really analyze it. Why is it that after one good episode, we’re always stuck with two stinkers? In Kirkman’s comic, I always feel on-edge about even the most mundane moments because shortly thereafter some twist always hits out of nowhere. Oh, everyone is happy in the prison and the convicts are nice? Let’s turn one of them into a closet serial-killer who mutilates two children and cause a tremendous commotion. OK, a horrid and disgusting example, but Kirkman’s comic never lets you catch your breath, and is relentless with how easily major characters can be killed and how quickly our survivors world can turn to utter shit.
The show on the other hand moves as sluggishly as a 400 pound man running a mile, only able to exert exorbitant amounts of energy in small spurts. For every attack or rescue Rick has to pull off, we’re given two following episodes where our shallow characters whine about their feelings, cry about the events, and blandly walk around with seemingly nothing to do. Honestly, the jailhouse story-arc should be done with by now, but apparently AMC thought it best to drag out this utter silliness for an entirely new season?
Specific Examples:
Season 2, Episode 4 – the original title of the episode is Cherokee Rose, but it can just been re-named “The Gang Finds A Zombie In A Well,” complete with a scene out of Looney Tunes where the survivors try to lower Glenn in the well without dropping him…BUT ALMOST DROP HIM! GASP! AHHH!!
Hell, I might have enjoyed it more if they DID drop Glenn and he died – at least the event would have been more in-line with Kirkman’s comic.