The Watching Dead

A look at the TV Series ‘The Walking Dead’ created by Frank Darabont and starring Andrew Lincoln.

This may be a controversial opinion, but I think I have to become ‘that guy’ and take the stand to say that this show is a crime against entertainment.

I wasn’t always of this opinion. When the first season started, I thought what a great mini-series it would make. That six to ten episodes of this would be a good little revival for the zombie-horror genre and that it could potentially pave the way for other programme makers to try other angles.

The episodes kept coming, and then season one ended and season two was on the cards, and I realised with horror that this was no mini-series. This was a new phenomenon, and not even a good phenomenon. The longer it went on, the more shallow the characters became.

Think of it like a big jug with a little bit of flavour-concentrate in the bottom. You add one episodes worth of water and it’s strong, but not ready for digestion. Add a little more water and you end up with something pretty reasonable. But add litres, and litres ‘more’ water and it becomes weak, transparent and tasteless.

‘The Walking Dead’ is weak, transparent and tasteless.

It had one trick, it did it well for the first few episodes before it became a soap opera, relying on frequent blood splatter to try and keep people hooked. They keep trying to create super-villains for our protagonists to bounce off, but we have no real sense of dread since we know another series is yet to come and we still need the lions share of main cast to keep it going.

This brings me nicely to the BIG talking point of recent; the opening show of the seventh season. Boy, oh boy, oh boy. The hype, the anticipation and the reaction… For what?

Five to ten minutes of episode that was padded and fluffed to fill the normal forty-five minute run-time. It was hard to watch. Not because two of the characters were killed, because it felt like it was going to go on forever without getting to or making any kind of point.

It’s like the producers are making a big joke on us, “How long can the brain dead audience keep swallowing the same recycled old shit before they realise they’ve wasted years watching a TV show with no story?”

It’s not all bad though. It must be said that the music Bear McReary is creating for the show is excellent and far better than the show deserves. This is a composer to watch out for. While I’m not a fan of all the titles he has composed for, the quality of his work is never in doubt and he stands out as a genuine talent who I’m excited to see take on bigger and better challenges.

A reason why you should watch it: You don’t want to be challenged by any of those pesky story-arcs that all the others shows have.

A reason why you should not watch it: You have something more pressing to attend to, such as clipping your toe-nails or curling your chest hair.