TWD: The Final Episodes (spoilers)

[Transmute Jun]

Tales of the Walking Dead was a mixed bag. Most of the episodes were a bit weird, and even... should I say, supernatural? The Alpha episode was definitely the best one if you are interested in the main series. The Terry Crews episode had more of a 'Fear' feel (which will make sense if you are familiar with Fear and have watched that episode). The others were just strange and/or predictable.

I think that TWD jumped the shark on being unafraid to 'follow the storyline' when Negan killed Glenn. That made no sense (given the whole 'dumpster' thing from the previous episodes) and was completely unnecessary. After that, there was a strong reluctance to kill off major characters, with the only major exception being Jesus at the start of the Whisperer war. (I'm not counting Tara... she wasn't even in the comics, although she was in the comic universe.) They did kill off Carl, but I gather that that was because they had issues behind the scenes with Chandler Riggs.

I still maintain that the 'best' character for Negan to have killed off in the 'lineup' would have been Daryl... it would have been shocking and lead to all kinds of plotline ripples. But no, he was a fan favorite, so they made him safe.

Since that time, it's been clear that all of the major characters are 'safe'... to the point that even the actors who wanted off the show were left alive, rather than killed off. And that has made the show less exciting. Game of Thrones also tread into this territory... but at least they made a big turnaround on that toward the end of the series, even killing off one of the previously 'untouchable' characters. I'm not seeing that here, although the finale may surprise us.

The loose ends thing bugs me, because rather than a proper conclusion, we're likely to have the stories simply continuing in different series... and that's just a cheap gimmick to keep us watching. It's one thing to send Morgan and Dwight off to Fear... it's another when the entire TWD series ends with ongoing questions.

Still... I may be pre-judging. We will see what happens in the final 3 episodes.

[perc2100]

Tales of the Walking Dead was a mixed bag. Most of the episodes were a bit weird, and even... should I say, supernatural? The Alpha episode was definitely the best one if you are interested in the main series. The Terry Crews episode had more of a 'Fear' feel (which will make sense if you are familiar with Fear and have watched that episode). The others were just strange and/or predictable.

I think that TWD jumped the shark on being unafraid to 'follow the storyline' when Negan killed Glenn. That made no sense (given the whole 'dumpster' thing from the previous episodes) and was completely unnecessary. After that, there was a strong reluctance to kill off major characters, with the only major exception being Jesus at the start of the Whisperer war. (I'm not counting Tara... she wasn't even in the comics, although she was in the comic universe.) They did kill off Carl, but I gather that that was because they had issues behind the scenes with Chandler Riggs.

I still maintain that the 'best' character for Negan to have killed off in the 'lineup' would have been Daryl... it would have been shocking and lead to all kinds of plotline ripples. But no, he was a fan favorite, so they made him safe.

Since that time, it's been clear that all of the major characters are 'safe'... to the point that even the actors who wanted off the show were left alive, rather than killed off. And that has made the show less exciting. Game of Thrones also tread into this territory... but at least they made a big turnaround on that toward the end of the series, even killing off one of the previously 'untouchable' characters. I'm not seeing that here, although the finale may surprise us.

The loose ends thing bugs me, because rather than a proper conclusion, we're likely to have the stories simply continuing in different series... and that's just a cheap gimmick to keep us watching. It's one thing to send Morgan and Dwight off to Fear... it's another when the entire TWD series ends with ongoing questions.

Still... I may be pre-judging. We will see what happens in the final 3 episodes.

Yeah I hate to say it/be negative as I know plenty of folks still really like this series, but it feels like quite awhile ago this series became more of a cash cow than a narrative story.  I'm not necessarily a bloodthirsty "kill people off!!" type of person (I dug them killing Glenn, at least because that's how it was in the comics - I detested how they structured those deaths, and drug them out over an entire summer HYPING over the bloodshed), but as you hinted out a show w/out stakes becomes uninteresting pretty fast for me.  I was legit interested in how they would 'send off' characters whose actors wanted off the show, and bummed that they just...disappeared instead of were killed off.  This show became more about making AMC money, and far less about creating interesting narratives that brought stakes.  When our main characters were trapped by the hunters at the Terminus, at that point I think we didn't know how they'd get out, whom might die, etc.  Nowadays it feels like our heroes will improbably find their way out of the situation because we don't dare risk upsetting the balance that could upset the finances.

I usually appreciate when a show has its own exit strategy: when they announce "we'll do one or two more seasons" and that way the creatives can craft a graceful exit - something at least BITD was incredibly rare for a long-running series that would just get canceled in between spring season finale and fall season premier, with creatives having to leave plots dangling, or frantically crafting a series 'end' (see Quantum Leap for one of the more egregious examples).  I'm not sure fans will get any sort of closure here for TWD

[Old Man Grey]

I guess all the Commonwealth guards went to the Star Wars Stormtrooper marksmanship class because they sure can't shoot straight.

[perc2100]

I guess all the Commonwealth guards went to the Star Wars Stormtrooper marksmanship class because they sure can't shoot straight.

Makes sense, since they also cribbed their uniforms from the Stormtroopers: they should've gone with the Death Troopers, I guess 

[Old Man Grey]

Makes sense, since they also cribbed their uniforms from the Stormtroopers: they should've gone with the Death Troopers, I guess 

Yeah, and that armor is about as useful as the Stormtroopers.

[Transmute Jun]

The armor is only as useful as the plot demands. When the soldiers are supposed to be menacing, it's impenetrable. But when necessary, a walker can bite down and kill someone wearing the full armor.

[Transmute Jun]

It felt like they didn't give this weeks episode enough time, particularly for the 're-taking' of Alexandria.

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[Old Man Grey]

I agree. Nothing feels right about this episode. There's really no tension or menace at all. Our heroes always prevail, the bad guys die or change sides, and everyone somehow runs into each other in the magical forest. It's just a rush to wrap it all up and get to the next spinoff.

[perc2100]

I agree. Nothing feels right about this episode. There's really no tension or menace at all. Our heroes always prevail, the bad guys die or change sides, and everyone somehow runs into each other in the magical forest. It's just a rush to wrap it all up and get to the next spinoff.

What a shame; I hate when a good show/film blows the ending - even more frustrating than just an overall bad series/movie.  When it feels like a series is mostly spinning wheels and collecting ad revenue.

Conversely, I'll _ALWAYS_ appreciate a series that gets in/gets out, has a clear beginning, middle, end point and tells a well-constructed, well-thought out story (like I'm hoping for Ted Lasso's final season 3)

[Transmute Jun]

I agree. Nothing feels right about this episode. There's really no tension or menace at all. Our heroes always prevail, the bad guys die or change sides, and everyone somehow runs into each other in the magical forest. It's just a rush to wrap it all up and get to the next spinoff.

I'm loving your description of the 'magical forest'! 

[Transmute Jun]

Okay, the penultimate episode had some ups and downs, but kudos to the writers for giving so many characters a brief moment to shine, to show how far them have come over the years.

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[Old Man Grey]

I think the budget constraints were really showing in this episode. Except for the overhead CGI shots of the horde, Commonwealth looked very under populated. 3 guards for the main gate?  If there are "thousands" of people in the lower wards why not mobilize them to fight the dead? Logically all our heroes trapped in that street at the end should die. Unless there is a row of dumpsters to hide under. Once again, the magical forest lets Arron and the gang to get to the front of the horde in no time at all.

[Transmute Jun]

Yeah, it's ridiculous that they spent so many episodes traveling back to Alexandria (via wagon) and never got there, then turned around and shuffled back (with the horde) to the Commonwealth in a couple of days.

I think that most of the guards were supposed to be out organizing the herd. And of course, there were the handful whom Governor Milton pulled out to stage her ambush in the train station.

[Old Man Grey]

I thought the ambush guys were the Governers private security guys and not the regular troops. Kind of a secret police/spy group for black ops.

[Transmute Jun]

I thought the ambush guys were the Governers private security guys and not the regular troops. Kind of a secret police/spy group for black ops.

Possibly. They certainly weren't wearing the Stormtrooper getups.