The Walking Dead 1x06 (HDTV-2HD)

i think the program is definitely suffering from lack of writing talent and too many directors.

since episode 1 i really feel the show has slipped from: amazing - episode 1, to quite good -
episode 2, to not bad - eps 3 and 4, to really average - episode 5, to: crap, what an utterly
predicatable and cliched anticlimax finale- episode 6.

darabont's best work on this show was imho ep1 because he wrote the teleplay himself and directed it
himself.
it was clever, uncompromising, non-cliched, interesting, smooth and highly entertaining.

the genius creator of the comic books (which i love) has done nothing to impress me with this show
however.
kirkman wrote ep4 "vatos" and it had a messy 'filler' storyline full of little plotholes and was
guided through its strange diversionary sidestory by some new and embarrasingly stereotypical
characters.

furthermore episode 4's openening sequence of amy and andrea fishing was a poor attempt to create an
emotional
bond between ourselves and characters we barely knew. i felt it was so obvious and predictable that
later we would see one of these 2 die (even if you havent read the comic books) and that our heart
strings should be fairly tugged now that we 'know so much about these 2 girls'. no, not good enough.

it is textbook average storytelling.

were glenn to die that would be different. we have come to love him through observing his actions
and feeling his measure as a character. not through some simple and forced character development
just moments before he dies.

that is probably why these writers are being recycled and the writing team should be shuffled around
until
they find the right magic and the show can become what it needs to be.

as it stands the show is watchable but not amazing.. the corny, cliched actions and behaviors,
stereotypes, characters doing things that are bafflingly 'out of character', or characters doing
things that are so trite and predictable - this is what will kill the show.

amc should send brba's writers over to help twd's writers next season.

1) the first episode of most, if not, all series is usually the one that has the most money behind it (in
the first season). of course it's going to be a little stylistically better than other. hell, look at breaking
bad... as great as later episodes are at times, i still think none of them hold a candle to the pilot
episode - in almost any way. - it's to be expected.

2) and re: episode 4... you really, totally sound like someone that is not familiar with the comic - or
perhaps, haven't picked up on how things play out. the beautiful thing about episode 4 is precisely the
stuff that the side-story opens up for potential future situations. plus, i personally loved the idea of a
hospital run like that (and i thought the janitor character that was somewhat-leading the people in
there) had a good back ground... as good as most characters from the comic, anyway.

and while i'd see why some people would cringe or find the whole grandma-walking-in scene, but i
thought it was mildly funny - and actually seemed more like a comic book-y resolution, than a standard
tv one. personally, i found episode 5 to feel much more like a filler episode (but one that is fitting for
twd's style) until the last 7 minutes.

3) also, the opening scene in the boat was amusing and entertaining, in my opinion. not so much
because of any emotional ties that were instantly created by the characters, but because of the actual
background of the characters and the situation with their dad. it was a nice little story to hear. i think
you're just classifying it as generic story-telling is because the scene was the opening scene. had it
taken place in a previous episode, you probably would have loved it.

plus. why does it matter that that girl didn't really matter to us? should the writers refrain from killing
anyone in the group until we've gotten emotionally involved? that would seem generic and not twd's
style... whether you like them or not - or we've really had a chance to know them, characters can die.
get used to it. that's always how the comic played out.

also, i'm not exactly sure what you're referencing when you claim people act 'out of character' - unless,
perhaps, you're comparing them to the comic book version of the character... or perhaps, you can't
accept some minor emotional outbursts that result in someone doing something reactively. i just love
claims like that without even a short-hand explanation.

4) and as far as the writing staff. it's true that darabont had done many massive re-writes on episodes
- and this is partially why writers were let go. it is also true that darabont was going to leave and hand
the show over to someone else - who then left after darabont decided to jay leno the show from him
(haha, i kid)... darabont still plans on contracting writers and using kirkland plenty (thank god, despite
your inability to see a stamp on everything kirkland did for the who).

with darabont and kirkland still on-board, i think everything will be fine for the show, personally.

5) i'm not really sure how brba's writers would help the show that much. it's a completely different
beast... plots, character development, dialog - everything is a completely different style. perhaps a
few direction/acting queues for portraying some truly internal struggles and tension... of course, not
everyone can be bryan-frakin'-cranston. 🙂

honestly, it sounds like you want people to be unpredictable and surprising, whilst not doing things that
are 'out-of-character'... you want it to be unpredictable, yet you demand that we get to know a love a
character before they are killed off.

if you have read the comics, then you'd know that some characters are just regular-ass predictable
people. it's likely that - like in the comics - some characters will just be there to offer conversations and
mild conflict until some future scenario in which we'll get to see this predictable characters in an extreme
situation that may reveal or change something about them. 6 episodes is a bit short to truly get a sense
of pacing and importance of things established in earlier episodes (like episode 4).

anyway... i'm done. you seem kind of pretentious and impatient. something a walking dead fan should
try not to be.