The Walking Dead - Where to go next?

[NewJeffCT]

Where can The Walking Dead go next?

I love the show and have been starting the weekly discussion threads since Season 2.

Season 3, they find the prison (a safe area) and then have to deal with the crazy Governor for the next season and a half.

The last half of season 4, they have to deal with the crazy Claimers on their way to a potential new safe area in Terminus.

Season 5 starts with the escape from Terminus and then finishing off the crazy Termites.

Then, we go to a new safe area in Grady Memorial and crazy Dawn and her crew in the hospital.

Finally, we journey to Alexandria to a new safe area and we have to deal with the crazy Wolves.

Next up, we many people know that we have mega-crazy Negan and his group, the Saviors. I suspect that will take up all of Season 7.

But, the same pattern of having/finding a safe area and dealing with this season’s flavor of crazy warlord is going to run out of steam eventually. Sure, there are some differences between the crazy warlords and some twists and turns along the way, but it all seems to be the same basic pattern.

Even in the comics, after they deal with Negan, they meet a new group of crazies. I would think people might really start getting tired of the same pattern by that time?

How much can you keep lathering, rinsing and repeating? What can they do differently? What can keep it fresh?

[LonePirate]

1. Viewership started declining last year and it continues this year.

The repetition is starting to make viewers weary. Every week it is traitorous humans or walkers herds or both. Nothing ever really changes. Then there is the complete absence of winter and the harsh physical toll it would inflict on the walkers.

[NewJeffCT]

2. viewership increased in season 5

to new heights. The only thing you can say about last season is that they didn't increase as much as previous seasons - possibly getting close to the maximum?

The "live" viewings of the premiere for season 6 were down, but the "live +3" ratings were up and it's ratings in the 18-49 year old demographic have increased as well.

[Lisa D]

3. They need a glimmer of hope.

I think it would be smart for the show to pursue a real chance at a cure--or something that could change the dynamics of the apocalypse in some way. A real Eugene, in other words, who offers something new but perhaps at a great moral cost.

[Baitball Blogger]

5. Or, at least come across someone who is immune.

[Lisa D]

6. Or a cognizant zombie?

Maybe just tiny glimpses of cognizance--which could result in hope or a greater threat.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

7. Who knows? Maybe Eugene is the real Eugene after all and he's just double bluffing.

He is clearly a world champion sprinter, after all.

?w=600

[Lisa D]

8. LOL!

I love that scene.

[Baitball Blogger]

4. Morgan threw me for a loop.

I always assumed that people would learn how to survive or die off. Based on Judith's age, The WD is two and a half years from the event that started the virus. Where we go from there depends entirely on what the writer intended. If he wants to remain true to the title, it means humanity dies off. So the last season is the last man or the last woman walking into the sunset.

But I do believe that the best result involves Rick's group learning all the potential things that can go wrong and finding a better way to size people up.

The problem is, if they do succeed in finding a safe haven, the show ends unless it becomes character driven. That means that each actor must bring their own personality into the mix to make it interesting. Carol, for instance, just keeps coming up with surprises. People love her and they will keep watching to see what she'll do to survive next. She is the white cell of the corporal body. She will devour anything that threatens the well-being of the group. And yet, she cries after it's over.

What I would like to see is the group actually winning a few, showing signs of surviving and thriving. At some point they have to start learning how to make tools to improve their quality of life. Let's move on from the cans-on-a-string sentry system. Robin Hood and his Merry men of archers would have had a better chance in this environment.

I anticipate that the two shows FTWD and WD will have some cross-over. In fact, what interested me the most about Tobias was that he was already ahead of the game, taking mental inventory of food supplies, for example. You know that he will be ahead of the curve and probably find something that will be defensible.

And, heck, the WD group is in prime prepper country. Why haven't they stumbled on one of their underground lairs?

[dr.strangelove]

9. Its 1.5 years since outbreak

If you believe the incredibly detailed walking dead tv timeline http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_TV_Show_Timeline

The problem is that the season take a long time to write, film, edit and air. But the past two seasons they never jumped any significant time from the previous season finale.

Its been about 18 months since the dead started walking.

Remember, it hasn't even been 2 months since Hershel and the governor died. That was all very recent, even though we watched it years ago. That baby, who is still the same child actress, was about 6 months old at that time. She is at best 7 or 8 months old now. Maybe its time to get a new baby actress.

[Baitball Blogger]

10. That's the same baby Judith!

She looked entirely different with her hair grown in. Eyes look wider, too.

[NewJeffCT]

11. I thought one of the head honchos

Kirkman, Gimple or Gale Ann Hurd on Talking Dead a while back, said it had been about 2 years a while back. But, when asked last week, Gimple or Kirkman said they aren't giving out timelines anymore.

We know we had a 270+ day pregnancy from Lori (she was overdue) - most of which happened between seasons 2 and 3.

We also know there was another time jump of at least 7-8 months - Bob mentions he had met Daryl 7-8 months earlier. (after season 3, or after the midseason finale of 4)

We also know that Morgan was months behind Rick & company when he left Georgia - the sign was overgrown

Plus, we've had time pass since the group made it to Alexandria - it was summer when they got there, but later on, people were wearing jackets, indicating it was autumn. So, another span of months.

[Baitball Blogger]

12. Someone could come up with a better number.

If baby Judith was three and a half months when the Governor raided the prison, that gives us a full year since the virus hit Georgia. Bob's storyline begins when they are at the prison, but it couldn't have been more than a month before the Harry Potter Influenza began. So, maybe three months to wrap up the Governor adventure, and he begins his walk to Terminus. He dies in Gabriel's district. So, that now has us at, at least, One year and four months. Then, we're off to Alexandria. So we are at either 1 and a half years to two years.

[Laffy Kat]

13. Needs more romance for one thing.

Love = new birth. Where's there's birth there's hope. My two cents.

[Joe Shlabotnik]

14. Maybe Eugene could invent a time machine

that goes horribly wrong and floods the world Zombie Nazis

[NaturalHigh]

15. Question for you: How closely does the show match up with the comics?

[NewJeffCT]

16. The location is the same

Last edited Thu Oct 22, 2015, 07:02 AM - Edit history (1)

Alexandria. It was walled up and a "sustainable" subdivision when built as well.

However, Deanna Monroe was Douglas Monroe in the comics and his wife got killed by Pete, not husband. Pete was the doctor and an abusive husband to Jessie in the comics as well.

No Daryl and no Sasha in the comics.

Andrea and Sophia (Carol's daughter) are still alive in the comics. Carol is dead in the comics and Glenn & Maggie essentially became Sophia's foster parents. Carol and Tyreese were temporarily a couple in the comics, though comic Tyreese was Rick's right hand man in the comics, whereas Daryl is on the show.

Shane stayed alive longer on the show than in the comics. Dale was cooler in the comics and had the "tainted meat" death that Bob had on the show.

edited to add - Baby Judith died at the prison with her mother. The group was fleeing the prison and Lori was carrying the baby in her arms. She was shot in the back, dying, and crushed the baby underneath her when she fell. Also, Sophia kind of plays the "Carl's first crush" role that Enid played on the show, though she is loyal to the group and Enid is a question mark at this point.