Not every fan knows that "The Walking Dead" has gone through three showrunners in just six years. If we're being honest and not hiding behind the ratings argument, all that turnover has not been kind to the quality of the show. Not being allowed the time to build a singular strength, "The Walking Dead" stumbled pretty badly back in seasons two and three. It was like watching the Cleveland Browns. Ugly.
But showrunner Scott Gimple, shot caller since season four, has more or less saved "The Walking Dead" from being the brain dead flat-liner that it once was. The things some hated about the early days - Rick's annoying indecisiveness, the show's clumsy grasps at real depth, that damn farm! - have all but been erased. Now it's a lineup of escalating villains that unleash Rick to do what Rick does best (always a crowd pleaser) and briefly lights up certain subplots and side characters.
Not to say the show has overcome all of its flaws. Occasionally, the acting and writing just aren't good enough to pass muster. We want "The Walking Dead" to be the "Game of Thrones" of basic cable, but it lacks the substance to do so (plus, dragons are way cooler than zombies, obviously).
Both the good and the bad were on display in last night's midseason premiere: an episode that was both unintentionally hilarious at times and badass cool. Daryl blowing up Negan's crew with the rocket launcher? Just another reason why Daryl wins the award for Most times A Viewer Leaned Over To Their Buddy While Watching And Said "He's The Man."
But the sarcasm-intended "big moments" of the show still feel faker than handshakes between presidential candidates before a debate. The audience is supposed to feel a loss when characters die on most shows. But when Rick's group takes major losses, I can't help but stifle a laugh lest I look like a sadistic mad man to those I'm watching with.
I did a twitter poll right before the episode started asking fans which awful character did they most want to see killed off last night. Jessie's insufferable son Sam won via flawless victory, so it wasn't a surprise when he got himself and his mom killed by blowing everyone's cover right in the middle of the friggin' walker horde. While he and Jessie were being Golden Corral buffeted, Carl's arm was locked in Jessie's death grip. To save him, Rick hacks her arm off with a machete. Seeing this, Ron, aka Jessie's first-born spawn, ends up shooting Carl in the eye. Good job, Sam, you blew it for everyone.
What the show wants right then is for you to feel shocked, scared, sad, curious. Something. But it's hard not to laugh at the overdramatic sense of it all. The corpses on "The Walking Dead" have more personality than Jessie. and, hell, Mike Scollins of Funny Or Die penned an open letter to AMC detailing exactly why they should kill Carl. Let's not kid ourselves; actors on this show aren't there to create characters, they're there to be Red Shirts. Rick flashing back to all the "happy times" he had with Jessie, you know, when he wasn't murdering her husband and whatnot, don't add any weight to their gruesome demises. But I will give this scene credit for setting up what we pay the price of admission for: Rick's Wolverine-like beserker rage is always fun to watch. This is a show that thrives on action and doesn't disappoint in the premiere. Do your thing, Rick.
Elsewhere, Eugene, Tara and Girl Character's Name I Can't Remember, a group I like to call B-squad, are holed up watching the chaos unfold outside. Other than Eugene, there are no standouts among B-quad. Abraham was promoted to varsity once Tyrese got killed off, and now B-squad is largely filled with BBCs (Bathroom Break Characters) that you don't mind leaving the room for.
Glenn and Maggie are still on varsity, but their reunion was short lived. Glenn drew off the walkers surrounding Maggie, but finding himself pinned by hungry walkers, it looked as if he could be a goner. Again. Either this was a knowing wink from Gimple at how overused the "Glenn's Dead" bit is or just really lazy planning. Fingers crossed it's the former, especially if this spoiler is true.
Of course Glenn doesn't die because Abraham, Sasha and Daryl conveniently (and with video game-like aim) save them all. Plus, Daryl gets to use the rocket launcher again. Win-win. Still gotta love the show's effect on your heart rate, am I right?
After that, the Alexandrians become inspired and start killing walkers and defending their home. To borrow a Dave Chappelle classic: BYAAAH! It was like a second-rate "Braveheart" with the good guys boldly going to war and somehow winning. Super cheesy, but whatever works, I guess.
Amidst the chaos, Rick gets Carl to Denise (Oh, did I forget to mention that Denise has an absolute terrible subplot with the Wolf Morgan was trying to rehabilitate? Well, his positivity pays off and the Wolf saves Denise but then gets killed by Carol. Lessons for everyone!). As Carl lies there unconscious and actor Chandler Riggs likely curses under his breath for the endless hours of hair and makeup he's going to have to endure from now on, Rick delivers a heavy- handed speech that seems to map out the road ahead for this half season.
"I was wrong," he tells Harvey Dent, I mean, Carl. "I thought these people couldn't learn. But today, I saw that they could. I saw what we could do if we work together. Everything Dianna was talking about is possible. It's all possible. I see that now."
So it sounds as if those rumors about our heroes staying put in Alexandria were well-founded. Rick is obviously going to try and work with these people and rebuild. The question is, will this slow down the show to unbearable levels of boring, or will the new looming enemies keep it interesting?
Either way, "The Walking Dead" did what it always did last night. It delivered some solid popcorn entertainment that provided a nice sugar high while also leaving you feeling as if an ingredient was missing from the recipe. But, hey, all I want from this show is a nice filling snack. It doesn't need to be gourmet for me to enjoy it.
