The Walking Dead needs some new writers

Dear producers of The Walking Dead,

You have got to get a better writing staff.

[For those of you reading this not a producer, FYI there are WALKING DEAD SEASON THREE SPOILERS AHEAD]

Season Two obviously dragged on, but the first half of season three was showing us that all bets were off and that there will be high paced action.  It delivered a new dangerous setting, new characters, and even a new danger--other people.  

I should've known that when the second black guy in a row dies only to be replaced by a new black character, things were only going to get worse.  (And no, I definitely wasn't the only one who noticed that.)

I don't know what it is, but your minority and female character writing is hit or miss.  Michonne is still awesome, Carol has grown incredibly, Maggie is a solid part of the front line.  But what the hell did you think you could with Lori after you dragged on the love triangle through half that previous season like a roadkill stuck on the grill of a truck?  Of course you had to kill her off.  There was no redemption possible with a character as inconsistent as Lori.

And now you've gone and done the same thing to Andrea.  She got hypnotized by Governor dick and only in the second to last episode in the season does she realize that this dude has serious issues.  Oh my god, hasn't she figured out she's attracted to the crazies?  Forget the tanks full of heads or the locked up zombie daughter or the farming and entertainment of keeping walkers in a town you promised to protect or lying to you about attacking your friends... but you find a make-shift torture chair that Milton decided to show you and now suddenly you want to leave?  You couldn't trust the woman who saved your life multiple times when she told you that the place is shady?  This could've been a more captivating story of friends with different survival structures, but instead you made Andrea a confused symbol of whatever the hell the writer wanted to exemplify for 10 minutes of the episode.  I did not mourn her death because even in death, she needlessly hesitated over some bullshit!

My conclusion is not that you can't write female characters, you just don't know who to write conflicted characters well.  Ever.  Look at Rick's wavering in the second and third season, which is suppose to show how hard it is for him to be good.  NO IT'S NOT!  It's just when he thinks more than five seconds is when people die, but when he uses his conscious do things work out they way they should for his group.  Well, at least this season, but let's not talk about how you tried to present Shane as crazy in season two when he was just angry and adaptive to his environment.  

Did your writers not know what to do with all these new characters?  Why introduce the holed-up inmates if you end up killing ALL of them?  Why only have Tyreese for four episodes of the season?  Why wait until right before the finale to have us empathize with the Governor's henchmen?  Why develop Milton that late on as well?  Gah!  Too many whys that only distance me from the show and it's world, not make me any more interested.  

This finale definitely left me as a fan on a down note.  There was a lot of wasted potential, especially for those of us who actually read the goddamn comic.  Below I'm going to list everything that disappointed me, partly as a fan and partly as a writer.  

-Tyreese and Sasha were ridiculously under-utilized.  We need their moral sanity to balance the crazy Rick bought to the table.  Herschel is more spiritual, Tyreese is more practical.  More of him and Sasha.

-Even with the Governor surprising everyone, he cannot gun down twenty people by himself!  Especially when half of them have guns!  

-It was way too late to introduce the Carl rebellion subplot.  Should've done that episodes ago, even if it won't blow up until next season

-Am I really suppose to believe there were enough people who just decided to immigrate from Woodbury with the enemy they were told to avoid?

-HOLY CRAP YOU LEAD US TO BELIEVE SHIT WAS GOING DOWN AND WE ONLY GOT FIVE MINUTES OF ACTUAL CONFLICT?!?!?!?!

What a cop-out.  And now that Rick has even more people to be responsible for, how the hell are we going to start next season?  They're stuck in the jail with these children and old fogies to protect now?  Rick is suddenly just letting any old person into the group?  As much as Carl is on the path to being a murderous dick he has a point--you can't just trust people these days anymore.  So we're going to let half a town of strangers in a compound that you can't secure? And now others are going to think you're going to have open arms to accept them?  Word is going to fucking spread and you know it, you dumbasses.

I'm afraid next season, I may find myself not giving a shit.  I'll probably still watch it because it's zombies, and if zombies are involved I'm interested.  But I imagine instead of one in thousands, I'll be one in dozens.  Until you get some writers who can do something inspiring with this setting.  Because right now, you're story is begging for an actual story to tell.  

Sincerely

d20 Sapphire

P.S.  What would I write to save you?  Nuh-uh, no freebies.  Let's sign a contract and I'll give you some pointers.  The only tip you're getting is that if you haven't read World War Z already, you should and be ashamed that it took you this long.  

Finally watched season 2 of The Walking Dead

In fact I finished the season a little over a week ago but I just didn't get a moment to sit down and compose my thoughts.  I wanted to do it before Season 3 premiered.  Oops!

Season two of The Walking Dead did not kick nearly as much ass as the first season did.  In fact, a recent photoplasty from Cracked.com explains a good half of the problem.

I was so excited to see crazy situations that would push survivors to brink.  I was excited to see who was going to bite the dust, and who was not.  I was excited to see what fucked up situation would involve creativity and strength and endurance.

Less than half the season was about that.

The first two and the last two episodes had a lot of the same things I loved in the first season.  Starting with the scene of people hiding under the cars, and ending with Rick announcing to everyone that this whole group was no longer a democracy, that was the kind of drama in an apocalyptic setting.  But instead what we got was a lot of people yelling at each other.  Or even worse, just nagging back and fourth.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I don't get how many times the writers thought they should talk about life questions: "opting out" of the harsh existence, continuing the human race despite this horrible setting, the treatment of those who have wronged and been wronged.  But in this type of drama, you really only need to devote 30 minutes of conversation to it before you have to put some serious action in.  You don't need 3 suicide moments, you don't need a love triangle that lasts almost the ENTIRE FUCKING SEASON and seems to be one sided.  You can only have the character you hate be right so many times until the audience says "Hey you stupid characters!  He's crazy but he's going to save you're life!  Shut up this time!"

It seems like the writers were forced to think about character development and hit a brick wall.  And another one.  And then another one with a piano falling on their heads.  Shane was a great example.  He could've been there to show us that survival was harsh and cruel in this new zombie world, that you can be complexly conflicted with what you have to do to live and who you want to be.  Instead, Shane was just vilified left and right.  Every chance they had to redeem him got swept away by him being a huge asshole, and most of the time for no damn reason.  We see the main characters make horrible survival choices, romantic endeavors prioritized in the story over other interesting lines, characters good points written poorly and bad points overemphasized.  I still watched all of it because I loved the characters from the last season, but Angie's angst, Daryl's whining, and the disgraceful inconsistencies in Lori's every action in every episode had me pulling my hair out.  And to top it off, the women were poorly written for this season, except Maggie, who wasn't great but just okay.

The setting being stuck on Herschel's farm also slowed everything down, which must have been intentional on the writer's part to use it as a place to station half the season as monologue central.  And that was a huge contribution to it dragging.  Notice how the episodes that were best for the season consistently mostly either off the farm or getting off the farm.  The magic, idyllic famrhouse was not the best place to really progress the story or the characters, they stagnated.  The zombie drama does best with the idea that NOWHERE is safe for even a significant amount of time.  You must keep alert and keep struggling if you want to live.  We lost that appeal early on.

The end of the last episode really did save it for me.  We see Rick struggle over doing the right thing (and almost fuck up royally every single time) and never get any gratitude .  It is about time for him to tell everyone to either put up or shut up.  So I'm excited to see where season 3 takes us (and again, not waiting as long as I did for Season 2) but they better learn from their mistakes from season 2.  If they don't, I will not be watching this next season through.

The Walking Dead, Season 1.

You would think that by now, I would've watched this series already.  I am a fan of zombie genre, and especially the modern incarnations of it.  But it wasn't until a friend of mine was talking about how he was excited for season 2 that I was finally compelled to see season 1.  

Totally.  Worth. Your time.

You don't have to be into zombies to appreciate the themes in the story.  It mainly follows Rick Grimes, in his quest to find peace in this new zombie world.  Throughout the story you not only follow Rick and the group he's surviving with, but there are also little vignettes of other's lives and sacrifices, and it's tears through your heart.

For those of you looking for a general review, I highly suggest it.  I always go on and on about how well written TV is in short supply, and the Walking Dead gives me hope.  Characters that have depth, setting that doesn't feel forced, and dialogue that isn't ridiculous.  If there are cliches, they are hidden very well.  

It's a well produced show, gross enough for a zombie epic without trying to be over the top.  Nothing is done merely for spectacle, even though spectacle is a tool used.  

If you haven't seen it, and you like a good story, watch it.  Consider the zombies as an extra bonus.

SPOILERS AHEAD

For those of you have watched the show... I am seriously saddened that I can't watch season 2.  Season 1  was brilliantly executed, which although started the way many zombie sagas start: Guy waking up in a coma in the hospital, doesn't know all about zombies.  However Rick Grimes is smart enough to survive the first 2 hours to get to home, and then almost gets eaten.

Throughout the series, helpful strangers seem to be the theme.  We first meet a father and son team that teach Rick about the world.  Then Glen introduces Rick to the idea of escape.  There's the "gangsters" that took over the abandoned old home, the group that took in Rick after he screwed up their escape plan, the scientist that lets the group into the facility on a whim.  Kindness is not lost in this world.

Nor are the stresses of regular life.  Siblings squabble.  Spouses argue.  Bigotry infects.  It's all just amplified with the new stresses of having the undead trying to eat your face off.  And there's no therapy session to help you work through it.  The people who end up surviving in this situation are tough not only on the outside, but on the inside too.  Their convictions are keeping them through.

There's also a good mix of characters to "like" and "hate".  There aren't ones specifically designed to feel  one way or another, throughout the 6 episodes you can empathize with them all.  Shane just wants the comfort of a family, and took it from Rick when he was "dead".  With Rick back, his opportunity of having that is now completely gone.  Who's going to be making a family now?  Jim was probably never going to be fully sane anyway with his survivor's guilt on top of his general traumatic experiences.  Darryl flies off the handle, but he probably has the best survival skills out there.  They get on your nerves, but you can never fully hate them.

And now I'm kicking myself for not being able to see season 2.  Season 1 made it sound like there's no hope for an actual cure, or at least a sanctuary, but I'm still hopeful.  The bullets will run out, the cars will stop moving, and I'll still think they have a chance with their bare hands.  That's just me.  And the show helps you have hope too.

So if you're watching Season 2, don't tell me a thing.  I'll hold on to hope until the last minute of the series.