Midseason Report Card: Was ‘The Walking Dead’ season 6 brought down by Glenn drama?
Through the majority of its run, “The Walking Dead” has experienced a great deal of critical acclaim. Other than maybe a little bit of the time that we spent at Hershel’s Farm during the second season, we feel like the media has been fairly nice to the show, looking at most of its positive attributes and as a result of that, ignoring many of its flaws.
Well, we’d say that the first half of season 6 exposed them to the point where they cannot be ignored anymore. There were some great moments for the show in here, but there was also the biggest element of trickery and self-sabotage in the history of the show. For more on that, let’s dive into the latest chapter of our Midseason Report Card series.
What worked – In a vacuum, the Morgan episode was outstanding and it brought such a different emotional flair to the show. Meanwhile, we enjoyed the adventures of Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham outside of Alexandria, while Carol is consistently awesome. The show kills it at cultivating some of the biggest set pieces on television; the walkers always look terrifying, and no expense is spared in making this as authentic to a zombie apocalypse as humanly possible.
What didn’t – Let’s begin here with Glenn, because the decision to surprise the audience at the end of “Thank You” with his “death,” and then wait for more than three whole episodes to reveal that he made it through relatively unscathed, was terrible. Maybe it created some suspense and put you in the shoes of Maggie and some other characters for a split second, but it really didn’t thanks to the fact that 99% of people likely assumed he was coming back. If we could watch the show in a vacuum, maybe it would have worked; but, we can’t. This is also the reason that some people didn’t like the Morgan episode. You spent 90 minutes on almost one character after what happened to Glenn, and it made viewers resentful and impatient.
Ultimately, the move felt like the show was just toying with viewers, and very much invested in keeping the ratings huge and getting people to discuss the matter on social media. Maybe some point out there are happy because he’s alive, but we feel like from here on out, you have to question whether or not a character is dead anytime that something happens to them.
Aside from Glenn, how much really happened this season? The story of the Wolves was a little bit of a letdown, and the same goes for the midseason finale. Other than losing Deanna, is there anything huge that we are meant to take from this?
Overall – Yes, “The Walking Dead” still features an awesome cast and some of the best special effects in the business; but, with a story that has previously proved to be an equal to some of its strengths, we have a certain expectation. Season 6 so far is not hitting the mark. Grade: C+.
Let us know what you thought about season 6 in the poll, or the comments below! Also, click here for some further news related to “The Walking Dead,” or sign up here to get some other TV news on everything we cover, sent right over to you via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: AMC.)