The Walking Dead season 9 Midseason Report Card: Is it still a force?

In this Midseason Report Card article, we’re shifting the focus entirely over to AMC’s The Walking Dead, especially in the form of one simple question: Is the show working, and is it presenting everything that we hoped that it would?

Before you check out our report card… – Take a look at some of our expectations for what’s ahead in the video below! Also, remember to subscribe to CarterMatt on YouTube for more and be sure to check out our full Walking Dead playlist.

What’s working – There are few shows out there with the special-effects and makeup team that The Walking Dead has. The zombies look fantastic and the series does still excel at throwing people into this world. It also continues to have a great cast, especially when you look towards a Danai Gurira or a Melissa McBride. It’s a show that can be really versatile with its storytelling because it has so many interesting characters, and the Whisperers do have the potential now to be established as a formidable threat to the survivors moving forward.

Also, we do give a certain degree of credit to the writers for making it clear that there were things that happened in the six-year time jump following Rick’s death. Time did not just stand still, and there are a number of different things that the series can now explore with people in their new phase of their lives.

What’s not working – The simple answer there is that there’s simply too much going on and there’s not enough focus on developing some of the newer characters. We don’t really know or care about a good 50% of the cast, and that’s not good when you want to feel something when some of them die. The series also has been fairly inconsistent since losing Lincoln, giving us a drawn-out episode mostly featuring Daryl in the woods and then also not really answering a whole lot of actual, important questions — take, for example, why so many people are angry at Michonne.

Then, there’s also the Judith problem. While we understand the desire to find a new version of Rick and it makes some sense for it to come via his daughter, does this kid need to be so much like Rick, Michonne, and Carl so soon? It’s a little too jarring and the writers are pushing this too hard.

Midseason Verdict

The Walking Dead season 9 still has a lot of potential, but it does need to remember that it’s an ensemble show and that spreading the love is sometimes okay. Also, it doesn’t need to emphasize trying to recreate Rick when he is still somewhere out there. The fact that producers didn’t kill off that character is one of the best things that they’ve done, though it’s hard to 100% peg at the moment just how relevant he will be in the story moving forward.

Related News – Be sure to get some more insight on the recent Walking Dead midseason finale ratings

What is your take on The Walking Dead season 9 at the moment? Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! (Photo: AMC.)