The Shortcomings Of TWD 6A

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Last night saw the start of season 6 come to a close, and that noise you hear is people exhaling in anger and confusion. What kind of an intro is that, you ask? Well, for the second time in three years, Scott Gimple and those running the show have given us a less-than-stellar start to the season, but while season 4 at least featured Too Far Gone and the deaths of Hershel and the Governor, season 6 hasn't really given us much. Yeah, a redshirt Alexandrian died, Nicholas died, Glenn almost died, and the Wolves attacked, but one could really make the argument that 6A is the worst half of a season so far.

Well, I mean 2A still exists, but this was likely top three. But, how could a half season that featured the return of Morgan, walker herds, badass Carol, and even the introduction of Negan be such of a letdown? That's what we're here to answer, so let's dive right in and avoid Nicholas' guts on the way down.

1. Subplots Galore!

Ever see The Room? You know the movie I'm talking about, right? The one that is the "Citizen Kane" of bad movies? Well, the first half of season 6 was a lot like The Room: we have a lot of subplots either introduced late in season 5 (or in a couple cases, earlier) or in the start of season 6 that are either never capitalized on, never fully developed, or are brushed off after an episode or two. For example...

Rick and Morgan reuniting after roughly nine or so months in canon. They share time together in 6x1 and 6x7, but that's really it.
Morgan's new way of living.
Daryl struggling to adjust to Alexandria
Daryl and Rick butting heads and not having that bromance (maybe one-sided romance?) we've seen since season 2. It wasn't that long ago Rick told Daryl, "you're my brother", for what it's worth.
Glenn's struggling with killing others; this could have been a perfect subplot had he and Morgan gotten some screen time.
Carol still struggling with the murder/death of Lizzie, Mika, and Sophia
Maggie's struggle with the loss of Beth and Hershel
Sasha's PTSD
Abraham and Eugene seemingly forgiving one another.
Glenn's battle with Nicholas.
Father Gabriel repenting for his sins.
Tara and Denise hooking up. What are they? Are they a couple? Are they doing it out of desperation? Is Denise a lesbian?

Now, is The Walking Dead an action show? Yes. Is it a drama? Yes. Are some of the 'filler' episodes that show a lot of character development sometimes boring? Yes. But, when you have all of these characters and all of these introduced subplots over the past year, it's your job to at least show some of these in depth. There were TWO 90 minute episodes, the most we've ever had in one season, and both were wastes of time. Was Morgan's episode good? Sure, but most of it just felt like Ambien...kinda boring. Hell, the last two episodes of season 6 told us more about Morgan than episode four did, and that is just sad.

Why is Sasha seemingly ok after that pretty bad bout of PTSD she was going through in season 5? I didn't think one prayer with Maggie and Gabriel could fix that. One of the most powerful shots in season 5 -- and maybe even the show as a whole -- was Sasha laying amongst the dead late in season 5; she was broken, she was beaten, and she was having trouble wanting to live. She felt guilty about Noah and telling him he wouldn't live because he wanted to avoid eating the dogs, right? Well, where is this guilt now? Where's her struggle of wanting to live? Abraham alludes to it a couple of times in the car and in 6x6, but she seems fine now. That was a pretty quick recovery, I'd say.

There's another key subplot going into season 6 that hasn't been answered, or even really expanded upon, and that's this idea that Rick and Daryl might be growing apart. Remember, we didn't see them interact much in 5B and though there was a bit of an argument in 6x1 about Daryl recruiting, the two haven't been near one another since then.

In short, there's a lot of subplots that, while they may answered in 6B, probably won't be. Why? Because, there's something called the...

2. Ambien Effect

With The Walking Dead, and a lot of other shows, there's that one episode each season that just bores you and puts you to sleep; with season 3, for many people, it was Prey, while season 4 had the Governor episodes. I've always said that with TWD, if you have fifteen great episodes and one good episode that doesn't fit under great, fine, but don't let that episode be an important one (i.e a season premier, midseason finale, midseason comeback, or season finale).

Sadly, both the premiere and MSF were...well, I won't say boring, but they failed to live up to expectations and were just underwhelming. Some of the most explosive 'important' episodes in TWD history -- season 1 premier, season 2 finale, season 3 premier, season 4 mid season finale -- were all directed by Ernest Dickerson, and there's a reason for that: the guy is good at what he does. The season 6 premiere, with all of the questions coming in, had to be explosive and hard-hitting, and with Greg Nicotero directing, it made sense to have hope...and, while it was good, it wasn't great. A lot of people were taken out of the action by the THEN and NOW switches, and while I liked the idea, I didn't think it was executed perfectly.

What hurts the most is instead of being optimistic, I instead fear that the aforementioned subplots will get shoved into some type of Ambien episode and then never talked about again. Daryl and Rick are fighting? Oh they made up over the radio. Sasha's PTSD? A voodoo preist fixed it.

3. The writing

By no means has the writing in TWD always been perfect (just go back to season 2's premiere, when Lori talks about not wanting to take supplies on the highway because "it's a graveyard"), but it's always been solid, whether it's dialogue or the actions that certain characters do. With the exception of a character or two who always had some cringeworthy dialogue (Beth Greene, step right up! NO ONE'S CUMMIN), the writing for this show is pretty damn good.

Unfortunately, the writing has taken a MAJOR step back this season, and a couple of good moments (Michonne's speech to Heath in episode 3, for example) don't save things. Everyone either sounds philosophical, says something completely stupid (Sam asking if he turns into a monster by killing and if his dad became one. No, you fool, he WAS one), or something that makes you say wait, what?

Yes, philosophical things matter in certain scenes (making it now, do you really think you can do that without getting blood on your hands), but not in every damn scene. Christ!

3B. The actors

This may not seem like a fair route to go, but I'm going to come right out and say it: some of these actors are absolutely awful. Major Dodson, who plays Sam, is right up there with Jake Lloyd (kid Anakin Skywalker from The Phantom Menace) for worst child actors ever; Alexandra Breckenridge, who plays Jessie, is absolutely terrible and is making people cry for a return of Laurie Holden (who wasn't as bad as people thought). Merritt Weaver, aka Denise Cloyd, is pretty bad too in this role, though I've heard she's been good in other performances. Austin Abrams as Ron? Oh lord, I'd rather have Austin Powers in this role.

With the exception of Alex, who came off as extremely bitchy and cocky on Talking Dead and in interviews, I have nothing against any of these actors as people. But when it comes to the job they're doing on this show, I can't help but be disappointing with what I'm seeing. While not all of the original casting was good -- Chandler, I'm sorry, but one good season in season 3 doesn't change the fact you are bland -- I just think so many of these actors now are...well, not good.

Many of the actors who perform as the Alexandrians, honestly, are not just not doing a good job for TWD standards; Tovah Feldshuh is/was fantastic as Deanna, Austin Nichols wasn't awful as Spencer, Jason Douglas is doing an underrated job as Tobin, but who else stands out? Ann Mahoney as Olivia? That's a big difference between actor and character, because she's been solid as Olivia, a useless Alexandrian who reads WHILE PROTECTING THE ARMORY.

Aside from Chandler, none of the 'survivors' are doing a bad job when it comes to acting; Seth Gilliam is earning praise for Gabriel, Andrew Lincoln and Danai are doing perfect when it comes to Rick and Michonne; Josh McDermitt continues to stand out as Eugene. Even Alanna Masterson, someone who I was a bit wary of when she was first introduced in Tara at the start of season four, continues to grow and steal the spotlight each time.

4. Hey, I exist!

Since Scott Gimple took over as showrunner following season 3, he's had some great moments in writing -- look, no one is going to tell you that expanding on the hunters from the comics and giving them a whole story in Terminus was a bad idea -- and some questionable moments, but arguably his worst trait is leaving characters out. GRANTED, THIS HAS BEEN A PROBLEM FOR A LONG TIME AS EVIDENCED WITH T-DOG, yet I really think that this is one of Gimple's biggest flaws as a showrunner.

Think about things like this for a second. How can I care about, say, Rick being stuck in an RV when the next episode is a Morgan spotlight. What makes me want to care about the trio of Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham in episode 3 when we don't see them again until episode 6? Where's Aaron been? There's a powerful shot in episode 2 of Aaron realizing that the Wolves found Alexandria because of him, and viewers are meant to feel bad and wonder what's next...a question not solved until episode 5.

There have been what? Three episodes all season long where Daryl appears? Plus the bonus scene from episode 8? I don't want to sound like a Daryl fanboy, because I'm not, but three out of eight episodes for a character who still has so much story to tell? Why is Daryl volunteering to go lead the herd away? How does he feel about hitting heads with Rick, arguably a better brother to him than Merle ever was. We've gotten five episodes out of Rick, our protagonist, and that just seems like too low when there's so much we need to see with him. Plus, there's a couple of those episodes where he's just kinda there, maybe shooting someone or kissing Jessie.

Again, I bring up a powerful shot from season 5 which was Rick looking at his wedding band at one point; I can't be the only person who would have liked Rick talking to someone, like Morgan or Michonne or even Carl, about moving on from Lori to Jessie. Instead, we're treated to a scene where he just approaches her and kisses her. Sigh...

5. Daryl

No, I have no problem with Daryl Dixon as a character. Yes, I sometimes get annoyed by people treating him like God, but overall, I like Daryl and think he's been one of the show's bright spots since the start. But, the creators of this show are caught in a problem with Daryl, and that problem is simply an identity crisis. Daryl was liked by people in the first few seasons because he felt REAL and he was a mystery; he had a code, he evolved and became a better person because of the apocalypse, and he had goals -- find Merle, find Sophia, protect the group, etc. He was a badass, but we loved it partly because he felt real too.

Who is Daryl? Daryl is someone that, since Scott Gimple took over, has taken God like status and has been pushed into romantic situations despite that not fitting his character. I even said back in August:

Daryl cried over Beth's death not because he felt something for her, but because A. he failed Hershel, a man he'd considered a father and quite possibly the first real father figure in his life, seeing as his own father (Will, at least what the Survival Instinct game named him) was an abusive dick, and Maggie, a close friend that was family to him; B. Beth was another one lost, another one he couldn't save.

Now, we have the powers that be trying to restore Daryl back into a badass, and they're even giving us the middle finger in the process by including shots similar to earlier seasons. No. It doesn't work. The best thing for Daryl this season would have been for him to start off in Alexandria, get some development character wise, have some moments with Rick and Carol, and continue to grow as a character before likely dying later. Again, sigh...

So, there you have it. Even with some bright spots, the start of season 6 has been underwhelming and is frustrating for the viewers. Hopefully, season 6B can do what season 6A couldn't, for everyone's sakes...

..and no, I'm not just talking about killing Jessie.

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