It hasn't quite been the same sans the writing and direction of Frank Darabont, however heavy his hand as producer may be. The first episode was excellent, the next three aspired to excellence but were brought down by formula and bathos and further mired by PC moral signaling. What should have been a show of shades of grey suddenly became painfully polarised. The bad characters in the camp are/were wife beaters or stupid, sociopathic, hick racists; the good guys, largely heroic and of such overtly moralistic piety that they make what should be considered stupid and dangerous decisions out of a hyper-commitment to the highest moral sentiments of current society--a society not currently battling apocalypse, that can afford some moral indulgences. The latest episode was a marked improvement, but still hinted at those flaws. I'll still watch it, and--even at its worst--it isn't bad, so much as disappointing. It could be great. It would have been, if it were on HBO. I realise AMC have given relatively free reign to Breaking Bad, but The Walking Dead feels like the handiwork of Focus Groups. No HBO show has ever felt that way.
Also, can we capitalise the title and remove the full stop? Then issue some sort of stern warning for poor grammar?
"There is a most absurd and audacious method of reasoning avowed by some bigots and enthusiasts, and through fear assented to by some wiser and better men; it is this. They argue against a fair discussion of popular prejudices, because, say they, tho' they would be found without any reasonable support, yet the discovery might be productive of the most dangerous consequences. Absurd and blasphemous notion."
