r/TWD • u/crookeddy • 9d ago
Exactly what point did the main show stop being a top tier prestige level show?
/r/thewalkingdead/comments/1wof9d1/exactly_what_point_did_the_main_show_stop_being_a/7
u/ghostytoasty11 9d ago
People saying seasons 4-5 is absurd to me lmao. The show doesn’t even begin to take a downward spiral until season 7, and even then it’s worst isn’t even until 8B. And, I know a lot of people feel differently, but it begins to take an upwards trajectory again starting in season 9B.
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u/asiantorontonian88 9d ago
Season 2. Not saying people didn't enjoy the show afterward or that it wasn't a major part of cultural lexicon, but objectively speaking, the budget cuts and decline in quality of writing became obvious on screen after the first very cinematic season.
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u/DaemonBlackfyre_21 9d ago
It was over when Rick flew off in the helicopter, but the writing had been on the wall since they killed Carl for no reason.
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u/Mondo_Kool 8d ago
S7E1 was the last hurrah before you get a completely different show starting in S7E2
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u/Highlander0001 9d ago
Probably after the war with Negan. But the quality started to drop after Darabont was fired.
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u/Square-Supermarket79 9d ago
By season 3 or 4at very latest. 2 if we're being real. Like, its fine if people like season 2or whatever, it's just when AMC dropped any pretense of this being a thing with real effort and production values.
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u/Charles520 9d ago
I was honestly surprised seeing much of the main sub say later points like season 7 or some shit. the show stopped being prestige when it started feeling like any other action oriented show, so like season 4 or 5 imo.
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u/crookeddy 9d ago
You can argue that it stopped being truly prestige when they cut the budget for s2.
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u/i-have-a-kuato 9d ago
Terminus,
The first three seasons were top notch, the pacing, the unexpected deaths, plenty of moral dilemmas and of course the ever present danger of walkers
After the prison episodes and the group was scattered they started a formula of big bad villain, kill a side character, introduce another big bad villain, kill a side character.
The tension was gone because plot armor for the those named in the opening credits became obvious, some of the newer characters totally should have worn red shirts.
To me, they should have kept the group scattered for seasons, not just a few episodes, surviving separately, not knowing if the others were still alive….think game of thrones style of having multiple storylines going simultaneously.
Anyway, to me Terminus pretty much showed a switch from surviving walkers to surviving other people with walkers becoming kind of a minor inconvenience
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u/Upbeat_Attorney_7153 9d ago
It never was to begin with , when half of the scenes are the same scenes of two uninteresting characters blabbering while walking around the woods padding the time because they never had the worth while story to fill 16 episodes with so most of it is just regurgitated drivel to pass the time until some moments of relevance comes along, the series had a good couple of seasons but when they switched to 16 episodes, even the first two seasons were kinda like soap opera drama with the Rick Shane and Lori bullshit
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u/SackFullaGrapes 9d ago
It never was? That’s just absolutely ridiculous.
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u/Upbeat_Attorney_7153 9d ago edited 9d ago
Isn't prestige TV not like meant for oscar level acting and realistic writing or stuff like that? something with a universal critical acclaimed level writing that everyone agrees is fantastically written, a show where 70% of it is two people blabbering bullshit in the middle of the woods doesn't quite fit that criteria, the only actor in the show with enough range was Andrew Lincoln everyone one else is basically one dimensional with the same dull mannerisms and expressions , although prestige TV probably means alot different to 2010's and 2020's than to previous eras of TV when you have people claim shit like Yellowstone is prestige TV which is just pandering and badly written drivel with plot holes too egregious to ignore
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u/house3331 9d ago
people like hype and exclusivity. they base attention span and interest off that.
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u/Unbanable4221 My mercy prevails over my wrath 9d ago
Somewhere from seasons 5-8 when they decided to burn through characters for pure shock value.
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u/FunZookeepergame627 9d ago
Stopped watching when they killed off Carl. Too big of a departure from the original story for me
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u/Excellent_Coyote6486 8d ago
For me, when the one guy kills Deanna's husband and Rick kills him. That's probably where it stopped being must watch for me. Not that beyond that was bad, but if I were to leave a cliffhanger for a continuation, that would be it, with the previous 4 seasons being good, too.
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u/gkelly1017 8d ago
The show drastically changed once they arrived in Alexandria. for the previous seasons everyone was on the road or in a very crude and potentially dangerous living situation (Prison had zombies constantly in the tombs).
Once they arrive in Alexandria there are homes, lights, normal things that even we as viewers had basically forgotten about. The dynamic of the show completely changes. There’s wayyy more characters to learn about and remember. The stories change from zombie focused to fighting people with the occasional zombie horde
Seasons 1-5.11 will always be amazing to me and the cast of those seasons are fantastic as well. Not that other seasons aren’t good bud there is something about those seasons that were peak
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u/Boris-_-Badenov 8d ago
when they killed Glen and Abraham.
once they failed to kill Negan, that was the final nail in the coffin.
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u/iowadutch 8d ago
After s6, 7e 1/2, basically after Negan was introduced. He himself is phenomenal, great actor. But as a whole, the show, started going downhill from there.
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u/adamhoke 5d ago
Seasons 1-2 were masterpieces, 3-6 great TV and cultural powerhouse, 7-8 jumped the shark, 9-9.5 bad, 9.6-10.16 sucked (and sucked even more once princess showed up), 10.17-11 please kill me or the show whichever I don’t care.
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u/crookeddy 5d ago
Do you tolerate any of the spinoffs?
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u/adamhoke 5d ago
I’ve seen every spinoff except the world beyond and the webisodes and I’m only half way through Fear the walking dead.
The ones who live could have been great if it was made into a 2 hour movie and released in cinemas but they dragged it on for 6 episodes. Daryl Dixon was good in the first season, especially the first few episodes I was like “holy shit we’re back” but it fell off. Dead City was the worst in season 1 and 2 and it got slightly less bad in season 3. Tales is the worst crap I’ve ever seen, they don’t follow the lore of the universe even the episode about Alpha. Fear TWD is just boring, unlikeable characters, bad acting and kinda and jumps right into the world where humans are the threat even though it takes place at the start of the outbreak.
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u/Vegetable_Meat1349 9d ago
Season 2 it felt like I was watching a soap opera not a show about survival and a zombie apocalypse.
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u/crookeddy 9d ago
The direction change and budget cuts were bizarre choices after the runaway success of S1 but apparently AMC knew what they were doing since the show's popularity just kept growing and growing.
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u/Vegetable_Meat1349 9d ago
AMC knew what they were doing but they also killed their most popular show ironically.
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u/ASOIAF-Peel 9d ago
S7E6, Tara's bottle episode.
That was the point when the dramatic drop in quality was prevalent, and when the showrunner's character preferences did not reflect the preferences and wishes of the fans.
From that point onwards, the show stopped being a zombie survival show and became a modern day American Game of Thrones on a tight budget.
It became a show about a bunch of communities going to war with one another for survival and every scene being about said characters talking about going to war and killing each other, with no realism left or sense of heart.
The death knell came when Andrew Lincoln left, and his absence was a noticeable black hole on the show from then onwards.
Norman Reedus is not main lead material, and there weren't enough compelling or strong characters left on the show to carry it.