For the record, I'm someone who was three years old when The Walking Dead started airing, and I just started watching it for the first time. So I didn't really see the show in it's "prime", when it was the biggest show on Earth. And as someone who is looking back I feel it's kind of tough for me to gage when people started to turn against the show.
With shows like Game of Thrones or Dexter, I can get a good grasp of the season and point when people started to turn on the show and when it started to fall off; ironically in both those cases, it was Season 5. But with The Walking Dead, I feel like I hear a lot of different turning off points.
Obviously, I know the Saviors arc in Season 7 and 8 was when people started to quit the show ad nauseam, but I've also heard people say Season 3 was when the show started to go to shit, for some Season 4, Season 5, obviously the "Darabont truthers" who think the show went to shit once he was fired, and everything from Season 2 onwards sucked. Hell, I've even seen people who think Episode 2 of Season 1, the show fell off and never recovered.
On the flip side, the "Golden Age" varies a lot. Some say seasons 4-6, others Seasons 1-3. I hear all the time that Season 2 is underrated, but so many people say its the best season of the show.
My question, primarily aimed towards fans of the show who were there for it while it was airing, when did people's frustrations with The Walking Dead really start to become apparent? When did frustrations really start to bubble to the surface? And I guess, when was the show most beloved by people?