The most noticeable difference is that instead of being an unfocused mess, the show is now incredibly formulaic. Every episode follows the same pattern of short bursts of zombie violence flanked by long, drawn-out moments of character “development”. I hesitate to refer to these intervals as development of any sort because the show’s main players never grow or change in any way.
We have: the reluctant leader, the tough but kind love-interest, the selfish jerk who exists solely to be hated, the tortured survivor, the old guy and the comic relief; none of whom ever behave in any way outside of these archetypes. Instead, all they do is cry. They cry a lot. They cry so much, in fact, that I have been hoping characters don’t get eaten, not because I care about them, but because 15 to 20 minutes of run time will be spent weeping in remembrance of Guy With White Shirt and his (non)accomplishments.
The actual plot moves at roughly the speed of a glacier. For the past three episodes, half the cast has been camped out on a highway looking for a little girl who, according to the last preview, has fallen down a well (I swear). I guess the new writing staff has been dipping into their predecessors’ angel dust stash.
To end on a positive note, I will say that watching a bunch of stumbling, unorganized carcasses hopelessly flail around before being destroyed serves as an excellent complement to the Colts game each Sunday.
Image Source: mediaconnectiononline.com
