Hello world!!! To kick off the year I’d like to start off with a quick splurge about my current favorite show, The Walking Dead! I’m on my second watch and have been interacting with the fandom space and let me tell you I am not happy with the direction they’ve taken the show. This blog post will cover over my frustrations with the spin-offs. Spoilers Ahead!
I want to preface this by saying I am not a fan of the direction they chose with the post main show spin-offs. The only one I see as needed is The Ones Who Live which if you don’t know follows up on Rick and Michonne after Rick had left the show in season nine and Michonne left in season ten. It was nice to see them tie the Grimes family back together and address more of Rick’s grief after losing his son Carl. I’ll have a whole other blog post about what happened to Carl and how much a dislike it.
Now we can get into the spin-offs I don’t like. Starting with the lesser evil, Daryl Dixon. The first season was pretty alright. It was just a southern dude on his own traveling through France with what was thought of to be the second coming of Jesus, but where my problems arise is the fact that Daryl loses his accent nearly fully. Daryl, who was born and raised in the south until what is presumed to be his late 20s early 30s, just loses his accent the moment he touches French soil. The whole reason Daryl went to France in the first place was to find Rick because he never stopped looking for him after the characters in the show thought they watched him die. Then in season two he just refuses to go home. Like he has a dog, is pretty much the guardian of Rick and Michonne’s kids, and an entire life back at home. He has people he’s spent about 12 years with back in America, and he abandons them for a French kid and a nun. It’s ridiculous! If you’ve seen the show, it’s like he’s a completely different character now! He left all the people that loved him and he children he raised. After being abandoned and left behind and neglected throughout his life you’d think he’d stay, but nope. I really hope things get resolved and fans finally get the thing most have wanted since 2018, a reunion between Rick and Daryl.
Next is Dead City. I don’t know how to start this one off other than with it shouldn’t exist. At the end of season eleven of the main show Maggie is done letting her grief of Glenn, her late husband, run her life, so she sits Negan, the man who murdered her husband, down and tells him that she can work with him, but she’ll have days when she can’t and that he has to understand that. That she doesn’t forgive him, because who would after what he did, but she’s ready to move on. Negan agrees with her logic. Then in Dead City she hates him again. Like season 10 hasn’t seen his character growth hatred. In season two of Dead City Negan, even though he had a very heavy redemption that the writers really tried hard on, becomes who he was in season eight all over again. The most offensive part is that he’s given back Lucille, his bat wrapped in barbed wire, which broke at the end of season ten to show that the grief of his wife and the tyrannical reign he had was behind him and he was changing. I get that they did it for the plot of season two, but season two didn’t have to exist. Dead City didn’t have to exist. It’s set twenty years into the apocalypse, seven years after the main show ended. The Ones Who Live brought back Gabriel, Jadis, Judith, and RJ. Daryl Dixon brings Carol into the story in season two. Dead City keeps Negan, Maggie, and Maggie’s son Hershel. That’s literally it. At least Daryl Dixon has an excuse because it’s set in France. Dead City is in New York! Rick literally came from a huge group of people looking to take over other areas and cities. They could so easily bring back a little Negan and Rick rivalry since it seems like they want an empathetic version of season eight Negan. It does nothing for the story. Nothing. The show has no loose ends without the existence of Dead City.
I think that’s enough for now. I’m pretty sure I went over my word limit this first time around haha! I didn’t mean to go off like that, and I’ll probably continue a bit more on the specific mischaracterization within the spin-offs, but that’s it for now. Bye Bye! See you next time!!!!
#ripcarl I completely agree with you , honestly when i first seen dead city I thought they were going to force a romantic relationship between Maggie and Negan
#ripcarl dude!!! hoping that they don’t go down the route, I’ve seen the actors speak against pairing them together, so I think we’ll be good :3
I LOVE TWD I’ve only made through to about season eight so I soft spoiled myself on things. Overall I love the show comics and the weird Rick 2000 stuff that went on.
Please finish it!! Season eight is one of the best seasons in my opinion
You’ve suddenly made me really interested in the Walking Dead. I’ve heard many different things about it and just completed shifted every bit of it to the side, so I MIGHT watch it, its sounds like its really depth in character quality and traits and from what you’ve said, it gives me the sense of that; these spin-offs don’t know what their doing to these characters. I really enjoyed your blog, I can tell your real passionate about it, keep going! <3
You’re so sweet!! You should definitely start watching it, I think you’d really enjoy the developments of the characters, especially seasons 7 and 8
I loveee the walking dead, never finished it though.
you should definitely finish it!! Just maybeeee avoid the spinoffs
I love the walking dead, I stay watching with my sisters, I never seen the other moves but I think that’s a good thing