The Walking Dead Season 8
DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:
This was once one of my favorite shows, and now it’s just complete garbage. I’m a huge fan of the comics, so I’ve stuck it out hoping it would get better. I’m waiting on events from the comics to happen to see if they can do justice to them, and constantly I am let down. Every plot element original to show is filled to the brim with terrible writing, from the trash people who forgot how to talk in less than three years to the stupid decisions the main characters constantly make to pad the running time of these plots. Even the interesting subplot of Eugene’s trip to the dark side is chock full with “Eugene-speak” to a point where it becomes obnoxious! It’s like the writers for this show have lost all ability to write with subtlety, with earned character development (characters act out of character to suit the plot constantly), and with any real sense of tension. The midseason finale has finally made me decide to drop this show. Without spoiling it, the showrunner Scott Gimple has seriously committed to a gigantic deviation from the comics. He’s completely broken the narrative thread of the source material. What that means is we can look forward to more and more content like the trash people. No thanks, I’m done.
– Jacob Seibel
UPDATE 12/01/2017: Still grinding along… Did they fire all the good writers and directors here, or what? Are these newest episodes also of shorter duration, or does it just seem that way? None of these Season 8 Episodes so far, are worth a re-watch, and that’s a first for this series! It pains me to say this!
I’ve enjoyed “The Walking Dead” since its inception on DVD, and that’s unusual for me, as zombies aren’t my thing. Still, the conclusion of Season One, Episode 06: TS-19, locked me into watching Season Two, where my total frustration with Hershel, Shane and Rick had me talking to myself! From there on out I’ve been a fan, purchasing every season on DVD, as soon as it comes out. And fans will forgive a few things, but those things do not generally include an absurd absence of logic.
SPOILER: The scene in Season 8 where Rick and his people have penetrated Negan’s compound, armed to the teeth, protected behind a staggered vehicular shield-wall, yet close enough to have a shouting conversation with the grandstanding Negan (as out in the open as you could hope to get him), and nobody thinks to take a single shot at the SOB?! WTF?! A well-placed bolt (arrow) from Daryl’s compound crossbow would’ve ended Negan right there, and surely one of the rifles could’ve taken him out. Hell, just wounding the SOB is a worthy achievement! But no, they palaver on instead, ignoring the opportunity and allowing Negan to strut his fast-growing-tiresome stuff. It’s absurd!
We all saw the train come off the rails with “Dexter”, when they got rid of all the talented writers and began pursuing absurd story lines; I didn’t even finish the series… Any more mindless scenes like the one described above, and I’ll likely walk away from this one too.
Sagas go Through Three Basic Stages (a little like careers do):
Stage One: A Challenge
Stage Two: An Adventure
Stage Three: A Grind
So far, the first two episodes of “Season 8 of The Walking Dead” swing between motivational speeches and protracted scenes of ultra violence. It’s becoming a grind. This current season is at a pivotal node now. Perhaps, they should take a lesson from their own episodes, which successfully detoured from the main storyline, and fleshed out an important character–the outstanding “Episode 4 from Season Six: Here’s Not Here”, shines as a prime example of how to artfully execute this; “The Grove” is another. Or perhaps, they should take a lesson from “Breaking Bad”, which ended masterfully, poetically, and as it should have…
I find myself wishing that Shiva had taken out Negan at the climax of “Season 7”, and that we’d be moving on to a new story line now, or wrapping it up. Endings–at least proper endings–matter.
“The X-Files” serves as an example of an excellent series that ran too long. Here is one that should’ve ended with “Season 7”.
-RayB
I’ve been teetering on quality of the show since the end of season 6. Season 8 feels to me like the writers have simply given up on any semblance of plot aside from Rick being an ultimate survivor. I’m not sure I’ll be shelling out $45 to Amazon for Season 9 when it returns. I’ll likely just wait for it to hit Netflix or quit watching altogether.
– C. Kuhl
DVD Wholesale Main Features :
Format: PAL
Language: English
Region: Region 2
Number of discs: 6
Classification: 18
Studio: Entertainment One
DVD Release Date: 24 Sept. 2018
ASIN: B07DQ4VMY7
