I think all of the above is for reminding the audience of the brutality of the environment. As people have said there can be episodes with very little action, it serves to remind us (and the characters) that even though things are quiet you can't take your eye off the ball. Living in that world requires constant vigilance.
Yes, but any death would serve that purpose. My point is that the show goes to lengths to demonstrate just how really gory and brutal the death is, and it passes a point where the show is reminding us of how cruel the world is, and trends into just reveling in the gore for its own sake or purely to shock.
So it does serve a purpose. Also to show why Rick gets broken down. It puts us side by side with the character feeling the helplessness and futility of his predicament.
I haven't claimed otherwise with respect to the Negan kills. They serve a purpose. The thing is, at least from what I read, the whole "Let's go get an axe" thing is a perfect example of the show padding out a story to fill running time. It's completely extraneous. The comic doesn't do it at all. Negan kills Glenn, Rick is pissed, and yet he knows he has to back down in the moment. Time to move on. The story doesn't require a 10-15 min side journey complete with a fight vs. walkers to get the point across. It's just a sequence for the sake of filling time.
Yeah, but what you gonna do? Have them build characters over multiple seasons and then die, people would be complaining that there was not enough danger to the protagonists, that it was too easy for them. Or you going to full red shirt? Its a fine line to tread. I think they do an OK job with it. It probably could it better. But 2nd tier characters getting offed and the occasional big death is appropriate to the story and universe
You know what show handles this issue admirably? Game of Thrones. People die in that story, but it usually happens in a pretty fitting way. Stuff goes over the top, but again, it actually usually fits in context. GoT even knows how to handle implied gore. Think about the Mountain's duel where he crushes a dude's head with his hands. It's INCREDIBLY brutal, and yet...you actually don't
see the head crush. Everyone
thinks they did, but they didn't. They saw the guy's eyes start to bleed, then they cut back to the Mountain squeezing, we
hear the skull shatter, blood spatters on the Mountain's face, everyone screams, and
then they cut back to the aftermath. Which is still bloody and awful, but the key difference is the camera doesn't linger on the skull crushing....because it doesn't
need to. It's a sequence that plays out mostly on the faces of the observers, because their reactions are what really matter, not the killshot itself. Compare that to most of the kills on TWD, and you'll see that it's quite different. TWD indulges in the gore. It puts you up close and personal with it. And it does so in a way that, often, is just about "Look at the gore! Isn't it INTENSE??!?!?" rather than about telling the story.
Sounds boring. They need antagonists of some kind otherwise it would become AMC presents Kevin Smith's The Walking Dead.
So, here's the thing.
TWD when it started was a smarter, better show than your average horror film. Its characters were more believable and better written, the situations were less insane, and the show seemed to have its "moments" as a result not of some big action sequence or flashy death, but because of the cost of living in this world in a way that was just as often understated. People died all the time, often brutally and cruelly, but their deaths weren't showcased the way some have on the show. And it all got the point across that the world was dangerous and forever changed just fine. Moreover, the relentlessness of the death got that point across as all manner of characters would die.
In your average horror film, usually the point of the film is the flashy kills. The films are mostly vehicles to string together a thin narrative to showcase exploitative showy death.
AND THAT'S FINE, because horror films of that sort rarely pretend to be anything else. You go into a slasher flick knowing exactly what to expect, and you usually get it. Some masked, silent psycho (possibly themed around a holiday?) will slaughter horny, drug-and-booze-indulging teens in a variety of creative ways that occasionally may even border on humorous. That's the point. That's why you watch 'em.
TWD started as something that wasn't just about guessing who's gonna die this week, and showcasing flashy kills and such. Over time, though, it's morphed into...well...what it is. I think it's a shame that we've lost the smarter, less self-indulgent show. But I also think that if that version of the show is gone, then the one in its place should stop pretending as if it's some deeper meditation on human nature or whatever, and ditch the supposed character-focused episodes, focusing instead on action-packed post-apocalyptic zombie thrills. I'd be fine with that. But let's not pretend that the show is something else, something thoughtful. It's not. Not anymore. And if that's the case, then let's ditch the meanderings and put in more straight-up action. If the show's not gonna take itself seriously, at least focus more on the thrills and quit slowing everything down with the "And now TWD's rendition of Lord of the Rings: More Walking."