I cant see Negan without seeing a guy I used to work with. Bad puns, lame jokes, a need to be heard out of pent up insecurities. The guy comes off as zero threat so someone explain to me what I am missing here? Rick not taking him out in the RV has me stumped. Seems he could have simply took him out with a hatchet to the noggin, herded that hoard of walkers back to the location and caused enough chaos to turn the tides. Just not a very characteristic thing for him to do after becoming Shane.
The show admittedly lost me long ago and sealed its fate to DVR during the horrid Beth hospital era. But really, this is the super villain? At least his side has a stellar dental plan, a steady hairdresser and custom tailoring.
See, this I just don't get. I suppose it sort of makes sense, that you said you had lost your love for the show earlier, and therefore you arent invested/empathetic with Ricks character, but what I saw was emotionally devastating for the characters I empathise with.
He has just witnessed one of his family brutally, brutally bludgeoned to death. It didn't break him entirely, but it absolutely humbled him - and he was angry, but he wasn't broken. Two more stages were required to break him - control him, by having a trip with him where Negan forces Rick to understand the new status quo - the axe is Negans, and then show him who is God now - the axe to the hand. He does attempt to kill Negan, but Negan already knows as soon as he moves, that he has an assault rifle and quick reflexes. The fact that Rick tries to kill him is exact proof that Negan needs that Rick hasn't learnt his lesson yet - and thus is the catalyst for Glenns death. This still almost wasnt enough (Rick is THAT strong) and thus the axe and Carl. We are shown that what you just suggested wasn't possible.
It was a great deconstruction of Ricks character in a short space of time and quite believable.
For a majority of complaints, I think equating an entire production team working on TWD with the simple idea that they are only doing the show now for shock moments is extremely harsh on the crew, writers etc. They don't consistently tell amazing stories, I won't argue that at all - like all shows, they have weak runs, weak episodes and such. But this is a show about a group trying to survive in a world where nothing is ever going to get better, from the characters perspective. Why on earth would people watch this to see the happy endings? This show explores the dark side of humanity, and the light side is how true our characters can stay to themselves while surviving. It's compelling stuff I think. Certainly not oscar worthy, but it's good. These shock moments, or complaining that there is a formula...that's storytelling! All stories have an act structure, all TV shows have cliffhangers etc. If they hadn't built the characters up in the first place, people wouldnt be tuning in to find out their fates. They are "cashing in" on investment they created within the show over several seasons. It might not always be perfectly tasteful, but for the most part I'd say it aligns with the story they tell.
I do wonder how many that complain about the gratuitous Lucille violence complained about the same scene in the comic book. Probably not many I'd wager.
