Huffy Flounce

The warning before this episode only said "Some scenes of violence" rather than "Strong violence and upsetting scenes from the outset"

Must mean it's a plot building one!

It's been pretty calm since the winter break, except for that poor doctor.

What, no love for Benjamin and Richard?

Who? They go through characters so fast on this show I can't keep them straight.

Oh, those guys. Well, it wasn't that brutal, I meant. They were shot/strangled, whoopty do. Not the level of the season opener.

So will they really do the Saviours v everyone battle and off Negan? Or will it drag out past the end of the season?

Watching the finale now. Well..... shit!!!

Pretty good season ended, a couple of surprises while setting up an all-out war for next season. And JDM keeps nailing it as Negan--you want to see him pay but he's so fun to watch!

So... Are any of you still watching? I'm still following the show, but damn it, it's getting more difficult to keep up the motivation. There are still good episodes here and there, but they also miss as much as they hit.

One thing that's been annoying me this season is how dumb the characters are sometimes. Rick just walks into the scavenger colony and expects them to switch sides even though they proved unreliable in the past - and gets locked up by them, of course. Way to go, Einstein. Daryl and Tara decide to hit Sanctuary despite Rick's explicit objections to this plan (and a different course of action previously agreed upon by all parties), which leads to the Saviors getting themselves out of the siege. Good job, dumbasses! Carl takes on a group of walkers to help "free their souls" in a situation when avoidance would be the clear better choice, and he gets bitten as a result. Bravo, chump!

I swear, some of this is painful to watch.

It’s had a good run, but it’s quality is on such a downward trajectory now that it’s time for it to stop.

I'm a few episodes into season 8 and I gotta say... why am I still watching this show? Im not saying it's jumped the shark but it is getting a bit ridiculous. Do they ever run out of ammo? Damn, Shiva just got eaten. Yes, I'm writing this while watching. King Ezekiel is understandably upset as am I. I'll keep watching. They keep saying "Rick's final season", why not just end it? Make it THE final season.

I think you misunderstood something: Season 9 will be Rick's final season. From some of the brief previews I read, it sounds as if the show is taking a new direction after the events of Season 8.

No I get that season 9 will be his last season. I just think the show has run its course and season 9 should just be the end of it. Why have a season 10?

I guess the show runners are probably thinking that the WD universe is bigger than Rick and his group. To some extent, they've been proven right by the relative success of Fear the Walking Dead. They'll probably try to wrap up the Rick storyline this season and then launch a new "saga" in Season 10. If they have new stories to tell, the show can continue to get solid viewership.

The Season 9 premiere was pretty strong, I thought, compared to the stuff we got last season. Some of the central characters actually felt relevant again (*cough*Daryl*cough*) and the death of a recurring character had some actual meaning for the plot and wasn't just played for shock value.

I did read that there was a massive drop-off in Nielsen-reported viewership, even compared to the numbers the show was getting last season (which were already low compared to what the show was getting in it's prime, around Season 5). However, it still got something like 6.7 million viewers, and that's pretty solid for a show on cable - and it's not even counting all the people who watched it online. So I think if the show can continue to score numbers like that after Season 9, that's enough reason for the network to keep it around.