The ratings of the ninth season did not hit a new low, and the flight attendants turned into zombies on the live broadcast.
Any TV series that can run for the ninth year must have its own uniqueness.
Whether you have seen it or not, I believe you have heard the name of "The Walking Dead", which was launched in October 2010 and is the first "zombie" TV series in TV history.
In the most beautiful years of "The Walking Dead", it was not difficult for the ratings champion and 90% freshness on Rotten Tomatoes... But in 2018, the "King of American TV Dramas" has long disappeared.
The first episode of the ninth season compared with the first episode of the eighth season, which returned at the same time last year, the ratings dropped by nearly 50%, setting a record low since the show was launched.
What is the reason for this once-popular American drama to "cool down" to such a degree?
Some people say that zombies are used as foils, some people say that the survivors are lacking in new ideas, and some people say that the handling of plot characters is too hasty...
Taking the eighth season that ended in the first half of this year as an example, the audience criticized almost all the problems. The death of "Young Master" Carl was a very typical "sloppy".
The eighth season has an obvious theme, that is, "subversion". Many characters have made different words and deeds. In order to explain and improve the performance of the protagonist Rick, the screenwriter once again resorted to a big move, giving "future star" Carl to him. write to death...
In the finale, whether Rick killed the big boss Negan became a difficult choice.
Out of hatred and the need to end the war, Rick had to kill Negan and then quickly; but because of Carl's desire for peace and unity, Rick had to force himself to keep Negan's life (instead of being imprisoned), and eventually. There's the "My kindness outweighs my anger" scene.
However, Rick's overly ideal decision left a hidden danger for the instability within the team, especially Maggie, who had a feud with Negan for killing her husband.
The finale of this episode has only 7.9 million viewers, which is the lowest-rated season finale of "The Walking Dead" since its launch in 2010, and it is incomparable to the average of 14 million in previous years.
Contrary to the dwindling attention rate, the producer AMC TV network is full of confidence in the show, and its CEO Josh Spencer even declared not long ago: "The Walking Dead will constitute a TV universe, and we already have a new one. 10-year continuation plan."
To achieve this "ambition", the success or failure of the ninth season is crucial, so how is the quality of this season?
===== Serious spoiler warning =====
Season 9 has more innovations.
For example, replacing the title that has been used for several years, using a new style, type and theme of the picture.
In the new title, there are scenes of withered trees sprouting green shoots and wasteland growing bone flowers. Weapons and equipment such as knives, guns, motorcycles, etc. are engulfed and entangled by soil and vines, implying the situation of recuperation after the war, and peace and development have become new themes.
There is also a windmill in the title: in the plot, the windmill is a production tool that the survivors focus on building; in life, it symbolizes bravery, diligence, enterprising and loyalty.
But the different shapes of the windmill, coupled with the fact that it is in the same frame with the crows and the walking dead, seems to imply that the story of this season will not be too "smooth".
The ninth season of "The Walking Dead" has many ingenious little designs. For example, in the first episode, Gabriel hacked to death a walking corpse in front of the "History of Human Evolution" billboard, and happened to nail it to the last blank billboard.
Are the walking dead the next evolutionary form of humanity? What an interesting question.
Many people love "The Walking Dead" because of its brilliant "action scenes". Human beings encounter different crises in different environments, use different weapons to kill the walking dead, and the scenes of trick-or-treating make the audience endlessly entertained.
Season 9 certainly doesn't compare to its peak in this regard (such as the cleanup at the start of Season 3), but there are still some bright spots.
In the first episode, the protagonist and his party went to the "cottage" White House in Atlanta to search for supplies. When transporting production materials such as carriages and iron plows, they encountered the problem of "difficulty in traveling": they needed to pass the glass floor full of walking corpses underneath... Of course the glass was broken , almost took Ezekiel's life.
In the second episode, due to an accident in the "corpse-drawing plan", the corpse attacked the logging field. In order to save Aaron, Darryl had to fight with the walking corpse.
△ I have to say, "Brother Crossbow" is still so handsome when he takes out a pair of knives and opens a pair of unparalleled...
In this battle, there was also an unprecedented "range kill" walking corpse attack method: Rick interrupted the wooden rope, and used "rolling wood" to harvest the walking corpses that climbed up in batches, blocking the enemy and the enemy. The efficiency of killing enemies is greatly improved.
Facts have proved that no matter what era, there are only outdated tactical ideas and no outdated tactical experience~
In the fourth episode, Rick and Daryl, who were in conflict, accidentally fell into a deep pit. When the two people's awkwardness was almost resolved, gunshots were heard in the camp, which meant civil unrest and corpses attacked. While they struggled to climb out of the pothole, the walking corpses "passing by" also fell in...
Rick and Darryl not only have to fight against the environment in the pit, but also race against time. Coupled with a group of terrifying uninvited guests, this scene has a sense of urgency. The expected "magic stroke".
The biggest novelty of the ninth season is that Rick's small group becomes the center of the conflict.
In the past, except for a fight between good and evil that Rick had with Sean at the beginning, all the objects of the revolution were other survivors.
In the new season, Maggie on the bright side has become Rick and Maggie + Darryl.
They are all tasks that the audience loves, and they are all symbols of justice. No one has been blackened, and no one has made obvious mistakes. What should I do?
The ninth season still continued the struggle between the two leaders, Rick and Negan, but rose from the destruction of the body to the victory of the idea.
Rick wants to prove to Negan that "human nature is inherently good", that everyone united can create a new human civilization, and Carl's last wish can also be realized.
Negan firmly believes that "human nature is evil", and Rick will pay a huge price for his innocence sooner or later, and that will be the day when he will return to his place.
After the war, the complex and subtle relationships within the large-scale "community alliance" composed of Alexandria, Hilltop Village, Kingdom of God, Seaside Hotel, and Salvation Church, as well as the collision of different ideas and concepts.
Although the Alliance has dealt with the Salvation Army after the war, such as collecting firearms, supervising grain cultivation, stationing in Darryl for management, etc., but in fact, the Salvation Army can't be as powerful as before, and its life is not bad. Like a "captive", let alone a harsh trial.
The most obvious point is that the Salvation Church, with its barren land and lack of output, still has to rely on the mountain village, a large grain producer, to provide support, which makes the people in the mountain village full of complaints.
Rick hopes that everyone can work together to overcome difficulties regardless of each other - if the entire alliance is monolithic, then of course there is no problem... Unfortunately, the new community was temporarily formed by a group of people who had hatred, and it was reluctantly maintained by a few leaders such as Rick. Unity and fraternity are naturally difficult.
This fragile appearance of peace is shattered when Maggie hangs Gregory of the wolf's ambition.
Gregory has been delusional to take back the leadership of the mountaintop village, constantly inciting internal hostility, and hinting that Earl, who has just lost his son, will kill Maggie... Such a villain will die, but Maggie's decisive approach of "revenge" brings Here comes a chain reaction.
After the construction of the Alliance's collective bridge repairs began, the Salvation Army continued to disappear until Justin's body appeared, detonating the already tense atmosphere within the Alliance.
Rick's emphasis on "unity" is inherently the highest ideal. This slogan cannot wipe out the old hatred between the Salvation Army and other communities. Some people think of abusing lynching for revenge. Will sit dry.
When old grudges meet new grudges, it is like throwing flames into a powder keg, and it will explode at one point.
If it weren't for the fact that there are many people in the alliance who sincerely desire peace, and the timely suppression of leaders such as Rick, the chaos would have been big.
The initiator of this civil strife was the inconspicuous seaside hotel in the alliance. They were literally killed from a normal community into a "widow village", and they naturally had a bloody feud with the Salvation Army.
Cindy and others didn't take revenge originally because they felt that Rick's "one word" could not be shaken, and they had to accept the reality of living with the enemy day and night. But Maggie makes them understand that "Rick's rules aren't the only rules."
——The problem is that the former Salvation Army executioner, Arat, has reformed and helped to persuade him to fight during the day. She is one of the few people who sincerely compromises and wants to live a stable life.
But no matter how kind and kind-hearted people who have done evil become, in the eyes of those who harbor hatred, the other party will always have only a disgusting and ugly face...
The learning behind this incident is very deep: should there be a trial after the war? If there is no timely settlement, is it appropriate to wait until the situation stabilizes and then go to trial? For example, after the end of World War II, the Allied countries' rulings on the German-Japanese Axis Powers to varying degrees left behind different historical issues.
The Salvation Army discovered the truth about the murder of its companions, and would never sit still. With the name of "self-defense", it would be easier for a few thorns to lead the Salvation Army to counterattack.
In fact, if you only talk about the depiction of "human nature", "The Walking Dead" has always been the leader in American TV series, and the ninth season is not much better than the previous one.
This season, there is a conflicting focus on Ming's face: Rick's mobilizing the public to let everyone participate in the bridge repair, and around this project, it has triggered an undercurrent collision under the surface of the alliance.
Maggie begins to express her dissatisfaction with Rick in person. The policy of "preferential treatment of prisoners" no longer exists, and the Salvation Army must go to work.
Rick made a compromise in order to "create a new civilized society", and he hoped that through this project, everyone would understand that everyone was no longer just fighting for survival.
There was an accident during the construction process, and Aaron unfortunately lost his left arm, but he did not hold any resentment, because he firmly believed that Rick led everyone out of the "doomsday", and it was worth sacrificing for the "new world".
After being provoked by the lynching of the seaside hotel, Maggie is determined to carry out "late justice", and despite Jesus' expressed concern, Maggie continues to do her own thing.
This season, "Brother Crossbow" Darryl's changes are also very obvious.
On the one hand, he spared his enemy Dwight's life at the end of the last episode, and he didn't have a feud with T-DOG and Rick who "left brother Moore on the roof to die" in the first season. Lear has magnanimity in his heart, so he keeps on following good advice, hoping that his good brother can abandon his previous hatred and do his best to unite the alliance;
On the other hand, Daryl couldn't let Glenn and other companions die in vain. In the end, he fell to the vengeful Maggie's side and helped Maggie to delay Rick.
The two spoke their words in the deep pit. These questions are actually the focus of "The Walking Dead" that is most worthy of repeated consideration: Should you take revenge on Negan? Should the Salvation Army be benevolent or prestige?
Knowing that his comrades resented so much, and acted on it, Rick had a sense of urgency and frustration that he had lost all his achievements - Negan was a martyr when he died now, and the previous battles were fought in vain, and Carl died in vain.
Darryl's response to Rick's words, I think is the "highlight moment" of season 9: I'll die for you and Carl...but you're chasing the unattainable for Carl, you have to let go of Carl, let it go .
In fact, Rick was very reluctant to be generous to Negan and the Salvation Army. He wanted to exterminate them all, and he also understood that it was extremely difficult for everyone to let go of their prejudices and unite... But Rick still forced himself to do this, just Because he didn't want Carl's last wish to fail.
Although the two brothers talked about their quarrel with each other, the episode did not change Rick's mind - he was willing to risk his life rather than destroy the bridge when the corpse attacked.
The bridge is not only a channel connecting various communities, but also a symbol that connects the heartstrings of everyone in the alliance after the war... For Rick, the bridge is a hope, and it is also a proof of the realization of Carl's promise.
In addition to this main line, the ninth season has added several interesting side lines, such as the confusion and distress of "Knife Girl": She can't forget the enrichment brought by killing, but she is afraid that she will Get lost in the thrill and become another Negan.
Knives, bats, or Negan's bewitching words are actually the devils who seduce the knife girl to "enjoy the end of the world". Whether she can resist sinking depends on whether she will alert herself enough.
Negan, who has been imprisoned so far, is by no means as calm as he looks. He started to go on hunger strike, demanded dialogue, and used some sophistication to shake and confuse the knife girl, hoping that she could bring Lucille to him... Visible The most powerful hero will also have a deadly hole.
However, these "displays of human nature" also have different understandings in the eyes of different audiences, and some people will think that this is the performance of "The Walking Dead" being too chatty, lacking in dry goods, and the lack of logic in the behavior of the characters.
"The Walking Dead" will encounter "embarrassment" for nearly two years. The biggest reason is the lack of innovation in the series and the audience's aesthetic fatigue, especially the struggle and choice of human nature in the apocalypse. It has already reached a certain extreme in the middle and early stages, and it cannot be jumped out in the later stage. This framework will naturally generate "downward pressure".
In fact, until the end of the sixth season, the ratings of "The Walking Dead" can still stand out from the crowd, and the word of mouth is also dominated by praise.
The opening of the seventh season was a major "inflection point". Negan murdered Abraham and Glenn. This plot arrangement was too rough, which triggered the existing problems of the show in advance, compressing its stable and excessive space, which led to "The Walking Dead" "The seventh and eighth seasons suffered a cliff-like decline in word-of-mouth ratings.
Judging from the episodes currently broadcast, the quality of the ninth season is higher than that of the eighth season, but this does not change the trend of the show's continued decline in attention.
To make matters worse, the soul character Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the popular character Maggie (Lauren Cohan), who have grown up with The Walking Dead along the way, will also leave one after another.
In the recent fifth episode, Rick Grimes finally said goodbye.
Although, it is a relatively acceptable way.
If nothing else, the ratings of "The Walking Dead" will only drop, not rise...
AMC has made such a drastic change, obviously to strive for "break and stand up" and achieve Nirvana rebirth.
Killing Glenn in season seven, and killing Carl in season eight, has proven to be killing ratings. With Rick's departure, it's hard to imagine a revival in The Walking Dead ratings.
Of course, the success of The Walking Dead universe is another matter, and that's the real unknown.
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This article was first published on the public account Jiakong (ID: jiakong2017), this is the world of science fiction, fantasy and horror, welcome to pay attention.
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