The Walking Dead Talk Through

Hosted ByBrian Meloche & Kyle McAdams & Laurence Todd

The Walking Dead Talk Through is an episode by episode discussion about all of the TV shows and movies within The Walking Dead Universe, based on the hit shows by AMC. In each episode, we talk about the character arcs and their interactions with other characters, the plot, and action of the episode, and make predictions on what will happen. Our listeners are very important to us, and your feedback is an essential part of this podcast. Hosts Brian Meloche, Kyle McAdams, and Laurence Todd want to thank you for listening!

TWDTT 083 – A New Beginning (S9E1)

The Walking Dead Talk Through
The Walking Dead Talk Through
TWDTT 083 - A New Beginning (S9E1)
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Talking Through A New Beginning!

On this episode 83 of The Walking Dead Talk Through, Mark and I talk through The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 1, the season premiere, which is titled A New Beginning. It was written by executive producer/showrunner Angela Kang and directed by executive producer Greg Nicotero. Mark loved it, and I liked it a lot. I didn’t have any major problems with it, except that it was a bit long and felt like a setup episode. It reminded me a lot of the Season 4 premiere, 30 Days Without an Accident. That said, I enjoyed this episode a lot more than most of what we had on Fear.

What will we do without Gregory? RHETORICAL, OK???

We see Gregory at his most despicable, bringing booze to an alcoholic at his lowest point, and conspiring to kill Maggie, while she is with baby Hershel, then attempt to kill her with a knife. I understand why Maggie executed Gregory, but she pulled a page from Negan by doing it, providing no due process, circumventing the democracy she was just elected to rule.

Ratings are way down…

As you can see from these rating and viewer charts, created by me, you’ll see that the ratings and viewers are the worst since Season 1. Is it that people are leaving the show in droves, or are there other factors in play? Yes, viewers may not be returning, but there are several other reasons for a ratings decline. One is that AMC Premiere made the episode available a day early for subscribers of the service. Another is that it premiered a couple of weeks earlier than the last few seasons, so some may not have realized that the show was back. Another is that this trend is not isolated to The Walking Dead. Ratings are down, across the board. I do wonder if viewers will return with news of Andrew Lincoln’s departure.

The Walking Dead Live + Same Day Ratings (18-49)

The Walking Dead Live + Same Day Total Viewers

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One point I want to clarify…

One of my weak sauces was how Tammy Rose shifting blame from Maggie. It felt like the writers were grinding the gears a bit, forcing that conversation to tell the story. I said that my reaction to that was to say “OK…” That might have sounded dismissive, or worse – sexist – but Tammy Rose’s reaction to Maggie is completely understandable. I also buy her sentiment about the Saviors. It was the putting of those two things together that felt forced, not emotions that I didn’t buy or the delivery. Connecting them together felt forced to me. If Earl had said the same things, I’d have the same reaction.

Get in your feedback!

Please leave your feedback for The Walking Dead, Season 9 Episode 2, titled “The Bridge“, by 6 PM Eastern/5 PM Central on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. The best way to submit feedback is on our Facebook group.

Other Fun Stuff Completely Unrelated to A New Beginning!

If you want to help pay for the editing of this and other podcasts, I mentioned a while back that you can donate credits to my Auphonic account, which I use to make these episodes sound so good! That link is https://auphonic.com/donate_credits?user=bmeloche. Please remember to subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts. Subscribing to us helps us move up in the rankings, so it’ll help us out tremendously! You’ll also get new episodes when they’re released. And while you’re in there, leave us a rating or review! It only takes a few minutes and it helps others to find us!

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