I don't review The Walking Dead as a whole series anymore and I chose not to review individual episodes however I thought I'd give my thoughts on season 5 by listing the good and bad points of it. SPOILERS.
Good
The Hunters: Now these where portrayed well in the TV series and their backstory was even improved upon and they lasted a whole lot longer than in the comics. The individual hunters where fleshed out a lot more, we had an awesome season premiere of Rick's group escaping their camp and we got some really gruesome cannibalism scenes from them later.
Father Gabriel: A character who like the Hunters was portrayed really well in the TV series because they barely changed his character and backstory. In my opinion when you want to change a character from source material to live action it only works with minor characters for example giving them more of a backstory. It worked with the Hunters and even the group Daryl was with for a bit in season 4 but it doesn't work with main characters; Andrea and the Governor for example. Andrea I just hated and found annoying (plus she was completely miscast) and while I really liked the Governor and David Morrissey they took away a lot of the sick and violent stuff he did in the comics.
Abraham's group/Flashback episode: Another example of characters portrayed well in live action and probably the best ones as well because they really look like their characters. One of my favourite episodes this season was when it focused on Abraham's group and his flashback. I am grateful to this episode too because it gave us a break from that so boring police arc.
The Alexandria Safe Zone: A part from a few changes that annoy me (the biggest one mentioned below) the safe zone really looks great. We also have quite a few major characters introduced from the comics who live in the safe zone like Aaron, Jessie and Pete. It seems to be sticking close to the source material and even when it hasn't it has still been entertaining such as when Glenn, Eugene and the others went to find parts for the solar grid.
Bad
The episodes with the Beth and the police: This just had to be in the bad list because it was just so damn boring! Probably the worst episodes of all in the whole series and it just wasted so much time. For starters I have never liked Beth's character; I never got why they downside Hershel's family and then replace Billy from the comics with another daughter. Next that woman who was in charge of the police (can't be bothered to remember her name) was just such a bad character, I mean they don't even make it clear if she is good or a villain. All the cops hate her, she lets them do all they want with patients, she imprisons Beth and Noah yet wastes so much time explaining her side of everything. To make matters worse they didn't even have a big shoot out between the two group; the policewoman and Beth just both did something stupid and got themselves killed.
Killing off Bob, Tyresse and Noah: What started off as a joke on the internet has become true in my opinion; the always seem to kill off the black guy. They built Bob up to be such a good character that it was such a shame that they used him to replace Dale's death in the series. I know Tyresse dies at the prison in the comics so they had to kill him sooner or later but I feel like they could have done a lot more with him and let him reach the safe zone. Then there was Noah who I felt they didn't even need to kill off despite it being a really cool and gruesome death scene. I just can't get why these great characters had to die when such an annoying bitch like Sasha is still around and I'll get to her now.
Sasha: Now this is one annoying bitch who I wish they wold just kill off already! I know she is a bit of a replacement for Andrea and is even taking over some of Micchone's comic scenes in the Alexandria Safe Zone but I think it hasn't worked. She just whines and complains about everything and I just find her rages when she attacks zombies to just be so bloody stupid. I just don't get the point of her character at this point because she just seems to hate everyone and everything and she outcasts herself too bloody much.
Replacing Paul Monroe with Deanna: Now this is something that really bothers me; in the comics the leader of the safe zone is an ex- politician named Paul Monroe. He is a really good character in my opinion and brings a great backstory about the safe zone where he was forced to exile it's founder and friend Davidson. However we don't get that in the TV series instead he is replaced for no apparent reason at all by Deanna who is just such a poor substitute. Her recording all her meetings is just pointless and I just find her to be really unlikeable, weak and incredibly stupid; she just doesn't feel like she could be a leader of a community.
No weather changes: This is actually for all seasons but I am really annoyed that it is always summer in the Walking Dead when they have to battle all seasons, like the winter, in the comics.
The Finale: The parts with Morgan, Daryl and Aaron where good as well as the ending with Pete but besides that it was such a disappointment for a feature length episode. I just hate everything Sasha does such as lying with those walkers to her confrontation with Gabriel; are they trying to make us feel sorry for her because it is not working, they have just created an incredibly annoying character. What I also hated was that they didn't kill Deanna off and now we have to suffer with her in season 6 now; why did they have to make her husband be the one killed by Pete? I just don't get why they had to replace Paul with her! It just didn't feel like a finale to me because it didn't feel like anything major happened, plus we didn't even get a major character death or even that Nicholas who so deserves it.
There you have it just a few good and bad moments that really stood out for me this season. I really do like The Walking Dead but my biggest problem is that it changes too much from the comics and when it creates it's own original material it is usually boring. Here is a few examples from each season after one (that season only had six episodes anyway):
Season Two: The entire season set in Hershel's farm, spending ages discussing whether or not to kill their captive, Andrea and that zombie in the well.
Season Three: Andrea being with the Governor because she basically does nothing and this replaces the awesome arc in the comics when Rick is captured by the Governor, introducing Tyresse now when it should have been in last season and cutting out a lot of the violent things the Governor does.
Season Four: The sickness lasts a bit too long, baby Judith surviving the Governor's attack when in the comics her death haunts Rick and Carl for ages, the group splitting up was dragged on for too long and felt like filler.
Despite these examples I still really like The Walking Dead TV series but there are a lot of characters and events I want to see from the comics, Negan and Jesus for example (no spoilers but those who have read the comics will know what I am talking about!)
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