Jumping The Shark 10 Times The Walking Dead TV Series Took Things Too Far
Jumping The Shark: 10 Times The Walking Dead TV Series Took Things Too Far
The Walking Dead has been one of TV’s most successful shows for years, but what jump the shark moments made it seem like the series needed to end?
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When it comes to television, “jumping the shark” is a term coined to describe that pivotal moment when a long-running series has gone too far and has officially lost its appeal. Its origin comes from the scene in Happy Days when Fonzie literally jumped over a shark while on water skis, because the scene was over-the-top, had nothing to do with the show, and made no sense. And that’s the moment when fans felt the series had run its course.
For more intense shows like The Walking Dead, the moments that fans might consider defining “jumping the shark” are far less comedic. Rather, they’re often savage and brutal. True, the series remains popular among its loyal legion of fans, and some have even suggested that, while there was a lull for a time, The Walking Dead has returned to its original state of appeal. But others believe the show has long ago jumped the shark.
Nonetheless, there have been a few moments through the show’s long run thus far that had fans worried that the tone would change and it would no longer be watchable.
10 Carol Executing Lizzie
It was one of the most emotional scenes of the series and had fans questioning whether what they just saw even happened. Yes, Lizzie posed a serious danger to not just those around her, but to baby Judith. She had already proved how dangerous by killing her own little sister.
When it really comes down to it, given the circumstances and the world they were living in, many believe that Carol did the right thing. With that said, writing the execution of a child into a story (the death itself wasn’t actually shown), on a primetime TV series no less, was too much for some to stomach.
9 Carl Killing His Mother
Seeing a mother have to make the brutal choice between saving her own life or that of her unborn child was heart-wrenching enough. But then having her 12-year-old son be the one to bravely kill Lori before she reanimated into a zombie was, well, a lot.
The scene wasn’t as tough for viewers that came later. This one was early on in the third season of the show when the tone was still forming. It was also an important moment that demonstrated how Carl had become hardened in this new world. Still, Maggie could just have easily done the deed instead and left Carl to be the innocent, moral center of the group.
8 Rick Biting Off Joe’s Neck
The message “don’t mess with Rick” is loud and clear through the series. And while he appears unhinged at times, he never seemed totally unstable to the point that his group might worry he could harm one of them, or even himself. That is, until he literally bit a man’s neck off, pulling his flesh with his teeth like it was a chicken breast (indeed, that’s what was used to simulate the scene).
While the series never shied away from gory moments full of blood and guts, and seemed to test the waters with some particularly gory scenes, that one took the cake.
7 Rick Killing Gareth
The series took Rick to a much darker place than at least some fans wanted him to be in when he brutally and savagely killed Gareth, in a church, no less. He started by shooting off two of his fingers, and even after several of the Terminus men were killed and Gareth put his arms up in surrender, Rick didn’t stop.
He hacked him to death, literally, using a machete. He had to deliver on an earlier, promise, after all. But did Rick need to go to that dark place? Some viewers felt it shifted the tone away from him and his group as the “good guys” who might kill in brutal fashions, but only when absolutely necessary.
6 Noah’s Death
One of the saddest death scenes of a main character on the show was Noah, whose life was cut short. He was killed in a way that was purely for cheap shock value. Stuck in a revolving door that Nicholas stopped from moving, despite Glenn’s desperate attempts to save Noah, he was literally eaten alive.
Glenn looked on, screaming in horror as Noah’s face was torn apart, piece by piece, by attacking walkers.
5 The Abraham And Glenn Death Scene
If there’s one single defining moment from the series that most fans would say represents the time it “jumped the shark,” it would be the Abraham and Glenn death scenes. There was so much build up to the pivotal episode and a cliffhanger ending followed by teaser after teaser until the critical episode.
The scene, which involved Negan bashing both men’s heads in, was considered to be too graphic by many. But the deal was sealed when Glenn’s eyes popped out of his head in gruesome fashion as he mumbled something to his soon-to-be-widowed wife Maggie. There were legions of fans who declared they were done with the show after that episode.
4 Cannibalism at Terminus
Terminus, the group that initially appeared to be a welcoming community that had re-established some semblance of normal life within protected walls, was a focal point for one season. It turns out this was only partly true. The part that Rick’s group discovered once arriving? They were actually cannibals, taking in new people only to and cook and eat them.
It totally makes sense that people would resort to this in an apocalyptic world where food was scarce. Nonetheless, the scene from Terminus (one of the worst communities featured on the series) where the bodies were lined up, heads over a trough waiting for their necks to be slit, was horrific.
3 Gratuitous Kills
Some kills are designed to be epic and make fans cringe in horror. Yet viewers can also appreciate the work that went into them. But others are just plain gratuitous. A perfect example is Spencer, who was a pretty major character on the show.
It seemed either that the show felt there was no more story for him or they had lost their knack for impressive kills. It was just about the element of surprise and gratuitous violence, especially in an effort to paint Negan as a truly evil and formidable foe. Spencer, of course, was killed by Negan during an outdoor pool game, where he plunged a knife into his stomach and grossly disemboweled him. Spencer fell to the ground, his intestines in hand, as many Alexandrians looked on in horror.
2 Sasha’s Suicide
Sasha was a fan favorite character, and after being held captive for so long and being treated so badly, fans wanted to see her emerge victorious. She did, in one way, sacrificing herself for the good of the group in the episode that ended season seven. But she did so by turning herself into a walker weapon.
The fact that Sasha had reached such a defeated mental state that she decided to end her life was not with the tone of the show up to that point. She should have found another way and fought to survive, which is what the show had been all about.
1 The Head Posts
The series took a brutal turn with Alpha as the new villain. She didn’t hold back and if they thought Negan was bad, she made his work look like child’s play. Evil and violent, even before the apocalypse, she didn’t just kill, but she made sure every kill sent a message.
When she captured many of the group, Alpha not only decapitated several of them, including teenagers, she also made Siddiq look on so he could report back. Then, she mounted the reanimated heads onto sticks like lollipops to mark her territory. Did the scene go too far? While it was in line with the typical tone of the show, it was an exceptionally graphic vision, especially when teenagers were included among the pack.
Link Source : https://screenrant.com/jumping-the-shark-times-walking-dead-went-too-far-made-bad-choices-twists/
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