The End Draws Near

"We made it. We can make it. We can. We're the ones who live." — Michonne, "The Walking Dead"

Those who frequent this blog know that I have, in the past, loved to dissect the deeper issues in "The Walking Dead" each week. Sure, it's a zombie show, and that can be fun. But for me, it was always so much more. At least until this season.

The season began with one of the most brutal scenes in the show's history, and much of the first eight episodes were a reaction to that. And I found myself disengaged in the narrative. But when the mid-season finale arrived, a funny kind of hope came with it.

But the road to redemption hasn't been an easy on for "The Walking Dead." Its seen its ratings drop to five year lows in the Spring as many have been turned off by the characters and the narrative. I've also been disappointed, though not yet to the point of leaving the show.

And now, with 15 episodes in the books and the finale looming large, it's fair to wonder if the show can bounce back.

I haven't loved all of the Spring, which has been slowly paced to the frustration of audiences at times. But the past few weeks have shown some light at the end of the tunnel. And we know now that some kind of epic climax is coming. Will it be satisfying? Will it wrap everything up? Now, it most certainly will not. But it should at least mark some kind of forward momentum for the series.

I don't need it to be perfect, but I would like to see the show go back to wrestling with some of the larger moral and social issues that go along with living in a world where society has been destroyed. That's what always drew me to the series, and it's where I hope it will go back to again.

But first, it's war. And on this show, that means casualties.