Tag: Danai Gurira

Series Review: The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (AMC)

By: Jesse Striewski

Not since Andrew Lincoln departed the original Walking Dead series after its ninth season have I seen a show (and entire franchise) take such a steep downhill dive and overall decline in quality. But after disappointing conclusions and over-saturating the material with far too many spin-offs (all with varying results), the character of Rick Grimes (Lincoln) is resurrected and finally given his just due.

In the fist episode we learn that Rick, presumed dead after a helicopter crash in said original series, is alive and well (?) and part of the CRM, a military operation on the outskirts of Philadelphia focused on rebuilding society at a hefty cost. Rick is anything but free though as several attempts to escape back to his old life have proved unsuccessful.

Meanwhile Michonne (Danai Gurira) has been searching for her long lost love (Rick) and is shocked to find how submissive he has become once finally reunited. Meanwhile Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh), another leftover “bad guy” from the original show, holds their secret over their heads and threatens harm upon their family.

The initial reunion between the two characters, and – without giving too much of it away – the conclusion of the final episode are both some of the most gratifying moments of the show, albeit a tad on the cliche and predictable side. Nonetheless, the ending here is far closer to what fans of the very first show since 2010 had deserved over what was actually dished out on that series finale.

Rating: 3/5 Stars

Series Review: The Walking Dead Season 10 (AMC)

Never before have I seen a series take such a steep decline in terms of writing and content as I have The Walking Dead. What once started off as such a juggernaut, has been dying a slow, painful death for a good four or five seasons now, with Season 10 being the most embarrassing one yet.

Originally airing from October of 2019 to April of 2020, the season dragged on thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t pick back up until February of this year (with one single forgettable episode airing in the meantime in October of 2020). But no matter when they aired, the majority of the episodes remained as uninteresting as the last one.

When the season first picked back up, the heroes were still in the midst of conflict with “The Whispers,” the most bland and boring group of villains to fill the small screen since the original Scooby-Doo series back in the ’60s (and equally as laughable). Samantha Morton and Ryan Hurst lead said group of “bad guys” as Alpha and Beta, respectively, and were (thankfully) both killed off early on with little to no shock effect at all.

The show has become so overly muddled with various new characters (Princess and the “masked soldiers” come to mind) and settings, it’s become nearly impossible to keep track of (or even care to) what’s even going on. The only saving grace in recent memory were two individual episodes; one involving Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) and Aaron (Ross Marquand) encountering an unstable drifter (played brilliantly by Robert Patrick) while on a supply run, and Negan’s (Jeffery Dean Morgan) backstory episode last night (though unfortunately, even the latter took away some of the mystic of the character by making him into a former gym teacher. Yes, a GYM TEACHER!).

I remember watching the show the night it originally premiered (October 31, 2010) after taking my son out for a night of trick-or-treating. I instantly related with characters like Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), and fell in love with the dramatic tension of the pace and writing. Since then, the show has become unrecognizable, and downright atrocious, with cast members coming and going (Danai Gurira, a.k.a. “Michonne,” is the latest to leave after this season). But thankfully, the show will finally be put out of it’s own misery after season eleven (with of course even more spin-offs than the ones already going, which both have more or less surpassed their source material at this point). If you’ve never watched an episode of The Walking Dead in your life, do yourself a favor, and do not start with a later season like this. Hell, even if you do start from the beginning, don’t waste your time, and just skip the last few pitiful seasons altogether (I certainly wish I had).

Rating: 1.5/5 Stars