By Dante Spado
I love The Walking Dead (TWD). I can safely say it is the show that got me interested in screenwriting and really opened the door for my love of movies and tv shows in general. My friend Connor introduced me to it when we were in the eighth grade and at that point in time, two seasons of the show had already been made. I streamed the first two seasons on Netflix and caught up on the episodes I had missed of season three, which had already started airing.
In March, I was all caught up and ready to watch my first episode of TWD live. It was the episode Clear, one of the show’s best, which featured the return of Morgan Jones. It was the 12th episode of the third season, and from that point on, I watched EVERY episode live on Sunday nights.
That is, until last week.
TWD is now on its 10th and penultimate season. The season has been delayed and extended due to COVID complications and it will end up having 22 episodes, six more than usual. And I had to miss the season’s 19th episode because I had to pick my girlfriend, Emma, up from the airport.
This doesn’t sound like a big deal, and honestly, in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t. Emma had been away for three weeks, and her return flight to RDU landed at 8:20 PM. TWD starts at 9. By the time she landed, deboarded, got her bags and got to my car, it was nearing 9. Then, because she was traveling all day, we stopped for food on the way back to Chapel Hill, then continued our drive. By the time we got back from the airport it was well after 9, and I missed that week’s episode for the first time in my life.
The thing is, I knew well in advance that I’d miss the episode, and I made my peace with it. I can’t say the same would be true for the Dante of a few years ago. In high school I literally skipped a Bon Jovi concert to watch that week’s episode (and then my family got back BEFORE 9. Yes, I regret this decision). At that point in time, TWD was the most important thing in my life, all my friends watched it and it was still one of the hottest shows.
Things have changed since then. None of my friends watch the show anymore, not even Connor. The only person I talk about it with is my uncle, who typically just says it’s a waste of his time. The show has definitely changed. Rick, Michonne and Carl, three iconic characters, are no longer on it. It gets about 3 million viewers per episode, which isn’t anything to scoff at, but it pales in comparison to when the show averaged 12-15 million viewers per episode.
I have a lot of thoughts about how the show could have been better during seasons 7 and 8, the seasons when the show lost most of its following. But that’s neither here nor there. The point is, people have moved on, actors and viewers alike. I’ve held true for many years, and I will continue to watch until the show ends in 2022.
But this whole ordeal got me thinking that maybe this is some big metaphor for growing up and maturing. I’m a kid at heart, and I’m always going to love superheroes and zombies. But sometimes real-life things get in the way of that. Like picking your girlfriend up for the airport. And that’s okay.
In the end, nothing earth-shattering happened. I got Emma, and I waited a week to watch the episode when they replay the previous episode before the new one. Everything was okay. I did the responsible thing and still had my fun at a later time. Maybe that’s what being an adult is all about.
On a final note, yes, TWD has changed. If you watched the show, you probably stopped around the time Negan killed Glenn and Abraham. I understand that. The seasons after that were sloppy. But they really turned it around in seasons 9 and 10, and I can’t recommend trying out season 9 enough if you have the time. It’s a different show. It’s adapted and evolved, just like people do.