Janey Tracey on Beth’s Death in “Coda” (via blondietvjunkie)

#seriously character development is THE reason to watch tv shows#and one of the main things that makes them different than movies#you go on a completely different journey#and i agree on twd they don’t seem to value it#all characters become incredibly complex#as they’re about to die#otherwise they’re stagnant (via mademoiselleviola)

This is why I generally feel so disconnected from this show even though I’ve watched it since the beginning and I’m relatively attached to some of the characters. Every episode feels just like a countdown to the next death. It’s beyond clear that the zombies at this point are just kinda… hanging around for the occasional 5 minutes of suspence (they’re not even scary anymore, they’re just gross) so it’s not for the zombies per se that the fans are watching. And for what, then? Sure, for the show’s portrayal of a hopeless, desperate humanity and the dynamics that happen when the only point of existence becomes survival. Interesting, sure, but all of this becomes an exercise in futility when you don’t focus on character evolution except to use it as a plot device to make a death more shocking. I have to say, I feel indifferent about most of the character interactions I’ve witnessed so far. Beth herself had been stagnating for a lot of time, a background character that the writers never truly cared to explore, until they decided to plan her death. Same happened with Andrea, whom the writers gave an excellent arc, but only as a swan song. Rick hasn’t evolved that much since Lori’s death (and by the way, it seems this show only knows one catalyst for character evolution, the death of a beloved one). Survival dynamics get old very quickly if you don’t give the viewers some kind of overarching trajectory, and since in this case it can’t be the plot (as there is no plot, actually. The only plot is stay alive), then it must be the characters, their development, the interactions between them. They need to create chemistry, interesting dynamics, and it’s not like they can’t do it, they can, but they only do for one episode and then forget about it.