8 Reasons The Walking Dead Has Lost Its Way This Season

Not surprisingly, The Walking Dead has dealt with all kinds of death, hardship, and generally despicable acts through the first half of this, its seventh season.

Yet much of that action has failed to resonate with fans. Sure, major characters have been killed off, new ones introduced, and new storylines set up, but none of it has hit home. That's something that has led to a ratings down slide, and a fair amount of nervousness from the network behind the show, AMC. Yes, it's still the top-rated genre show on the air, but after years of nitpicking by fans and inconsistent quality, The Walking Dead may finally be on the decline.

Just how did cable TV's biggest success story lose its way? That's a good question. Detractors (and there have been many) of the show have been calling it out since Frank Darabount left the production early on, but this season - far from the show's worst, if we're being honest - things have reached a boiling point. Fans are finally rolling their eyes, giving up, and walking away. Viewers who tuned in just to nitpick episodes have given up. It doesn't look good for Rick and his fellow survivors, and that has nothing to do with walkers.

So, lets take a look at eight reasons The Walking Dead has lost its way this season and see if we can pinpoint exactly what went wrong.

It all went down hill when what's her name was shot - and no one even seemed to care.

You know the death we're talking about. Olivia (and full disclosure, she had so little impact on the show that some Google-Fu was required to even remember her name). Rosita lies to Negan about who crafted the home made bullet that nearly offed him, he turns around and has one of his lackies shoot someone randomly.

Of course, it was someone whose name fans could barely remember. As usual, predicted by the fact that of late, Olivia had slightly more to do on the show. Like make lemonade. That's usually a sign that a minor character is checking out soon. More to do, not pouring water in drink mix.

Thing is, Olivia's impact was so minimal even her fellow Alexandria survivors couldn't muster up much of a reaction. Sure, Tara may shed a tear in some future episode but there were no cries of "oh, Olivia! Why?!?" or anything more than a few shocked faces.

Therein lies the problem. Death on The Walking Dead is so commonplace that in a post-Glenn world, very little really shocks us, especially when the show reverts to killing off characters no one was all that attached to in the first place.