After a hiatus of more than two months, one of televisions biggest hits returned to near-combustible levels of anticipation, even daring to go toe-to-toe with The Grammy Awards in the battle for ratings. The Walking Deads mid-season premiere came on the heels of the death of the beloved Beth, one of the last vestiges of innocence and purity in a world devoid of colour and hope. The key question coming into this episode was how her death would affect the remaining survivors, particularly her sister Maggie, and Daryl, with whom shed developed a close bond. There actually wasn't much of an answer at all; instead What Happened And Whats Going On dealt with only a small handful of characters rather than the surviving group as a whole, focusing on Rick, Michonne, Glenn and Tyreese's mission to return Noah to his home, a stronghold of sorts that would provide them sanctuary. Well, this being the world of the living dead, you all know how sanctuary turns out. In complete contradiction of the episodes that comprised the first half of the season, the premiere was slow and prodding, and plagued with an overabundance of commercials. You can understand that one of the highest rated shows on the dial is going to have a significant amount of ad time, but this was just ridiculous. There were segments of the show that were minutes shorter than the commercial breaks they were sandwiched between. This definitely won't go down as one of the better installments of The Walking Dead, and feedback seems to suggest that most were disappointed in the events as well as the presentation and pacing. So let's get to the talking points...
Brad Hamilton is a writer, musician and marketer/social media manager from Atlanta, Georgia. He's an undefeated freestyle rap battle champion, spends too little time being productive and defines himself as the literary version of Brock Lesnar.
