The Walking Dead Season 4 Finale: 8 Ways It Can Avoid Sucking

5. Make The Main Characters Suffer

Another major problem The Walking Dead has fielded is the "immortal main character" syndrome. There are a certain number of key characters €“ namely Rick, Daryl, and Glenn €“ who have attained a level of immortality simply by being the most established characters in the show. We know that AMC cannot (and will not) pull out all the stops and kill everyone, but there is an easy solution to this problem, which The Walking Dead has proven quite aware of in recent weeks. One area in which The Walking Dead never disappoints is emotional trauma. Whether it be reacting to the stress of their situation or another horrible act of violence committed in front of them (often both), the writers, directors, and actors always make sure that the survivors feel the pain of the fallen. This is the main reason why the "dead baby fake-out" in the midseason finale worked as well as it did. It doesn't matter that Judith survived (in the face of such a mercilessly bleak series, it is probably better she did), what matters is that Carl and Rick bear the pain as if she didn't.