Canadians are known around the world for being exceedingly polite, so it should be no surprise that they’re responsible for the most apologetic burn The Walking Dead has ever received from the press. The National Post, one of the country’s largest newspapers, just released this article saying the zombie apocalypse show “has always reveled in its profound idiocy.” Sorry.
The Walking Dead has always been idiotic. Or, to put it another way: The Walking Dead has always enjoyed the fruits of its generous idiocy. It’s a matter of committing to a fault so completely that you begin to make the most of it. No doubt there are more sophisticated means to drama available to the prestige-TV writer; the series, however exciting it may be, will never boast the seriousness of, say, Breaking Bad — a show whose thrills were subordinate to its themes instead of the other way around.
What we find maddening about the Walking Dead is that its efforts to scare and exhilarate are so transparently trumped up and sensational. It has no use for subtlety. It’s a thrill-first enterprise, like an amusement-park ride, and there’s no reason for us to demand of it a higher aspiration.
Other negative buzzwords typically left unsaid by Canadians: calling Rick and Daryl’s supply truck mishap in the latest episode “a moment of breathtaking idiocy” that “may in fact be the most idiotic moment in The Walking Dead’s history, which is saying something.” It also accuses the characters of “flailing about as though suddenly brain-damaged” and recent scripts of “new depths of mindlessness.” Jeez, National Post. Tell us what you really think.
The article completely bypasses the question “Has The Walking Dead gotten worse recently?” because it claims the show has always been stupid and has just gotten more stupider as it’s gone on, shambling forward on the strength of its invested fanbase with no need to smarten up.
Whether it can continue to do so or if the tide is starting to turn is still up to debate. Make sure to let us know in the comments: Is The Walking Dead really profoundly idiotic? Or are those Canadians just jealous that they’re stuck freezing their intellectual butts off instead of enjoying the sweet Georgia weather featured on the show?
(Via National Post)
