Season 8 of The Walking Dead will be anything but slow. The season adapts the comic series’ storyline “All Out War.” In this story arc, Rick Grimes and his allies face off against Negan and the Saviors in total combat. There won’t be any games or deals as was the case in season 7. This time, Rick and Negan battle to the finish. A synopsis of the 8th season has been released and it reveals much chaos is coming to the series. Fans may appreciate the mayhem since the previous two seasons were a bit muddled and talky.
What will make the season memorable is the fact the “good guys” are going to suffer casualties. In previous seasons, popular characters met their end and were written out of the series. The most infamous of all character demises was the fate Glenn suffered at the hands of Negan. The character’s death was shocking to those who never read the comics. And it may have been a bit too shocking. The Walking Dead suffered a massive viewership decline after Glenn was killed. In “All Out War,” the series does risk turning off more loyal viewers.
Now, The Walking Dead still draw in millions upon millions of viewers every season. The program may have suffered a decline, but the program still seriously tops tons of other programs on AMC. And, for that matter, the series draws higher ratings than scores of other popular cable programs.
The Walking Dead does need a winner of a season in order to slow down the gradual decline in ratings the program has suffered. The initial debut episode of the season should do tremendously well. Hopefully, enough of the audience will be pleased that viewers come back for more in the subsequent episodes. Hopefully, the creative team has learned from its mistakes in previous seasons.
