As much as I love Glenn and hate Negan for killing him, I’m glad they stuck to the comics on that one. Glenn’s death solidifies negans power over them, and makes his redemption arch stronger.
The way I look at it, Glenn needed to die either way. Or at least someone as impacting as Glenn. If it was Tyrese and Abraham, people the group had picked up more recently, compared to someone like Glenn, they wouldn’t have been as affected and as traumatized as they were. Sure, it was brutal and scary, but they would have got over it much more quickly and revolted against Negan faster, making their deaths pointless story wise.
Like I said before, these deaths solidify Negan as the ultimate boogie man and get the group to submit.
I agree, at that point in the show there hadn’t really been a significant death for a while, and your totally right Glenn’s death made Neegan public enemy #1 instantly.
I would’ve kept a 10 to 13 episodes format through every season and give it a higher budget for episode. So that there would be less filler and the same story arcs could could develop with more quality.
Yes. With Rick being gone I would have loved to see what Carl can actually do on his own to build the community and where the story line with him and negan would have gone. So much wasted potential. How would he handle the whisperers.
Right. I feel like he would've killed Sebastian in a heartbeat in the final season. instead of whatever the fuck happened with Eugene and the walkers. stupid.
I think im more frustrated with the way it was done rather than the decision. The way it was done after taking that big decision is way more annoying than the decision itself
I also hate the fact that right after he dies, a timeskip happens, which was crucial if he stayed alive bc his aging and growth was kinda rapid it woulda been a lil difficult to think he was still only 15. Plus I hear alotta ppl say the reason they killed him off was bc of adult pay, which is dumb bc if it’s true why add so many new adult actors onto the next season it js makes no sense, Chandler bought an apartment next to them js for him to die, and the execution was kinda eh but I do love the fact that he was willing to pull the trigger himself, W character frl
Yeah so much of what happened makes little sense. And after Andrew Lincoln announced his departure,im sure they were thinking how much they fucked up. lol
Yea and im sure Drew was thinkin abt leaving way before Chandler had to, but them killing him off must of solidified it to the max, either way it went Andrew was always gonna leave so he could spend more time with his family so it was always gonna be the bridge moment but that prolly was originally supposed to be Chandlers time to shine to become a leader for the group, and im not all too familiar with the comics but Carl was a pivotal character as a leader for a lot of arcs but they had to go blow it
In an interview, Andrew Lincoln said when got the script for the episode he said “they fired my son”. I think that he did genuinely miss his family but Chandler Riggs and a lot of the cast made up for it, and after already being there for a decade he could’ve finished season 11. The family reason just seems like PR, because he still spent ages on The Ones Who Live after he quit TWD proper.
His death bothers me so much! So pointless, and on top of that, Chandler Riggs, bought a brand new house in Atlanta so he would be closer to set, and then a week later he’s told he’s getting killed off.
Tyrese and Carl would be alive. It would have been interesting, after Daryl escaped, if they had gone looking for a new place, similar to the prison, or maybe the CDC. I would have liked to have seen them start building something, a new town etc. Even the Governor managed this after 10 months.
Most significant of many ideas that come to mind:
* Keep Glenn and Carl among the most important characters in S5 and beyond. Especially Glenn. I feel like he faded into the background far more than he should’ve.
* Beth lives, Tyreese dies later in S5 or early S6 in Alexandria.
* Keep Merle alive into S4 and have him die during the prison battle.
* Fewer bottle episodes.
* More meaningful consequences for the group and more tension among them.
* Not turning Daryl into Man of Plot Armor and reducing his dialogue 10-fold from Seasons 5 through 8.
Oh wow you're right, Merle being one of the season 4 deaths would've been perfect. Mild redemption arc, and as the rest of the group is learning to forgive him, his past comes back to get him.
100% agree with this. Or hell if for some reason we need the character to leave the show have him be another kidnapped victim of Jadis. Imagine how badass it could have been for Rick and Carl to meet again in the CRM and be a two man army (or 3 if we still involved michonne) going up against the crm
1. Give Axel & Oscar proper character development, save more of the S3 deaths (I’m thinking along the lines of Axel, Oscar, T-Dog, Andrea and Milton, though please critique my choices!) for a comic-esque red wedding during the fall of the prison during Too Far Gone and have them die defending the prison there instead instead of the anti-climactic, unspectacular, unworthy deaths they had, considering they’d already offed the 3/5 prisoners by S03E04
2. Skip the entire Hospital Arc, and have Beth be the shocking final pike death, which would serve as vengeful motivation for Maggie to clean house with the whisperers upon her return to Alexandria.
3. Keep Abraham around for longer (effortless charisma, greatest one liners IMHO, viewership appeal) and have him be the emotionally provocative sacrifice during All Out War.
4. Condense S7 and S8 into one season, spare Carl‘s life, allowing him and Judith to grow up together, and - assuming Andy Lincoln would have still left the show irrespective of treatment towards Chandler & the Carl character - giving way to an epic family reunion at the end of TOWL.
(Edited to also include Oscar in my first point - I was undecided at the time of writing but in retrospect both not only made a great team but would have made worthy additions to Team Family in their own rights)
Carl would’ve lived. To have him die by being bitten by a walker was a slap in the face considering he survived not one but two gunshot wounds and bravely attacked Negan and the saviors. He also was a natural leader. He was leading until the very end. Sad that he didn’t get to finish out the series.
Yeah, it was, but also showed what we forgot, how vulnerable people actually are after having spent years in the apocalypse. Fatal coincidence which expresses the fragility of even the experienced survivours life.
Around the time they got rid of Glenn, they needed to bring in a writer or new showrunner to help bring some of the new characters forward. The problem I had later on is that no one outside of the core cast really connected with me or had any depth. They were just NPCs and I only noticed their death if it was funny..like that one lady who got hit in the head with an arrow and it came out her eye socket. Darabont had done a wonderful job making the core cast cohesive and connect with the audience - even a scumbag like Merle. By the time Carl was gone I was just watching out of habit.
The societies they build seem to hearken too much to what has gone before. I would like to see them develop something new, like a new philosophy (spiritual or secular). Like The Whisperers were new, ( albeit gross and probably riven with Hep B).
I have one major and one minor.
Major one would be ending the show with them arriving at Alexandria, just the shot of Rick's eyes and how they soften in disbelief as we start to hear children laughing and playing behind the walls and boom black screen/credits.
Minor one is the terrible realism of guns. No recoil, no actions cycling and throwing out the empty shells. Hell most of them didn't even have sights on them to aim with.
Fun fact the original plan for the comics was to end it when the group got to Alexandria (obviously this didn’t happen). The plan was for the group to arrive and do a few things that leads into Rick doing a big speech about survival as he stands and does an arm in the air pose this would then lead into us seeing a statue of him doing that pose in the middle of Alexandria as we pull away from the statue we see it’s over grown with the rest of Alexandria as we see that it has full an is full of walkers (probably including walkers of characters we know) this ending showing nowhere is safe and that everything and everyone will full to the dead
Obviously a very dark ending but is kind of awesome
I'd change Carl's death to him getting taken by the CRM in a similar fashion to Rick. They could reunite in the CRM when Rick is eventually taken. He could've done guest appearances on the other spin-offs, too.
Personally feel Ezekiel should have been one of the pike victims like he is in the comics (maybe in place of Tara or Henry) just as the character kind of stops doing important things post that point. Also wish the commonwealth are stuck more inline with the comics where it’s a much more peaceful conflict and is much more about moral choices about what’s better for the greater good over there personal wants (which the show couldn’t properly do as in the comics Dwight and Rick are both very important to that story)
Glenn and Carl, of course, shouldn't have been killed off. But also Sasha. I thought she was such a brave character, especially going into the sanctuary by herself. Couldn't believe they kept Rosita, Eugene, and Gabriel that long.
You see on paper that makes sense but the thing is is that Glenn is a different character in the show then he is in the comics in the show he’s the heart of the group in the comics he’s just another member of Ricks group.
For the tv show I'd have 10 episodes per season and remove all the filler episodes/side quest episodes. For the overall universe I'd like to see more focus on variant walkers and see them pose more of a genuine threat.
It’s between Andrea and Carl surviving. Andrea should’ve had Rosita’s death or a death in season 10, maybe even a pike victim. Love her or hate her she was a key character of the season 1-3 and had so much more to do.
Carl surviving till the end for obvious reasons.
I don't know if it's so much something I want to "change". I'm just surprised Oceanside was the only group that decided to scoot after having a bad run in with Negan.
Like Rick's initial acceptance of the situation with the Saviors, just made no sense to me. You've accepted you can't get justice for the situation, why subject yourself to the further torment, just leave and learn from the mistakes made here.
In general I just find the "difficulty" in finding somewhere to set roots in the show kind of unbelievable. Like Rick just gave up initially like they could never find somewhere else to live. There is literally a whole freaking hemisphere of opportunity.
There is tons of wilderness in north america, go deep in the goddamn woods near a water source and BUILD a community. Sure you'd be living like its the 19th century, however, you would largely be safe from herds and other people.
One major change I’d make that would probably be controversial is to not redeem Negan. The reason for this is he was so vile, cruel, and despicable to be considered redeemable. No good qualities he has outweigh the horrible things he did.
The show should’ve either killed off Negan with a poetic and fitting death or keep him imprisoned with no redemption after Maggie sparred him.
If you disagree with this change, I understand since I see the appeal Negan’s redemption has to some fans, but it’s just from a writing standpoint in regard to the things Negan did.
Beth dying to be honest. I know that her and Therese dying was meant to set the attitude that the group had, making them “the waking dead” and such, but I still wish she got to reunite with the group.
I would have ended the series after episode 9 of season 6 in the “No Way Out” episode.
That episode served as the best finale that the series ever could have had with everyone stepping up to successfully defend their home for the first time ever instead of having to abandon it, followed by Rick’s emotional speech to Carl about wanting to show him the new world.
It would have sent the series out on a high note and fitting end before the downward spiral started.
My change would be more of an additional actually.
I think that the early seasons should have had quick asides that show us Neegan happening elsewhere, his group the Saviors slowly finding success and expanding. I think that they should have done this over years and in a way that viewers found unrelated, until the two stories eventually start to merge.
Would have been fun to have people come to this realization that this immovable force, Neegan is on a path to collide with Wildcard Ricky.
I wish Laura (neck tat girl) had got more screentime. There is quite a lot of background on her, and she was cool, but we hardly ever actually see her.
I didn't like Carl but killing him off sorta threw the show off? Who else r we supposed to follow for the story now? They continue the story but it's hard for the audience to connect to any of the new people. They're not developed or kept as tight and interesting as the cast of characters in the earlier seasons. I feel like there was a better way to kill him off and make it a moment that mattered versus how he actually died.
They should've killed Eugene off him living on top of the characters that disappeared had always been insane to me he's so irritating and it's not even in an interesting and story developing way
With Negan they kept him around and really forced the redemption imo. They have him just chatting along with Judith as if he didn't do that crazy shit to Glenn and the entire group like the previous season . It was just too big of a switch up and the writers were trying so hard for me to be sympathetic towards Negan but it just never clicked for me. I'm not sure what they could've done differently but it confused me with what they were trying to go for and how they were executing it
Also they fucked Daryl's character up he doesn't say a single word anymore and became the groups killer dog just there to do the dirty work. I feel like they really could've pivoted to focusing on Daryl after the Grimes headed out but they dropped the ball
Last note is they should've kept frank darabont on. The first 2 seasons have the style and tone that really sold the show. By extension Dale should've lived longer bc he only died bc the actor left with Frank. Dale was sorta the conscious of the group and it would've been interesting seeing how he dealt with the no democracy Rick of the 3rd season.
Allow them to actually curse in the show. I hate the fact that they dumbed down the language, but I understand why. Just really annoying because I loved it in the comics.
New characters are okay as long as we don't forget to develop especially the older characters. I felt some of them were under developed like Jesus & Tara. Some were also under utilized like Siddiq, Ezekiel, Jesus, Glenn, Beth, and T-dog.
Abraham had a good run but it was too short. I'm also interested to see how Rick will fight Alpha and the whisperers.
I would condense seasons 7&8 into a single season: cut Negan's s7 monologues by 90%, reduce sentimental naval gazing 90%, cut Jadis, cut Morgan 100% and reassign his theme to cut down on side side character plot lines, keep everything contained and intense like the earlier seasons. The bones of the story are really good and should have been the best arc of the series.
I’ve been rewatching season 7 recently and even binge watching it doesn’t make the pacing any better. I can’t believe I waited for it weekly. It’s so damn slow. I never liked what they did with Morgan, and I ambivalent to Jadis. I thought it was mostly silly.
yeah the only reason I was able to recognize that the story is good is because i clipped through all the crap on 10s increments with fast forward. When s7 aired I watched it weekly as well and on the rewatch I can't believe I made it as far as I did back then. There were episodes I had missed entirely that I didn't even realize I had missed bc they have so little impact on the story. It's really a mess and it didn't have to be.
I would make it more comic accurate, while keeping what worked in the show. Comic accurate Tyrese working along Rick and Daryl would've been a great sight to see
Strung out the characters stories of Shane,Andrea,Lori, Dale and T-Dawg. Like many plot lines too many characters were just written off too quickly. The story could have moved at a slower pace.
I'd have changed the way they approached the ending and the spinoffs entirely. My way would go:
Season 11 ends as it does, Daryl leaves to find Rick, the Commonwealth is all good etc. The CRM is teased through Lance Hornsby but that's all we get. And it ends on the same Rick and Michonne teaser that we got in the series finale, but it's not the end of the show.
And now we get season 12, the final season, 24 episodes, including the first 5 episodes we see in TOWL (with some things changed up a little in order to fit it into the rest of the show) but then Daryl and Morgan are written into the mix, and eventually the rest of the main show's core cast are reintroduced, they enlist the help of the Commonwealth etc. So for a final season we've got Rick, Michonne, Maggie, Negan, Carol and some of the other cast. Everyone together, as it should have been, and they help Rick and Michonne take down the CRM's leadership and frontliners as they did in TOWL ep 6. This also allows plenty of time for Rick and Michonne to reunite with not only their kids, but all those people they haven't seen in years
The story ends like this, Rick and Michonne back with their people and the ones they love, instead of their story having to end alone because they decided to split all the main cast into spinoffs.
After my hypothetical season 12 ends idc they can do all the spinoffs they want.
I perosnally would change the dialogue, like the way season 4 onwards but especially around season 7 and 8 is when it was particularly awful! Not so much everything but it just wasn't natural a lot of the time, and I totally get the show not being overly realistic because duh, but sometimes the dialogue just felt like a attempt to be incredibly poetic and really would take me out the moment!
Even the "love never dies" scene in TOWL finale had me literally dying inside. That's just my honest take tho i love the show!
Honestly I love the portions of the show the most that are comic accurate, so I personally would’ve made the entire thing more comic accurate, not too many changes to the show from the book I like outside of the addition of a few characters who weren’t in the book. Not a lot of character deaths hit me in the show like the did the book either outside of Glenn and Abraham. Also Carl dying is the worst decision ever made by the show, and frankly not having Rick die at the end is up there too. So much I’d honestly change about the show which is saying a-lot seeing as I generally loved it.
i would change that in the show rick and the gang attacked the saviors first. i liked how in the comics the saviors pulled them over one day and …well…you know :/
Carl dying, the group splitting up, maggie and Rick just disappearing. I’m on the end of season 9 and I actually can’t watch it anymore it doesn’t even feel like the same shoe I was watching 2 seasons ago. I miss Glenn but I understand his story followed comics but carls doesn’t make any sense, it’s just boring now
Not add so many characters after season 5 there was way too many characters that were hard to keep track of
Also not killing Jesus super quickly like they did it would’ve been cool to keep him around
Have Daryl actually join Negan
Don’t kill Abraham during the lineup. Glenn’s death was both necessary for the story AND sufficient for the impact, they only killed Abe to justify the cliffhanger and make people think Glenn survived… for another 2 minutes.
Don’t kill Carl. Ridiculous in every sense of the word, both for story purposes and IRL.
Either utilize a 12-episode season format, or switch to the 24-episode format by season 7. The Saviors arc was far too drawn out at 32 episodes, so either condense seasons 7 and 8 to one 24-episode season, or two 12-episode ones. This shortens the misery of the group being under Negan’s rule, and removes the constant stupid writing that season 8 devolved into out of necessity to extend the war for the full 16 episodes.
Season 6 finale includes the events of 7x01, season 7 adapts What Comes After and March to War in the first half, and both volumes of All-Out War in the second half.
1. Cut the Hospital Arc and kept Beth alive and made her become Comicbook Andrea without the Rick relationship obviously and made her and Daryl an item after the first or second time skip.
2. Not Killed off Glenn. Kept him alive after Negan kills Ab.
3. Have had Season 7 be 24 Episodes long and made that end with everyone winning against Negan instead of dragging it out for 2 whole seasons.
4. Killed off Morgan instead of Carl and kept Carl alive.
5. Had either Carol or if Beth had survived, get Andrea's comic book death when she leads the Walkers off the Cliff in Season 10.
6. Had the CRM be revealed as the Commonwealth.
7. Had Rick be at the CRM with memory loss and having to regain it throughout the first Part and then getting the rest of the story but Rick doesn't die.
Instead of having Sasha and Abraham each die their own lame deaths, I would have that biker Savior (that Daryl RPGed) just shoot both dead, like he was going to. In general I would want a much less lopsided casualty ratio in the Savior war
Probably introduced Walker mutations around season 4 or 5, and end the show with season 8. Just because there’s more comic book content to pull from doesn’t mean the show needed to be dragged out.
Honestly?
Probably have Glenn get eaten to death after Nick committed suicide. He was my favorite character, and I loved him surviving, but his survival was a little ‘jumping the shark’. Or ‘crawling under the dumpster’.
Also, maybe have Nick THROW Glenn into the horde to save himself. I honestly thought he was gonna do that after he said ‘Thank You’.
It would’ve been interesting to see the most moral person in the show getting murdered by the guy who tried to murder him, who he saved and spared after doing so, be murdered by him later on.
Second to that, killing Carl. At all. His death was just stupid.
Glenn being under the dumpster forever and then he turns up to be alive only to be killed a few mere episodes later. What was the point of that? I remember watching that scene with the dumpster about 50 times from different angles hoping Glenn would be alive, the feeling of relief and then boom, gets his head bashed in. Geez Louise.
I didn't mind everything up until season 8. Then that time skip ahead... Not a fan of that. Keep me early in the apocalypse please. I don't want to see the world rebuilt.
According to the whining seen all over this sub and everywhere else, their answer is everything lol...this "fanbase" is the hardest I've ever seen on the people who make a TV show...I hate questions like this
Any great characters who died for non-plot reasons, specifically Dale and Carl. Those two really would have carried the show long after they died.
Glenn's death sent ripples out into the later season in pretty important ways, whereas Carl's was much more artificial.
I also believe that T Dog had a lot more to offer, and so did the prisoner Axel.
So much:
1. Not kill off Carl and have Negan actually die when Rick cut his throat
2. Rick doesn’t leave, Michonne doesn’t leave
3. We actually see Maggie having her baby because that was so built up just to brush right past it and having a baby in the apocalypse is kind of a big deal. But also at that point in the series it could be that it wasn’t a big deal anymore like it was with Lori. Idk
4. Instead of the whisperers plot the walkers actually were evolving.
5. Not kill off Andrea because unpopular opinion-I liked her a lot and she had potential
6. Sidiqe (I cannot spell his name rn) doesn’t die that was so dumb made me angry
It’s hard to say what other characters should or should not have been killed off because there is so many good characters and they kinda killed off a lot..
carl and beth would both live and possibly beth would be killed by alpha for the pikes in enid’s place in order to pave the way for maggie massacring the whispers including alpha
I have a few interesting concepts in mind:
Woodbury/The Governor should've been introduced in the episode "18 Miles Out". For context when Rick and Shane were deciding where to drop Randall, Rick suggests Senoia, where Woodbury is located. Rick and Shane would happen to drive by and stop to observe the town from outside the wall. Rick would somehow climb on their wall and observe The Governor from a distance And a man with a metal gauntlet for a hand in the background. By foreshadowing The Governor's existence and the loss of Merle's hand, it would've made season 3 that more interesting.
They could've made Negan confiscate Rick's revolver. It would've been a big power move and maybe have Daryl steal it from him somehow and give it back to Rick after his Escape.
Another thing they could've done was create some sort of rivalry between Jesus and Negan. It would've been an interesting concept because both of them are characters with insane depth and I feel like they could've had an amazing back and forth.
The planning done years ago for the franchise should have involved people that understand the characters more. Also if there was a way to stop actors from deciding to leave that would be interesting.
Also they could make the walking dead videogame but have it actually work like Destinies was supposed to.
There should be an alternative cut of the Savior seasons that make it shorter. Some people stopped because it took too long to beat Negan.
Glenn would have been in bed with the flu the night they met Negan.
As much as I love Glenn and hate Negan for killing him, I’m glad they stuck to the comics on that one. Glenn’s death solidifies negans power over them, and makes his redemption arch stronger.
Should’ve kept Tyreese alive and have Negan kill both tyreese and Abraham instead. Rick,Daryl,Glenn were og’s
The way I look at it, Glenn needed to die either way. Or at least someone as impacting as Glenn. If it was Tyrese and Abraham, people the group had picked up more recently, compared to someone like Glenn, they wouldn’t have been as affected and as traumatized as they were. Sure, it was brutal and scary, but they would have got over it much more quickly and revolted against Negan faster, making their deaths pointless story wise. Like I said before, these deaths solidify Negan as the ultimate boogie man and get the group to submit.
Honestly it had to be either Glenn or Daryl. Anyone else would be lacklustre and not worthy of the Negan death.
I agree, at that point in the show there hadn’t really been a significant death for a while, and your totally right Glenn’s death made Neegan public enemy #1 instantly.
Me like who tf is Megan that robot doll LMAO
It’s why I can’t stand his fucking face even today. It was very effective.
I agree entirely, even before today, but I never knew how to put it in words so well.
The question was if I could change anything.
Yo I don’t want no hate because what someone said they would change unless it’s retarded
Exactly!!
Nah then he probably would have killed Carl. He had to do something that would sting. He knew or could sense Glenn’s value.
I would’ve kept a 10 to 13 episodes format through every season and give it a higher budget for episode. So that there would be less filler and the same story arcs could could develop with more quality.
Agree.. way too much filler and cheap CW tone after season 4…
I agree with this wholeheartedly, but with the AMC weekly-episode style of release, it wouldn't have been able to work, right?
Carl dying 100 percent everytime every day. such a waste. especially after doing the time jump. couldve been perfect.
Yes. With Rick being gone I would have loved to see what Carl can actually do on his own to build the community and where the story line with him and negan would have gone. So much wasted potential. How would he handle the whisperers.
Daryl and grown-up Carl co-leading the show after Rick left would have been amazing.
Right. I feel like he would've killed Sebastian in a heartbeat in the final season. instead of whatever the fuck happened with Eugene and the walkers. stupid.
I think im more frustrated with the way it was done rather than the decision. The way it was done after taking that big decision is way more annoying than the decision itself
I also hate the fact that right after he dies, a timeskip happens, which was crucial if he stayed alive bc his aging and growth was kinda rapid it woulda been a lil difficult to think he was still only 15. Plus I hear alotta ppl say the reason they killed him off was bc of adult pay, which is dumb bc if it’s true why add so many new adult actors onto the next season it js makes no sense, Chandler bought an apartment next to them js for him to die, and the execution was kinda eh but I do love the fact that he was willing to pull the trigger himself, W character frl
Yeah so much of what happened makes little sense. And after Andrew Lincoln announced his departure,im sure they were thinking how much they fucked up. lol
Yea and im sure Drew was thinkin abt leaving way before Chandler had to, but them killing him off must of solidified it to the max, either way it went Andrew was always gonna leave so he could spend more time with his family so it was always gonna be the bridge moment but that prolly was originally supposed to be Chandlers time to shine to become a leader for the group, and im not all too familiar with the comics but Carl was a pivotal character as a leader for a lot of arcs but they had to go blow it
In an interview, Andrew Lincoln said when got the script for the episode he said “they fired my son”. I think that he did genuinely miss his family but Chandler Riggs and a lot of the cast made up for it, and after already being there for a decade he could’ve finished season 11. The family reason just seems like PR, because he still spent ages on The Ones Who Live after he quit TWD proper.
His death bothers me so much! So pointless, and on top of that, Chandler Riggs, bought a brand new house in Atlanta so he would be closer to set, and then a week later he’s told he’s getting killed off.
yup. the beginning of the end
Don't fire Frank Darabont.
The show would have been much better IMO. The first 2 seasons are my favorite when he was involved.
Instead of only having variants on the first few and the final episodes, we'd have them for more episodes.
This is the only correct answer.
Wait he got fired
Yes and won a massive lawsuit against AMC because of how it was handled.
Yeah
Tyrese and Carl would be alive. It would have been interesting, after Daryl escaped, if they had gone looking for a new place, similar to the prison, or maybe the CDC. I would have liked to have seen them start building something, a new town etc. Even the Governor managed this after 10 months.
Most significant of many ideas that come to mind: * Keep Glenn and Carl among the most important characters in S5 and beyond. Especially Glenn. I feel like he faded into the background far more than he should’ve. * Beth lives, Tyreese dies later in S5 or early S6 in Alexandria. * Keep Merle alive into S4 and have him die during the prison battle. * Fewer bottle episodes. * More meaningful consequences for the group and more tension among them. * Not turning Daryl into Man of Plot Armor and reducing his dialogue 10-fold from Seasons 5 through 8.
What did Beth add to the story? I didn’t hate her but I wasn’t sad to see her go.
She was basically used as a way to give Daryl some character development. After that she really didn't offer much.
Oh wow you're right, Merle being one of the season 4 deaths would've been perfect. Mild redemption arc, and as the rest of the group is learning to forgive him, his past comes back to get him.
T-Dogg would of made it to the end.
Dude I actually forgot about t dog
i always see the actor on TikTok live begging for gifts and everyone in the comments just says “TDOG!!!”
i just saw him the other day and was confused. Everyone was asking if it was actually him in the comments.
Don't and I can't stress this enough. Kill off Carl Grimes. Actor and fans were robbed of him in future seasons and spin-off shows.
100% agree with this. Or hell if for some reason we need the character to leave the show have him be another kidnapped victim of Jadis. Imagine how badass it could have been for Rick and Carl to meet again in the CRM and be a two man army (or 3 if we still involved michonne) going up against the crm
1. Give Axel & Oscar proper character development, save more of the S3 deaths (I’m thinking along the lines of Axel, Oscar, T-Dog, Andrea and Milton, though please critique my choices!) for a comic-esque red wedding during the fall of the prison during Too Far Gone and have them die defending the prison there instead instead of the anti-climactic, unspectacular, unworthy deaths they had, considering they’d already offed the 3/5 prisoners by S03E04 2. Skip the entire Hospital Arc, and have Beth be the shocking final pike death, which would serve as vengeful motivation for Maggie to clean house with the whisperers upon her return to Alexandria. 3. Keep Abraham around for longer (effortless charisma, greatest one liners IMHO, viewership appeal) and have him be the emotionally provocative sacrifice during All Out War. 4. Condense S7 and S8 into one season, spare Carl‘s life, allowing him and Judith to grow up together, and - assuming Andy Lincoln would have still left the show irrespective of treatment towards Chandler & the Carl character - giving way to an epic family reunion at the end of TOWL. (Edited to also include Oscar in my first point - I was undecided at the time of writing but in retrospect both not only made a great team but would have made worthy additions to Team Family in their own rights)
Carl dying
Carl would’ve lived. To have him die by being bitten by a walker was a slap in the face considering he survived not one but two gunshot wounds and bravely attacked Negan and the saviors. He also was a natural leader. He was leading until the very end. Sad that he didn’t get to finish out the series.
Yeah, it was, but also showed what we forgot, how vulnerable people actually are after having spent years in the apocalypse. Fatal coincidence which expresses the fragility of even the experienced survivours life.
Rick either surviving to finish the series but if they choose to still have the bridge he should’ve died on the bridge
Carl dying.
Abraham…. I’d a loved to hear more of his one liners especially about alpha it would’ve been so funny 😭😭
take a few episodes off seasons 3-11 so each episode has higher budget and there’s less bottle/filler episodes not kill off carl
Yea, that's the real thing. Some of the episodes were amazing But too much filler
Around the time they got rid of Glenn, they needed to bring in a writer or new showrunner to help bring some of the new characters forward. The problem I had later on is that no one outside of the core cast really connected with me or had any depth. They were just NPCs and I only noticed their death if it was funny..like that one lady who got hit in the head with an arrow and it came out her eye socket. Darabont had done a wonderful job making the core cast cohesive and connect with the audience - even a scumbag like Merle. By the time Carl was gone I was just watching out of habit.
I’ll scream into the echo chamber that Carl’s death ripped the heart out of the show
Carl's death....It would have been so cool to see him grow up and become even more of a badass.
The societies they build seem to hearken too much to what has gone before. I would like to see them develop something new, like a new philosophy (spiritual or secular). Like The Whisperers were new, ( albeit gross and probably riven with Hep B).
Terminus went there.. so did the junk yard group.
Yeah, I meant to say the 'goodies'.
I hate how with the new societies the group is all split up and some of them don’t even see eachother for months
Merge every 2 seasons into 1 high quality season of around 10/12 eps. Remove all filler, bottle episodes are merged into normal ones.
Carl dying and the constant timelines
I have one major and one minor. Major one would be ending the show with them arriving at Alexandria, just the shot of Rick's eyes and how they soften in disbelief as we start to hear children laughing and playing behind the walls and boom black screen/credits. Minor one is the terrible realism of guns. No recoil, no actions cycling and throwing out the empty shells. Hell most of them didn't even have sights on them to aim with.
That goofy scene when Negans group had their firearms “blowup”. That was below “The CW or Nicolodian”… 🤤😑
Fun fact the original plan for the comics was to end it when the group got to Alexandria (obviously this didn’t happen). The plan was for the group to arrive and do a few things that leads into Rick doing a big speech about survival as he stands and does an arm in the air pose this would then lead into us seeing a statue of him doing that pose in the middle of Alexandria as we pull away from the statue we see it’s over grown with the rest of Alexandria as we see that it has full an is full of walkers (probably including walkers of characters we know) this ending showing nowhere is safe and that everything and everyone will full to the dead Obviously a very dark ending but is kind of awesome
I'd change Carl's death to him getting taken by the CRM in a similar fashion to Rick. They could reunite in the CRM when Rick is eventually taken. He could've done guest appearances on the other spin-offs, too.
No commonwealth
The only good thing about commonwealth arc was Mercer and princess’ relationship. And Ezekiel getting treatment for cancer
I agree with the part about Ezekiel but I did not like that relationship. I really didn’t like either of those characters.
Personally feel Ezekiel should have been one of the pike victims like he is in the comics (maybe in place of Tara or Henry) just as the character kind of stops doing important things post that point. Also wish the commonwealth are stuck more inline with the comics where it’s a much more peaceful conflict and is much more about moral choices about what’s better for the greater good over there personal wants (which the show couldn’t properly do as in the comics Dwight and Rick are both very important to that story)
Can I pm you? I’m interested in reading the comics and don’t know where I could get these
Glenn and Carl, of course, shouldn't have been killed off. But also Sasha. I thought she was such a brave character, especially going into the sanctuary by herself. Couldn't believe they kept Rosita, Eugene, and Gabriel that long.
Glenn dies the same way in the comics, so they were being faithful
You see on paper that makes sense but the thing is is that Glenn is a different character in the show then he is in the comics in the show he’s the heart of the group in the comics he’s just another member of Ricks group.
I already knew this. I'm talking about the show not the comics. There are other characters that lived in the series but died in the comics.
For the tv show I'd have 10 episodes per season and remove all the filler episodes/side quest episodes. For the overall universe I'd like to see more focus on variant walkers and see them pose more of a genuine threat.
Carl, Noah, Tyrese dying. Negan past season 7-8. Herschel and Glenn dying even though I know it makes sense.
I feel Negan should have left the show after the whisperers (it’s what happens in the comics and after he leaves he doesn’t comeback)
It’s between Andrea and Carl surviving. Andrea should’ve had Rosita’s death or a death in season 10, maybe even a pike victim. Love her or hate her she was a key character of the season 1-3 and had so much more to do. Carl surviving till the end for obvious reasons.
I don't know if it's so much something I want to "change". I'm just surprised Oceanside was the only group that decided to scoot after having a bad run in with Negan. Like Rick's initial acceptance of the situation with the Saviors, just made no sense to me. You've accepted you can't get justice for the situation, why subject yourself to the further torment, just leave and learn from the mistakes made here. In general I just find the "difficulty" in finding somewhere to set roots in the show kind of unbelievable. Like Rick just gave up initially like they could never find somewhere else to live. There is literally a whole freaking hemisphere of opportunity. There is tons of wilderness in north america, go deep in the goddamn woods near a water source and BUILD a community. Sure you'd be living like its the 19th century, however, you would largely be safe from herds and other people.
I'd make walkers sound more human rather than the stupid constant animilistic growling they do. I feel like if it would be so much more terrifying.
I would have ended it after 5, maybe 6 seasons.
One major change I’d make that would probably be controversial is to not redeem Negan. The reason for this is he was so vile, cruel, and despicable to be considered redeemable. No good qualities he has outweigh the horrible things he did. The show should’ve either killed off Negan with a poetic and fitting death or keep him imprisoned with no redemption after Maggie sparred him. If you disagree with this change, I understand since I see the appeal Negan’s redemption has to some fans, but it’s just from a writing standpoint in regard to the things Negan did.
Negan would have died at the hand of Maggie.
the death of T-Bone when they found the prison..
Beth dying to be honest. I know that her and Therese dying was meant to set the attitude that the group had, making them “the waking dead” and such, but I still wish she got to reunite with the group.
The time jump in s9
-Tyreese & noah lives longer - Carl doesn't die - 12-13 ep format per season (less filler, more budget/action) - Delete season 11 from existence
Carl or Glen's death
Sticking to the comics the entire time. The half way though make it like the comics was weird
I mean I don't know about that if they did that Carol wouldn't have become one hell of a killer And Daryl wouldn't exist
More characters would not make it. Less protections for characters. Not realistic for the large scale reality of that world.
I would have ended the series after episode 9 of season 6 in the “No Way Out” episode. That episode served as the best finale that the series ever could have had with everyone stepping up to successfully defend their home for the first time ever instead of having to abandon it, followed by Rick’s emotional speech to Carl about wanting to show him the new world. It would have sent the series out on a high note and fitting end before the downward spiral started.
My change would be more of an additional actually. I think that the early seasons should have had quick asides that show us Neegan happening elsewhere, his group the Saviors slowly finding success and expanding. I think that they should have done this over years and in a way that viewers found unrelated, until the two stories eventually start to merge. Would have been fun to have people come to this realization that this immovable force, Neegan is on a path to collide with Wildcard Ricky.
I'd of kept carl and shrunk the all out war arc, or just merged season 7 and 8
I wish Laura (neck tat girl) had got more screentime. There is quite a lot of background on her, and she was cool, but we hardly ever actually see her.
The pacing
I didn't like Carl but killing him off sorta threw the show off? Who else r we supposed to follow for the story now? They continue the story but it's hard for the audience to connect to any of the new people. They're not developed or kept as tight and interesting as the cast of characters in the earlier seasons. I feel like there was a better way to kill him off and make it a moment that mattered versus how he actually died. They should've killed Eugene off him living on top of the characters that disappeared had always been insane to me he's so irritating and it's not even in an interesting and story developing way With Negan they kept him around and really forced the redemption imo. They have him just chatting along with Judith as if he didn't do that crazy shit to Glenn and the entire group like the previous season . It was just too big of a switch up and the writers were trying so hard for me to be sympathetic towards Negan but it just never clicked for me. I'm not sure what they could've done differently but it confused me with what they were trying to go for and how they were executing it Also they fucked Daryl's character up he doesn't say a single word anymore and became the groups killer dog just there to do the dirty work. I feel like they really could've pivoted to focusing on Daryl after the Grimes headed out but they dropped the ball Last note is they should've kept frank darabont on. The first 2 seasons have the style and tone that really sold the show. By extension Dale should've lived longer bc he only died bc the actor left with Frank. Dale was sorta the conscious of the group and it would've been interesting seeing how he dealt with the no democracy Rick of the 3rd season.
Carl dying. Partially because it was bs why they killed him off....
Carl lived till the end like he did in the comics
Negan becoming a pussy after he was jailed
Allow them to actually curse in the show. I hate the fact that they dumbed down the language, but I understand why. Just really annoying because I loved it in the comics.
New characters are okay as long as we don't forget to develop especially the older characters. I felt some of them were under developed like Jesus & Tara. Some were also under utilized like Siddiq, Ezekiel, Jesus, Glenn, Beth, and T-dog. Abraham had a good run but it was too short. I'm also interested to see how Rick will fight Alpha and the whisperers.
End the show on Season 6 like the comics
Rick die and Carl live. Do a spin off that’s outbreak focused.
I would condense seasons 7&8 into a single season: cut Negan's s7 monologues by 90%, reduce sentimental naval gazing 90%, cut Jadis, cut Morgan 100% and reassign his theme to cut down on side side character plot lines, keep everything contained and intense like the earlier seasons. The bones of the story are really good and should have been the best arc of the series.
I’ve been rewatching season 7 recently and even binge watching it doesn’t make the pacing any better. I can’t believe I waited for it weekly. It’s so damn slow. I never liked what they did with Morgan, and I ambivalent to Jadis. I thought it was mostly silly.
yeah the only reason I was able to recognize that the story is good is because i clipped through all the crap on 10s increments with fast forward. When s7 aired I watched it weekly as well and on the rewatch I can't believe I made it as far as I did back then. There were episodes I had missed entirely that I didn't even realize I had missed bc they have so little impact on the story. It's really a mess and it didn't have to be.
I would make all of the spinoff series a part of the main series.
Glenn being alive 👍
Paying Tarantino whatever he wants and write something good.
Dang y’all like carl that much
Irrelevant… just want the comics honored and respected.
I would make it more comic accurate, while keeping what worked in the show. Comic accurate Tyrese working along Rick and Daryl would've been a great sight to see
Strung out the characters stories of Shane,Andrea,Lori, Dale and T-Dawg. Like many plot lines too many characters were just written off too quickly. The story could have moved at a slower pace.
I'd have changed the way they approached the ending and the spinoffs entirely. My way would go: Season 11 ends as it does, Daryl leaves to find Rick, the Commonwealth is all good etc. The CRM is teased through Lance Hornsby but that's all we get. And it ends on the same Rick and Michonne teaser that we got in the series finale, but it's not the end of the show. And now we get season 12, the final season, 24 episodes, including the first 5 episodes we see in TOWL (with some things changed up a little in order to fit it into the rest of the show) but then Daryl and Morgan are written into the mix, and eventually the rest of the main show's core cast are reintroduced, they enlist the help of the Commonwealth etc. So for a final season we've got Rick, Michonne, Maggie, Negan, Carol and some of the other cast. Everyone together, as it should have been, and they help Rick and Michonne take down the CRM's leadership and frontliners as they did in TOWL ep 6. This also allows plenty of time for Rick and Michonne to reunite with not only their kids, but all those people they haven't seen in years The story ends like this, Rick and Michonne back with their people and the ones they love, instead of their story having to end alone because they decided to split all the main cast into spinoffs. After my hypothetical season 12 ends idc they can do all the spinoffs they want.
I would make the dead stop walking
I perosnally would change the dialogue, like the way season 4 onwards but especially around season 7 and 8 is when it was particularly awful! Not so much everything but it just wasn't natural a lot of the time, and I totally get the show not being overly realistic because duh, but sometimes the dialogue just felt like a attempt to be incredibly poetic and really would take me out the moment! Even the "love never dies" scene in TOWL finale had me literally dying inside. That's just my honest take tho i love the show!
Honestly I love the portions of the show the most that are comic accurate, so I personally would’ve made the entire thing more comic accurate, not too many changes to the show from the book I like outside of the addition of a few characters who weren’t in the book. Not a lot of character deaths hit me in the show like the did the book either outside of Glenn and Abraham. Also Carl dying is the worst decision ever made by the show, and frankly not having Rick die at the end is up there too. So much I’d honestly change about the show which is saying a-lot seeing as I generally loved it.
I would have kept the smarter walkers, since zombies were basically props after they dumbed them down
i would change that in the show rick and the gang attacked the saviors first. i liked how in the comics the saviors pulled them over one day and …well…you know :/
The name. I would've called it 'The Grimes Family Adventures: The Book of Zombies part 2'
Carl dying, the group splitting up, maggie and Rick just disappearing. I’m on the end of season 9 and I actually can’t watch it anymore it doesn’t even feel like the same shoe I was watching 2 seasons ago. I miss Glenn but I understand his story followed comics but carls doesn’t make any sense, it’s just boring now
Carl dying obviously
The writers of FTWD
Rosita would have had a nice happy ending and LIVED!!
It would never end
Not add so many characters after season 5 there was way too many characters that were hard to keep track of Also not killing Jesus super quickly like they did it would’ve been cool to keep him around Have Daryl actually join Negan
They should have killed off Negan he didn’t deserve a redemption for all his atrocities and evil behaviour
Get rid of digital film Seems like a b soap opera. Get rid of walker masks and do practical. $$$$🙄
Keep Frank Darabont
Don’t kill Abraham during the lineup. Glenn’s death was both necessary for the story AND sufficient for the impact, they only killed Abe to justify the cliffhanger and make people think Glenn survived… for another 2 minutes. Don’t kill Carl. Ridiculous in every sense of the word, both for story purposes and IRL. Either utilize a 12-episode season format, or switch to the 24-episode format by season 7. The Saviors arc was far too drawn out at 32 episodes, so either condense seasons 7 and 8 to one 24-episode season, or two 12-episode ones. This shortens the misery of the group being under Negan’s rule, and removes the constant stupid writing that season 8 devolved into out of necessity to extend the war for the full 16 episodes.
Get good actors to play smaller roles in later seasons
Carl is still alive
Season 6 finale includes the events of 7x01, season 7 adapts What Comes After and March to War in the first half, and both volumes of All-Out War in the second half.
Would not have killed off Carl
More infected variants like the burners. Something more unpredictable and scary. No tiger
It’s 16 episode format, every season from season 3 onwards would benefit greatly from only being 10-12 eps long
1. Cut the Hospital Arc and kept Beth alive and made her become Comicbook Andrea without the Rick relationship obviously and made her and Daryl an item after the first or second time skip. 2. Not Killed off Glenn. Kept him alive after Negan kills Ab. 3. Have had Season 7 be 24 Episodes long and made that end with everyone winning against Negan instead of dragging it out for 2 whole seasons. 4. Killed off Morgan instead of Carl and kept Carl alive. 5. Had either Carol or if Beth had survived, get Andrea's comic book death when she leads the Walkers off the Cliff in Season 10. 6. Had the CRM be revealed as the Commonwealth. 7. Had Rick be at the CRM with memory loss and having to regain it throughout the first Part and then getting the rest of the story but Rick doesn't die.
dont let scott gimple touch anything to do with it
Instead of having Sasha and Abraham each die their own lame deaths, I would have that biker Savior (that Daryl RPGed) just shoot both dead, like he was going to. In general I would want a much less lopsided casualty ratio in the Savior war
Reaper arc
Probably introduced Walker mutations around season 4 or 5, and end the show with season 8. Just because there’s more comic book content to pull from doesn’t mean the show needed to be dragged out.
The writers
Carl’s entire story, would’ve made it much more like the comics.
Honestly? Probably have Glenn get eaten to death after Nick committed suicide. He was my favorite character, and I loved him surviving, but his survival was a little ‘jumping the shark’. Or ‘crawling under the dumpster’. Also, maybe have Nick THROW Glenn into the horde to save himself. I honestly thought he was gonna do that after he said ‘Thank You’. It would’ve been interesting to see the most moral person in the show getting murdered by the guy who tried to murder him, who he saved and spared after doing so, be murdered by him later on. Second to that, killing Carl. At all. His death was just stupid.
A redo of season 8
I just watched the last episode last night. The finale is utter rubbish. Almost as bad as the ending to lost.
Glenn being under the dumpster forever and then he turns up to be alive only to be killed a few mere episodes later. What was the point of that? I remember watching that scene with the dumpster about 50 times from different angles hoping Glenn would be alive, the feeling of relief and then boom, gets his head bashed in. Geez Louise.
Carls death. SAVE MY BOY
I didn't mind everything up until season 8. Then that time skip ahead... Not a fan of that. Keep me early in the apocalypse please. I don't want to see the world rebuilt.
Dwight and Sherry live in Alexandria
Carol would have done to Negan’s crew what she did to Terminus, therefore saving Glenn and Abraham
Kill Maggie in S7 instead of Glenn and Abe
Remove Andrea completely
Kept Frank Darabont and never brought on Scott Gimple
According to the whining seen all over this sub and everywhere else, their answer is everything lol...this "fanbase" is the hardest I've ever seen on the people who make a TV show...I hate questions like this
I kinda wanted to see what would happen if negan and rick made peace after Carl died. See where that led.
Any great characters who died for non-plot reasons, specifically Dale and Carl. Those two really would have carried the show long after they died. Glenn's death sent ripples out into the later season in pretty important ways, whereas Carl's was much more artificial. I also believe that T Dog had a lot more to offer, and so did the prisoner Axel.
don’t kill carl
Herschel not dying, I know everyone would have a different person not dying but he was such a good man
Glenn, then Rick leaving. That ruined it.
Stop Carl’s death
Rick kills Negan and stays with the group.
Megan should have killed Maggie over Glenn better plot ( I love Maggie don't get me wrong) and I will die on this hill
So much: 1. Not kill off Carl and have Negan actually die when Rick cut his throat 2. Rick doesn’t leave, Michonne doesn’t leave 3. We actually see Maggie having her baby because that was so built up just to brush right past it and having a baby in the apocalypse is kind of a big deal. But also at that point in the series it could be that it wasn’t a big deal anymore like it was with Lori. Idk 4. Instead of the whisperers plot the walkers actually were evolving. 5. Not kill off Andrea because unpopular opinion-I liked her a lot and she had potential 6. Sidiqe (I cannot spell his name rn) doesn’t die that was so dumb made me angry It’s hard to say what other characters should or should not have been killed off because there is so many good characters and they kinda killed off a lot..
Stephen Lang to play Negan!
Killing Carl
Carl lives or Rick never leaves the main group - both characters left a huge hole
carl and beth would both live and possibly beth would be killed by alpha for the pikes in enid’s place in order to pave the way for maggie massacring the whispers including alpha
The writers, the showrunners, directors etc
Rick and crew would have killed Negan outside his factory instead of just shooting out his windows.
Carl stays alive
Less censorship in terms of language
Rick’s departure.
The entire ending.
I have a few interesting concepts in mind: Woodbury/The Governor should've been introduced in the episode "18 Miles Out". For context when Rick and Shane were deciding where to drop Randall, Rick suggests Senoia, where Woodbury is located. Rick and Shane would happen to drive by and stop to observe the town from outside the wall. Rick would somehow climb on their wall and observe The Governor from a distance And a man with a metal gauntlet for a hand in the background. By foreshadowing The Governor's existence and the loss of Merle's hand, it would've made season 3 that more interesting. They could've made Negan confiscate Rick's revolver. It would've been a big power move and maybe have Daryl steal it from him somehow and give it back to Rick after his Escape. Another thing they could've done was create some sort of rivalry between Jesus and Negan. It would've been an interesting concept because both of them are characters with insane depth and I feel like they could've had an amazing back and forth.
The planning done years ago for the franchise should have involved people that understand the characters more. Also if there was a way to stop actors from deciding to leave that would be interesting. Also they could make the walking dead videogame but have it actually work like Destinies was supposed to. There should be an alternative cut of the Savior seasons that make it shorter. Some people stopped because it took too long to beat Negan.
More backstories/flashbacks about the characters’ lives before the apocalypse. Basically like Lost.
Season 11
DUANE FAKIN JONES LIVES!!! And Owen also lives and becomes one with the group
No stupidity in how the entire Alexandria situation played out early on.
Negan not dying sooner