I think FearTWD is far more troublesome when it comes to, er, troublesome characters. One of the main problems with FearTWD is that it's doing so many of the same beats that have already been done on TWD, so we as an audience have been through certain story arcs already, so seeing them done again - and worse - on Fear is not a good mix.
I feel that TWD has done a far better job in general. At the very least in terms of the characters, as we have often seen our heroes attempting to snuff out a baddie sharpish, but circumstances go against them (e.g. The Governor, of Negan). Now, sometimes the actual playing out of those events can be underwhelming or even frustrating (e.g. Carl's season 7 attempt to stow away in a truck and shoot Negan was pretty lame - at least have the gun jam for goodness sake!). However, we've seen far superior stories play out on TWD in regards to bad characters, and we've also had far more nuance - Shane was 'too bad for the moment' but in many ways was right but ahead of time, while Lizzie provided a very complex and awkward situation to deal with: she's literally a child with worrying tendencies, and Carol and Tyreese tried everything they could, but as soon as it went south Carol immediately did what had to be done.
When Terminus turns out to be a shit show, as soon as they get their chance they tear the place down. Similarly with Gareth, no messing about - dispatched in episode 5x03 in no uncertain terms. Fast forward to season 9 and when those rogue and homeless Saviours remnants turned up and confronted Carol, they were dispatched at the earliest opportunity later in that same episode again in no uncertain terms.
Yes, the whole Negan arc in S7 and S8 had plenty of issues, and those have been discussed at the time and plenty since (and I too have had plenty to say about the failings, but in a fair manner), but TWD is leagues ahead on the issue compared to FearTWD. Troy and that rubbish villain from 4B are the two most egregious examples. Both were rotten to the core and it was painfully obvious. That said, they have done some things well - moral grey area characters like Strand and the little girl in Season 4 (her name escapes me right now) have worked well and their decisions have made sense and been true to their stories.
I absolutely agree about "too many episodes". It has been true of FearTWD since season 2's massive jump from 6 to 13 episodes, and even more obvious since the jump up to sixteen ruddy episodes. TWD has generally fared much better with 16 episodes per season however they also definitely need to trim down to, say, 12 episodes per season (six and six). I think that would really help trim out all the fat. Ideally it'd be 10 episodes in one shot, but hell will freeze over before AMC do that.
In this day and age with so much choice for viewers, long seasons just aren't justified in my opinion. There's also lots of pragmatic reasons - these shows take a long time to make, so that puts pressure on the people making them. What about their family time? What about other career opportunities? No wonder popular actors jump ship for other more lucrative opportunities, or just the chance to spend more time with their families. A smaller number of episodes would allow for those involved to explore other things or just have more down time, and in the end that would make them happier and less likely to jump ship. All TV shows need to be thinking far more about sustaining themselves in these manners. Even just from a writing perspective it would be a win-win.
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Originally Posted by Buzzbomb
Does feel a bit of a stretch, doesn't it?
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OH SHIT!!!!
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