When did “The Walking Dead” jump the shark?

[Gesamtkunstwerk]

You could argue it fell off already at season 2, but I think the general consensus is that it tanked pretty hard at season 7 (Negan war) and they sealed the coffin when Carl died/Rick left.

[worldwide angel]

after 

Spoiler

glenn’s death 

 

 

season seven just felt like a marathon. i vaguely remember the saviors storyline but i believe i checked out until the finale….which i forgot all about

[TheBoss]

On 3/8/2023 at 4:45 PM, Negev said:

Killing Andrea on season 3. Dumb and unnecessary. It kept going worse from there on out. 

THIS, I stopped watching after that

[UnusualBoy]

The show became way too repetitive, each season they arrive to a different location, they face an enemy, he killed a main cast, they kill and the repeat but I think the final nail in the coffing was when they introduced Negan and his whole arc, they dragged it out for 2 seasons then Carl died then Rick left, it became a mess.

[Breathe On Moi]

the season when that lion appeared and was eating people or whatever 

 

I totally checked out after and never watched again 

[Leptine]

I stopped watching with the end of season 8, the show became too much repetitive for me, I was exhausted honestly.

[Karla Cabello]

On 3/8/2023 at 4:45 PM, Negev said:

Killing Andrea on season 3. Dumb and unnecessary. It kept going worse from there on out. 

that. and it didnt even happen in the comics lol 

[fountain]

For me it got old once they reached Alexandria. The locations prior were iconic like the farm and the prison, and the earlier communities like Woodbury and the hospital were interesting, but I found Alexandria so boring. 

 

Also the killing of so many characters came back to bite them... it definitely worked in keeping the stakes high in the show at first with how ruthless they were in cutting out significant characters, but then they went off the rails with it and it kinda had the opposite effect of its intention where instead of worrying about the characters you just stop caring because you know they'll probably be killed.

[Taylor Sniffs]

When they killed off Hershel

[Alldeezy]

When they killed Glenn. Tho I stopped watching around S3

[Saddy]

Season 5 or 6, I don't remember

[Mr.Link]

Imagine depicting a literal apocalyptic world where humans eat each other because of a mortal disease and waste like 40+ episodes on two groups of locals shooting each other over some piece of land or a prison cell…

[kweenofxanax]

Everyone is making points here. In terms of popularity, a lot of people got turned off by the waiting time for a lot of the episodes just to end up watching a filler that had no place in the midst of what was happening. I remember the frustration every single time we hit midseason like 

 

In terms of quality, the decline for me was around the Negan era. But things picked up nicely and we got some really good episodes S9-10. I'm still perched on that standalone Rick and Michonne series coming out next year which again is absolutely ridiculous.