Thats the trick with TV shows that have season arcs. There always has to be something bigger around the bend.
TV shows used to be episodic. Stories contained to one episode (sometimes two at the most) story arcs. Doctor Who suffers from the same thing as TWD. TV shows with grand story arcs tend to paint themselves into a corner. Ever since LOST, that is how these shows have been run.
They should go back to the older way of TV story telling. Lose the grand season arcs.
People get bored easy these days. You'll rarely see long running tv shows in the future. I suspect that NCIS may be the last of those. Let's face it, most dramas are just the same thing over and over. Conflicts and resolution.......on to the next conflict.
that's all well and good, but when each seasonal story arc is the rehashing of the same thing, that's what makes people lose interest. Even Breaking Bad had 'seasonal' arcs if you will, all the while tying into a greater story arc, but point being is, it CAN work (seasonal story arc) as long as they are different per season. TWD has been un-original since S4....it's the same **** every season. The comic writers had (key word HAD) a good idea at first, and ultimately, a 3-4 year run at best with this material. it's gone on way too long and they are still churning them out (comics).
The problem here is the apocalypse part of it. The fact that they dont meet people often.
Shows like dexter or supernatural or buffy the vampire slayer are also formulaic and tend to have the same plot over and over. But their world and the other supporting characters make the show interesting enough to watch
Plus we tend to take for granted the fact that the world in those shows is still going on and these characters sometimes have jobs or other things going on. That might sound funny but when buffy or dexter go to have a coffee or go do research that makes it interesting.
This show is not only a zombie show but a survival show.
Rick has no double life or no second job. They only have one mission, dont starve to death.
The show is not even about the human drama sometimes,
It becomes a survival show and for them to still be worrying about starving by season 7 is getting old.
It is realistic, but boring by now. Seeing rick struggling to find food or shelter is not as interesting.
The lack of people in the towns they visit is getting old.
It is the little things. This show is not the only one that recycles plots, even cartoons like spiderman constantly recycle their plots
I guess apocalyptic shows will reach a dead end that other shows dont reach ( as much)