Let me preface this by saying I love 'The Walking Dead'. I will be there every Sunday watching it and loving every second. But honestly it feels like every half-season is similar to another. It is either we are comfortable in this safe zone, but there is an enemy on the horizon. Or we have the one where they are travelling to a new location. The reason a lot of people don't call the show out on this is because of the execution of it. Some half-seasons are better then others. The first season was fantastic. It was short, and it had enough time to tell one full part of the tale, but not too much to waste. None of it dragged, and it didn't feel like the writers were out of ideas. Season 2 was a mess. They shouldn't have dedicated the first half of the season trying to find Sophia. That was a waste of time and episodes. 3 or 4 episodes would've been enough. Then the second half of the season was also a bit of a bore. It seemed like every episode Rick was at odds with Lori, Shane, and Hershel. When it feels like that every episode, then you have a problem. The end started to make up for it, especially Shane's final scene and the barn burning. Season 3 was great in the first half, but fell flat at the end of the second half. That season was the most stable, because we were at the prison for the majority of it. I liked the prison. It was a nice location, and brought with it the Governor. These people fought for the prison. And when the show brought about the introduction of Woodbury, it added an element we haven't seen in the show. These were two towns that weren't going to leave each other alone in peace. Once Woodbury took Glenn and Maggie, there was no friendship between the two safe-zones. The war was overly extended, though. The Governor was kept on too long. The big war should have been at the end of season 3. Instead it drags all the way to the season 4 mid-season finale, and we get at least 2 boring episodes in the first half. The Governor focused episodes weren't that good in my opinion. They tried to do Granted the mid-season 4 finale was one of the better episodes of the series, the first half still dragged. The second half of season 4 was worse. Splitting the group up was a terrible idea to me. I understand wanting to give the characters more time to develop, which I am okay with, but a lot of the time it just dragged on and on and got really boring. The finale was also a bit of a snoozer. At least the first half of the episode was. When they got to Terminus in the season 4 finale, the episode really picked up and I got excited for season 5. If develop the stories like they did at the end of the season 4 finale, then I feel season 5 will be the best season, yet. Another problem with this show is the lack of knowledge in developing women. I only feel like they have one strong female character and that is Carol. Lori was instantly hated by everyone. That was likely due to her back and forth attitude and her lack of importance in the group. When her time was over, Andrea took over the role of most hated women instantly for the same reasons. Both of this women were stupid. They made stupid decisions and just took stupid stances. Beth is pretty worthless in the group, hence why she was kidnapped. The writers did themselves a bit of a favor there. Maggie has kinda turned into a MacGuffin for Glenn. I feel bad for her, because she could be so much more interesting. Michonne is back and forth. I feel she is at her best when she bonds with Rick and Carl. When she opens up, I feel like it falls flat. Carol is always consistently strong. She makes the decision that are best for the group, even when no one would agree. She doesn't take any crap anymore. She is just a strong female character on this show. I think what keeps people coming back to the show, though, besides the zombies, is because people are just interested in seeing where the story is going. They want to know where how close it stays to the comics, and where it goes down a different path. People want to see the gruesome zombie kills, their favorite characters, and the mystery of what's next. This show is about to enter its prime and I am excited to see where it goes.