Yeah I think this was a pretty big mis-step. Going back to the beginning was interesting, but they spent far too little time showing the actual fall of society and civil obedience. That and really not changing the setting very much. Okay, it's Mexico, but we're basically talking hot and humid with almost no winter.
So wish they had done something with more dramatic weather shifts and spent far more time on the actual fall. I wanted there to be a point at which the characters are driven to realize they have to fend for themselves, have to protect themselves, have to survive for themselves vs. being dependent on a government to sustain them.
At this point we're just basically replaying more TWD with different (dumber) characters.
Exactly. I think the biggest reason this was done (blew through the initial outbreak and it's impact on society) was for more profit. They want to spend as little as possible on each episode and it became painfully obvious as soon as they got on that damn boat. Spend some money on world building (society crumbling) if you want this idea to succeed.
The selling point, originally, was to watch characters lose more and more control over their daily lives as society unravels. That lasted what.. 5 or 6 episodes?
Another problem is that people just cannot relate to the characters in the same way they can with TWD characters. After 6 episodes, I cared for a handful of people and wanted to watch them grow.
After 16 or 17 episodes of FTWD, I couldn't care less about anyone aside from maybe Travis, Nick (even he is testing my patience with his idiotic choices), and Strand but even then, I'm not invested in their struggle.
And.. I know these characters are much earlier on than Rick and co. but my god how many different ways can we hear the "I must go on, it's worth it.. isn't it?" lines?