[Poison Shadow]

I'm kind of glad Beth didn't get more screentime. Ideally she wouldn't be coming back at all. I liked her before "the epic quest for booze" with Daryl and their country club exploits. They made her annoying real quick, which brings me back to my point when I said characters become unlikeable the more they get featured.

My comments about the budget were only in reference to the average zombie count, makeup and the overall quality of their practical effects. I forget which episode it was, but there was a point where Maggie stabbed a Walker in the eye through the prison fence and it was just so painfully clear that it was half of a puppet held up on a rod. I'm sure time constraints factor into it too, and there's nothing that can be done about that... but things like that get noticed here and there, and it takes you out of whatever is going on. Still, at least they're using practical effects rather than overusing CGI.

The show has its moments. Barnageddon, the Governor's second assault on the prison... they're just few and far between. The quality of the show would greatly benefit from a reduced episode count, maybe even back down to the original six of the first season. At this point that'll never happen.

I don't think more cursing would make that much of a difference, aside from a few lines packing the proper punch. It definitely wouldn't be worth the tradeoff of having pointless, utterly gratuitous sex scenes, like you said. I can't stand to watch that Game of Thrones crap that people incessantly tell me I NEED to watch. Tried it. Hated it. I'm tired of people around me bothering me about it.

But that's just me. I'm more of an Army of Darkness, Z Nation, Sleepy Hollow kind of guy anyway. Nothing taken too seriously, everything done with a smirk or played for a laugh. That's what I find entertaining.

I do like the Walking Dead toys, though.