Another Marathon

    So it's another Saturday night and I'm in the middle of another marathon of "The Walking Dead" (TWD) on AMC. I've seen the series up to tomorrow's episode at least three times, yet here I sit.
     What is it about this series that makes people like me feel like drug addicts waiting for their next hit? Is it the mystery of how the dead come back to feed on the living? Is it the violence and gore? Is it the adventure of the survivors' struggle?
     What appeals to me about this show is a little bit of all of that. Zombie movies have always been a favorite for me to watch. The idea a corpse can re-animate and feed off the living is fascinating to me. I guess this version of the apocalypse is less horrifying than a post-nuclear version. Then again, I can remember having "nukemares" as a kid after ABC aired a mini-series called "The Day After". The living dead can be dealt with a little easier than nuclear detonations.
     The storytelling in TWD is tightly-written and pulls no punches. Could we have gone without seeing Glenn and Abraham getting bludgeoned in the season seven opener? Sure, but I don't think It would have had the same effect on the audience. Show runners have said the more loved a character is, the more painful their death will be. Seven's premiere was even more viscerally painful than when the Governor killed Herschel or Beth bought the farm. The deaths changed the group dynamic in some manner. Herschel was the voice of wisdom in the chaos. Beth was the group's hope for the future. Glenn was the resolve, and Abraham was the crazy-courage. After each loss, the group has had to find those things down different avenues.
     It's how the characters interact with each other and their situation that keeps me tuning in. How far will each person go to keep the group alive? How will they ever be safe with scores of walkers roaming the streets? How will they ever find peace with predator groups like the Saviors bearing down on them? Will Carl ever get a decent eye patch? These questions are burning in my mind.
     Up until the mid-season finale, the group has had to suffer the wrath of Negan and the Saviors. Daryl has had the worst of it, stranded in Negan's version of the Hanoi Hilton. I can still hear "Easy Street" playing in the back of my mind.
     The marathons are a good idea, and AMC knows it. The buildup they create leading into the next season or half-season is large. Personally, I can't wait to see if they kill Negan or let him rot in a cell like they do in the comic. It's difficult to imagine the former. Negan's too good a villain to get whacked in a single season. The threat of him escaping and causing havoc would be a great tension creator down the road. Either way, I'm sure there'll be a marathon before we find out.
     Of course, this is just my opinion. I could be wrong.