Assignment Five – Jessica Ewing

Television, while not the primary grandeur of the film industry, has certainly stepped up its game in its competition against large movies and films. Arguably, television has surpassed movies in certain aspects, such as its ability to tell a story. Especially with streaming services such as Netflix containing the ability to push out what is essentially an 8-hour movie, just in 1-hour pieces, all at once is quite telling of how advanced television has become.

Personally, I watch TV shows for their story. The characters, the plot, the development and overarching storylines of individual people and places in the TV show all can be far more developed than in a movie. That's why shows like Game of Thrones and Stranger Things are considered two of my all-time favorite television series, and why The Walking Dead is at the bottom of that list.

While Game of Thrones has a reputation of not-so-subtly pandering to an adult male audience, this is a far-outdated rumor. Especially since its third season, the show has really settled into itself, developing and becoming my favorite TV show just due to its phenomenal storytelling and ability to keep its audience waiting to see what happens next. (And can we talk about the season finales of seasons 6 and 7? So much theory confirmation, I couldn't handle it.)

Other the other half of that coin falls The Walking Dead. While a decent show up through its fourth season, it quickly turned into a wheel of plot and storytelling. Character development abruptly halted, with characters doing thing entirely out of their moral or personal boundaries, with no qualms or worries from any other character. The repetitive nature of the show's plot lines began halfway through season 4 and continued through 5, 6, and 7, with only different relationship dramas and minor character deaths to allow the audience to vaguely tell them apart.

When I watch a TV show, I want to escape to a different world. That's why enticing stories and realistically diverse and developed characters appeal to me. They help to create this new world that hopefully I'm going to become invested in.