The Walking Dead Season 3 finale last night had a huge audience and broke a viewership record for the AMC cable network.
An all-time high of 12.4 million television viewers watch the zombie apocalypse season-ending episode, with 8.1 million from the all-important 18-49 demographic. The season 2 finale last March drew 9 million viewers, and this year’s midseason finale captured 10.2 million viewers. No other TV series has a higher number of watchers in the 18-49 cohort (which is prized by advertisers).
The series — which is part of AMC’s Sunday night juggernaut which also includes Mad Men and Breaking Bad in the same time slot– has been renewed for a fourth season and will return in October.
It has also been announced that “the Governor” (the maniacal villain played by David Morrissey ) will also be coming back. Walking Dead fans may not be aware or remember that Morrissey played the psychiatrist opposite Sharon Stone in the widely panned 2006 sequel to Basic Instinct .
[ Spoiler alert ]: If you watch last night’s finale, what did you think of it? For many, in the culmination of a very strong season, it seemed a bit of letdown. In other words, it lacked some dramatic “bite” as it were, especially with all that buildup to the Governor-Rick prison showdown that wound up seeming to be all-too-brief and even inconclusive. Plus, the Governor and his two primary henchman were not brought to justice. And shouldn’t Andrea have been trying much harder to get the pliers rather than sitting there gabbing with the soon-to-zombie Milton? By the way, did anyone vett the people from Woodbury brought into the prison to make sure they weren’t double agents? Season 3 was nonetheless a big improvement over season 2.
Here’s one recommendation for season 4 if any of actors or producers are “listening”: The characters need to speak up. What is up with all the mumbling and throaty whispering primarily by Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Daryl (Norman Reedus)? Please, pump up the volume. In Lincoln’s case, perhaps the whispering is an affectation given that he, like Morrissey, is from the UK rather Georgia.
Are you looking forward to The Walking Dead season 4?