The Walking Dead gets stressful

Elizabeth Both

Opinions Editor

Sunday nights are no longer focusing on traditional family dinners; it’s now filled with an hour of The Walking Dead. The hit AMC show has been going crazy with their ratings. In March 2015, the season five finale drew a stunning 8.2/10 rating among adults ages 15-49, and had 15.8 million viewers.

 The spin-off summer show Fear the Walking Dead achieved major ratings during its first season, especially the pilot episode, which broke a cable record with 10.13 million viewers. What is this saying about the nation? Do we crave a zombie apocalypse to participate in a fluid manner, or would we want it turn into cannibals and chaos?

The Walking Dead is a fantastic show, it has clever writing keeping the audience on their toes (what happened to Glenn?!), and beautiful camera shots throughout all seasons. Back when it first premiered, not a lot of people knew about it other than fans of the comics it’s based off of. I sadly only started watching it in the middle of the third season, but my family and I could not stop watching. It’s pure entertainment.

 The fact that the show airs on Sunday night is insanely tough since it’s a school night. Most viewers don’t get to sleep until 11:30 p.m., after watching The Walking Dead and the aftershow, The Talking Dead.

 So far this season is as good as it gets. The show is extremely stressful and the whole vibe is different than last season. Last season there were cannibals, abusive husbands, and unnecessary deaths (Noah, Tyreese, Bob). The group was looking for a place to live, and especially after Terminus, they were scared of connecting with anyone.

 The current sixth season is ending right after Thanksgiving (what a way to end the holiday), and the nation has to wait until February for new episodes.

 So far this season, each episode has been taking place over the course of just a couple of hours. There are at least three different stories going on, so the waiting time is even longer to get answers to cliffhangers. Glenn has been the biggest mystery so far: is he dead or alive underneath Nicholas’ guts?

 I think Glenn is not dead as of right now. In the comics (spoiler!) he is killed by the ultra villain Negan (who was just casted and the producers have confirmed will appear in 2016).

 As a major scaredy cat myself, I am surprised I can handle watching this show. Between cannibals, disintegrating zombie skin (which I tell myself is just the result of some crazy makeup since it looks so gross), and mass zombie attack scenes (guts being ripped out, seeing people get eaten alive) this show is not for young viewers. It may sound quite revolting, but it has intense, well written scripts for each episode. The writing is so well done that it keeps viewers wanting more. If the show was lazily written, The Walking Dead probably would not have the same hype that it does have now.

 The Walking Dead brings my family together for a special Sunday dinner. Nothing quite says family bonding time like watching the zombie apocalypse unfold. The show is likely only going to get more intense and bloody, but at least my family is right beside me.  

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged amazes the community

Hannah Goulding and Claudia Kolinchak
Staff Writer and Features Editor

Thursday, Friday, Saturday night! Mask and Zany performed The Complete Works of William Shakespeare directed by Teddy Carroll in the Stephen J. Buck theater. It was a play that hilariously highlighted all the famous scenes of Shakespeare's main works. Tyler Brennan, Flo Minniti and Josh Searle made the audience roar with laughter with their twist on every piece of literature that Shakespeare has to offer. From the start of the play, opening with the famous Romeo and Juliet, the actors portrayed the highlights of the play perfectly and with humor that made the whole audience invested in the show. Every single play or sonnet was put in a way to make even the characters portraying them have a plot. It made the play even better when the actors had their own spin off where they would talk about themselves and would have their own issues to face. Towards the end of the play, the actors even had the audience participate in portraying a play and it definitely made the audience enjoy what they came to see. Overall, the play was amazing to watch and it did not fail to make the audience impressed. Amazing job to Mask and Zany, you have once again made a wonderful play.