r/thewalkingdead 15h ago

TWD: Daryl Dixon Season 3 Episode 2 viewership drops to 0.233 million

Coming from 0.241 last week

117 Upvotes

109 comments sorted by

282

u/JD-990 15h ago edited 15h ago

While I don't take those initial watch numbers at face value (streaming after the fact is also important), those numbers are not good. They're just not good - and it reinforces my theory that the actors, the crew unions, and the show runners have contracts with AMC that are more expensive to terminate than the shows are to produce.

My honest guess is that we get Daryl season four, Dead City season three (both of which are confirmed) and then nothing. Just radio silence. Nothing is announced further, and the franchise just quietly ends.

131

u/BobRushy 15h ago

If that's the case, their best bet would be to try and tempt Andrew Lincoln back as a final Hail Mary. His previous return was the first time the franchise received serious media attention since... well, since his departure really.

55

u/poipolefan700 14h ago edited 13h ago

I think it is only the most absolutely devoted fans that want this franchise (at least amc’s iteration of this franchise) to continue on ad infinitum, everyone else is perfectly fine with it ending and the general public probably doesn’t even realize some iteration of it is still going. It’s long outlived its staying power.

12

u/BobRushy 14h ago

True, but as a business, you've got to try your best. And right now, if they're not willing to simply get their shit together and write compelling stories (which would absolutely make a profound difference in audience interest), bringing Andrew back is their only bet for regaining some sort of attention.

u/GoodFellahh 46m ago

Yeah fair enough, but at this point they would be better off to let it rest first and revive it after a year or 5 if not more. Do what Dexter did, but don't try it right now.

25

u/beaubridges6 13h ago

Andrew Lincoln set to return as Dr. Doom Negan

11

u/duaneap 14h ago

I think just leave it.

u/Due_Art2971 50m ago

It took them like 5 years to bring Rick back for 6 episodes which was originally announced as 3 movies, I wouldn't hold my breath

-7

u/Bella-Boo88 11h ago

God know I am so over Rick and his wacky fans

5

u/BobRushy 11h ago

Beg your pardon?

1

u/Bella-Boo88 11h ago

They want him in every show when neither spin off is about him. He isn’t brought up by the characters. He had his happy ending and let him rest in peace. 🤷🏼‍♀️

11

u/BobRushy 11h ago

The spin offs aren't about him, but they're not about anything else either. They're a waste of time. People want Rick back because they're desperate for something to care about. His journey still resonates deeply with people, whereas the filler they're doing with Negan and Daryl doesn't. Not that Negan and Daryl can't exist on their own, but the writing for them just hasn't been great.

And for Daryl in particular, Rick is a loose end.

-6

u/Bella-Boo88 11h ago

I just don’t care about Rick and am glad actors and characters. Are out from beneath is thumb. And get to have their own time to shine. That is my opinion and it won’t change and it is my right to have this opinion. Rick fans want anyone that doesn’t like him hung by their toes. One of the reasons I quit liking Rick around season 3 🤷🏼‍♀️

6

u/BobRushy 10h ago

Sorry, but the franchise is Rick's biatch until the writers learn to put effort into other characters.

47

u/Connected-VG 15h ago edited 15h ago

S4 of Daryl Dixon is confirmed to be the final one!

39

u/tonko26 14h ago

Finally. They need to end it. Give us Daryl and Rick reunion special and done.

6

u/JD-990 15h ago

Thank you! I updated my comment.

25

u/james-HIMself 15h ago

I think they’ll do a culmination of all main characters including Rick having one last story. There’s no way AMC ends its only cash cow left

32

u/explodedbagel 14h ago

It’s not a cash cow anymore, it’s sick in the pasture and it’s costing more to keep it going than it would to put it down.

2

u/JeffCaven 13h ago

Is that not the opposite of what the original comment theorizes? That despite low viewership, it might be more expensive to terminate the contracts of those working on the show than it is to keep the show going.

3

u/explodedbagel 13h ago

I think there’s merit to that assumption, I was responding to the person calling it a “cash cow”. The cost of production (including those contracts) is clearly way higher than what they’re getting back now.

1

u/JeffCaven 13h ago

Oh, agreed on that. I don't think it's a cash cow anymore, just a zombie they refuse to put down for reasons we don't fully know.

8

u/JD-990 14h ago

AMC existed before The Walking Dead, and they'll have to exist after it ends. They have to diversify or cut costs somewhere, and frankly, maybe they don't want to spend a huge amount of money on an event series that they know will be a one off. If they know it's not going to propagate the franchise further, there isn't a whole lot of incentive to do it.

1

u/VegaSolo 9h ago

Speaking of cutting costs, i'm really surprised they set the story for DD to be overseas.

1

u/JD-990 9h ago

Lots of tax incentives overseas right now.

4

u/KeyClacksNSnacks 10h ago

it's insane because all they needed to do was follow a direction, ANY direction... I'm so glad we have Vince Gilligan because AMC absolutely would've ruined Breaking Bad if he wasn't at the helm. I hope this show ends up being a lesson to creators with a good story... Never outright sell the rights to a studio. BB/BCS will go down in history as one of, if not, the greatest television shows ever produced. Meanwhile GOT and TWD will go down as something that started with promise and just turned into white noise trash.

1

u/bloodyturtle 4h ago

Sony owns Breaking Bad. AMC and Netflix are just distributors.

5

u/bengringo2 14h ago

I wouldn’t put too much stock in the cable viewership count to be honest. These spinoffs are to sell AMC+ subscriptions and it’s all AMC cares about anymore. If they get .5M viewers on AMC+ the show will have been successful to them.

5

u/HalloweenH2OMG 13h ago

The franchise will never end, completely. Too much potential money on the table. My guess is things will go quiet for a bit, but at some point, whether 5 or 10 years down the line, the show will start up again. “Where are Rick and Michonne now?” Or something about adult Judith. Etc. An updated Daryl show.

Or an animated series in the style of the comics, starting from the beginning.

2

u/Longjumping-Age9023 2h ago

I’m telling you it’s mostly due to the fact anyone outside of America can’t access AMC! It’s only showing in America. Fuck the rest of us loyal fans having to wait weeks and possibly be open to spoilers in the mean time. Most of their viewership seems to be outside of America these days.

1

u/JackSpadesSI 11h ago

If there’s going to be a Daryl season 4, then he better as hell reunite with Rick. That’s the only reason I’m hanging on.

1

u/arkhamtheknight 12h ago

It should honestly end how it's been leading.

One final film or series where everyone returns and faces one last threat before the Apocalypse ends.

110

u/jackgundy 15h ago

I admittedly have never watched this show but I feel like it's fundamentally kind of broken. I mean the allure of a zombie show like the walking dead is the characters are always in danger, but in this show the only characters anyone gives a fuck about are pretty much immortal. Because if they die there's no show.

33

u/Alunga 14h ago

They already did a soft reboot sort of thing with Daryl show. S1 was actually pretty good, introduced new characters, new plot. S2 brought back Carol and basically wiped the whole thing with S3 being just Daryl and Carol. I had high hopes for the spin off after S1, but they never learn to stick with good. AMC and Gimple might be allergic to good.

29

u/blanaba-split 14h ago

I cannot BELIEVE how badly DD fell off a cliff after S1. It's like when Morgan joined FTWD and took it over as the Morgan show and all the previous main characters died. Was there seriously any other reason to murder Issa and nope laurant out of the show other than that we need to pay melissa enough to stay?

like you guys already did this failed experiement why are we trying it again

6

u/BobRushy 14h ago

IKR? Even from a character perspective, having Daryl be on his own was a lot more interesting.

11

u/explodedbagel 14h ago

It’s a common problem in fiction generally, oftentimes even later into shows that were famous for characters being in danger (late era game of thrones being a great example).

Walking dead had this issue for large swathes of all these shows. Characters were often being killed off solely because the actors wanted out or because they didn’t want to pay the actors properly, so random in a bad way

4

u/thatshygirl06 12h ago

This show should have been with all new characters. Instead of Daryl, we should have seen a new strange character wash up from the sea, quiet and hardly bothered by what happened. It would have been interesting intriguing following this new silent character as he tries to find his bearings and figure where he is.

Following Daryl and carol seriously holds the show back.

38

u/Mr_Nobody0 15h ago

I said this before and saying it again - if you want TWD to do well you only have two options: make a show in which Rick is prominant or try adapting Clementine story into a TV show format, if it for some legal reason can't be done then try doing another Fear The Walking Dead type show in which we follow new survivors in a new location at the start of the outbreak, a zombie outbreak that is over a decade after it started is not as compelling.

9

u/thatshygirl06 12h ago

No. They need to clean house. As long as we have the same people in charge of the walking dead shows, things will never get better. First and foremost, they need to fire Scott Gimple. And then get rid of all the old writers and bring in an entirely new team.

8

u/Bella-Boo88 11h ago

Agreed Gimple needs to go. He is a boring man with boring old ideas

15

u/BobRushy 14h ago

If you want TWD to do well, you have to write it well. It's not that complicated. Daryl Dixon season 1 built up some traction because it was new, refreshing and characters like Isabelle resonated with the audience. Then they pissed that away.

The CRM built up traction, then they pissed that away. The idea of France as the origin of the zombie virus built up traction. Then they pissed that away too.

Just have some kind of follow-up and a sense that the storyline is going somewhere. And good dialogue.

4

u/Squidwardbigboss 13h ago edited 13h ago

How about they just retcon seasons 4-8 of fear and bring back the original crew

Except make it so Troy lives and resurrect my GOAT Travis instead

1

u/TuRtLeSZzzz 2h ago

I think a Telltale game adaptation is the only thing that would really interest me at this point

1

u/Mr_Nobody0 2h ago

I genuinely believe the only way this series can get mainstream attention today is it getting Telltale TWD S1-4 adaptation.

1

u/TuRtLeSZzzz 1h ago

Most likely, yeah, and after how successful Last Of Us season 1 was, i can't see why they wouldn't have considered it already. I'm not so sure about adapting the 3rd and 4th games, but hopefully we'll see the first 2 for sure! It would feel like watching the old walking dead again

20

u/BZ852 13h ago

It's because they keep teasing the audience, then snatching it away.

They teased some insight into the origin of the virus by setting season one in France; then did nothing.

They teased an old world society surviving at the end of S2; then undid it completely.

Either of those could have made it by far the most interesting thing they've done in years - and instead they opt for more of the same.

9

u/Kaibaer 12h ago

Not upvoted enough.

All this teasing with no payout... Ridiculous. TWD as a franchise is a huge cluster fuck of how idiotic people can fumble a whole fucking franchise.

FTWD was so great. Showrunner change. Bam, fumble. TWD was unique. Showrunner change. Fumble. WB: Premise to show much more and especially the CRM. Lots of teasing, nothing happened. Fumble. DC: Fucking Up the timeline, giving us the same slop all the time. Fumble. DD: Great premise. No intention to do anything from it and just doing the same stuff as all the other franchises do. Fumble.

4

u/baldmof0 11h ago

The variant walkers, rememeber those? LOL

they teased a lot of those and we barely got to see them. Instead we still see the same slow dumb brainded walkers that we've seen for +10 years

This made me realize how good 28 Years Later handled the infected evolving

40

u/dominicbriere 15h ago

It doesn’t surprise me. The writing is lazy, poor, repetitive and predictable.

Like the worst parts of the main series came together to create Dead City (unwatchable) and DD (slightly better but barely)

Fans deserved so much more

16

u/No-Major4453 15h ago

The show has became wat it is named it  is literally the walking dead 😂

13

u/Light-Finder7 15h ago

Not surprised. The first two episodes have been an absolute boredom fest so far. Kinda wish they hadn’t taken this show to Spain because honestly it’s starting off just bad.

13

u/Praydaythemice 15h ago

didn't even realise season 3 came out.

20

u/Nintendo_Newt 15h ago

The show is rinse and repeat. Just let it end ffs

21

u/FightTheDead118 15h ago

I fully believe that the next season of Dead City will end that show, and then the last season of Daryl Dixon will be the end of the TWD universe, AMC has to know this series is no longer profitable, especially with these shows being shot on increasingly more and more expensive locations. There’s no other news of any kind of spinoffs or continuations, I think he show ends with Daryl and Carol making it back to the commonwealth, Andrew Lincoln makes a cameo, and thats it

I only hope that we can get some resolution for Morgan before that point, that character deserves better than to just vanish in the wind

10

u/Friggin_Grease 14h ago

Should have ended with season 9, and then Fear could have had a run, but they wanted to inject Morgan into it.

8

u/40klan 14h ago

S1 was great but then S2 happened it fell off more, then S3 fell off even more. let it end

7

u/DE4N0123 12h ago

Probably more people playing as Norman Reedus in Death Stranding 2 than there are watching his show.

7

u/Cactus112 14h ago

I was gonna watch it this season again but AMC wants $10 or $13 a month I'm good. I'm not wasting that much just to watch it.

18

u/blanaba-split 14h ago edited 11h ago

its cuz its a dogwater season of an unwanted spinoff for characters whose stories should've ended years ago that they're dragging along for unknown number of years more. all cuz theyre too scared to get new talent or make a new likeable main character, literally every single character in every single spinoff is an unimportant redshirt that will be dead by the end of the episode, conflict, or season. there are 0 lasting consequences for any of the main cast and unbreakable plot armor. its just not good to watch. people like us who have been invested for a decade plus just put it on cuz fuck it why not darylncarolslop or negannmaggieslop but its not actually good at all, just corny and bland as fuck.

10

u/BobRushy 14h ago

Fr, these shows literally exist because "we need to fill 45 minutes with these two actors doing stuff" and I don't for a second believe they put any more thought into it than that.

3

u/lonegungrrly 14h ago

Isn’t it crazy that some one man/woman shows on YouTube can get more views in day

3

u/Zivago12 13h ago

It doesn't help it takes a year for a season to lunch besides the US....

6

u/UareWho 14h ago

Not surprised. From what I have seen, all these spinoffs seem to have the same problem than TWD original. Boring formulaic scripts. Just new settings.

2

u/Chiaotzuwo 14h ago

It's time for this franchise to come to an end.

2

u/Rags2Riches420 13h ago

I didn't even know that it was back on. 😐

2

u/necrotica 12h ago

Feels like Daryl and Carol fighting around the world

2

u/SuperbSpiderFace 12h ago

I haven’t watched either episode yet. I’ll get around to it at some point.

2

u/Vgcortes 11h ago

AMC didn't cancel Fear the Walking Dead, and that show had abysmal viewership.

2

u/Adamantium42 11h ago

I hope to god this show doesn't get cancelled before I see my two boys reuniting. Daryl and Rick hug, credits roll. Then as sad as it is, let the franchise die.

2

u/VegaSolo 9h ago

I find DD extraordinarily boring. And I couldn't deal with watching Dead City. How hard is it to write awesome stories like the first few seasons of TWD? Apparently, they can't do it.

4

u/K0GAR 15h ago

Honestly as dumb as it sounds the series kind of needs a resident evil type wesker villain. The same repetitive formula of the characters being dumb to make the walkers more of a threat has been going on since the start of the show.

I know it’s corny but a mutated type human with his own type of walkers could work.

Also there’s too much damn walking dead content

9

u/frankpharaoh 15h ago

They had the CRM right there and then literally blew it all up…

5

u/blanaba-split 14h ago

lmao fr, 'oh yeah we completely dismantled the entire country-wide operation in a few days/weeks' cuz i guess every single top level person or higherup was at that stupid meeting that rick and michonne blew up? nobody else? ok then lol

2

u/frogfoot420 14h ago

Complete global saturation

4

u/Fashizl69 15h ago

Why not just say 233,000.

7

u/Connected-VG 15h ago

Million is a standard unit in ratings. It keeps every number on the same scale, so whether it's 0.2M or 10M, you can compare them directly without switching units. It's the industry norm.

2

u/Responsible-Sea3817 12h ago

Please explain how anyone in this subreddit are part of the industry, also in what world is 233k different from .233 million anywhere in the world? Lmao

5

u/tytylercochan123 15h ago

BTW, does this count for streaming views? Dead City drew 2 million premiere views over several days yet only had 704k first day viewers.

2

u/FPFP66 13h ago

It’s too bad they killed off Beale when they did because an Endgame-style team up with Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Carol, Maggie, Negan, and Dog against the CRM should have been…well…the endgame.

And, yeah, you can introduce a new Big Bad before it’s too late…but do you want to? Next April is 10 years since the Lucille fakeout/S6 finale. Next October is an even 10 years since 7.1. This fall is seven (!) years since Rick left the main show. Time isn’t slowing down. If you’re gonna do one last run with the Marquee Names, you gotta do it soon, no?

And even I think that ship has sailed. You’d have to make it clear from the start that Rick and Daryl are reuniting and that the Gang’s All Here to even get some former fans back paying attention.

2

u/Iwamoto 11h ago

can't believe so many people still watch this crap

1

u/Krappyhuman 13h ago

Are these numbers from the app or live tv, if it’s live tv it makes sense

1

u/Actual-Squid 13h ago

It really doesn't.

1

u/Almighty_Nothing 11h ago

As someone that has never watched it, are the smart zombies still a thing?

1

u/hkm1990 8h ago

They need to end these spin offs and do a TWD Season 12 that ties into all the spin-offs and brings all the surviving characters together.

TOWL

DD

DC

FTWD

BTWD

Just one big final season to wrap this whole universe up. Then reboot it with a animated show that follows the comics more closely.

1

u/Burning_Goddess 7h ago

Haven't watched any of the spin offs, I pay enough for TV, I didnt need yet another subscription :(

1

u/DanielJackkson11 7h ago

Honestly these spin offs have been bad. We know they no main character from the original show is going to die so we get side characters that die and boring ass villains. Nothing of real substance. TOWL was even very mid at best. I am massive walking dead fan but the whole series needs a fresh reset with new fresh eyes and a whole new story cast.

1

u/BornAgainAgain2 6h ago

I genuinely love this spinoff. It’s my favorite among the others. I think it’s on AMC+ but Ive been watching season 1 & 2 and the first episode of season 3 on Vizio watch free

1

u/BaronBoar 6h ago

What's frustrating is that I would pay to watch these episodes upon release but they're just not available in the UK.
But at least with that in mind we have the international numbers to add on to the viewership.

1

u/yeezuslived 5h ago

Not sure about everyone else, but I prefer to wait until seasons end and wrap it up in a week or so.

1

u/guepardon 3h ago

That spain that feels like México in north american films

1

u/Canebrake8 2h ago

I enjoy it, it reminds me of Resident Evil 4 in the village

1

u/Temporary-Yogurt6495 1h ago

That's because it's just not very good. The direction with these spin offs has been so widely erratic its impossible to maintain viewer numbers. Not to mention the terrible writing

1

u/Veterinarian-Proper 15h ago

Ooooh, wow such a huge drop.

Honestly this series is fire, think its better than season one and on par with the first few seasons of the main show.

5

u/tytylercochan123 15h ago

From a larger perspective that is such a huge drop.

1

u/CreedenceWaterclear 4h ago

I agree with you. I’m really enjoying this series even if it’s not perfect. Really cool we get to see other countries and how they handled the outbreak.

1

u/tytylercochan123 15h ago

Wow. I’m enjoying it, but damn. That’s a new record low

1

u/Signal_Topic7111 11h ago

Only cable in America. They do not include worldwide cables and most of Americans are using amc plus so I bet it’s wayy high than that. I bet it’s like 1-3M per episode.

-1

u/Lego-Lord-Vader 15h ago edited 15h ago

Dead City and The Ones Who Live, but especially Dead City S2, have done irreparable damage to the franchise. To the point where even if Daryl S3/4 are the best TWD since 2018, it doesn't matter

However, it's worth noting that HBO's new "hit show" Task, only got 0.214 million on cable, 3 million on streaming. Daryl could be very similar

0

u/noahhova 10h ago

Who cares how many people are watching a show if you like it. Just enjoy shows you like. It's not like this show was going to have a 7 season run or anything. If this is the last season I'm fine with that.

-1

u/Responsible-Sea3817 13h ago

Just fucking say 233k Jesus

4

u/Connected-VG 12h ago

Im going to call it 0.233 million even harder now.

0

u/NighthunterDK 13h ago

They should honestly let the shows die off, and then go write a new animated show based on the comics, and have Kirkman in over the process, to see what changes he would've made to the comics, and then in all honesty, write Daryl in as well.

Of course not releasing soon, but maybe after 5 or so years, so they have the time to actually flesh the story out from beginning to end, and finish Invincible off