The show is much more different now than it was in the fantastic Season One, with Frank "Shawshank" Darabont at the helm. I re-watched the pilot the other day and the cinematography, score and acting where all fantastic. The use of silence for much of the episode is greatly missed, imo.
Whenever a zombie(s) shows up I want to feel scared. Not, oh there's another zombie. When a character dies I want to feel sad. Not, oh, he or she is dead. Bummer. However thankfully it seems that Gimple is rectifying the previous mistakes and crafting a much more engaging story
I would agree with this. Season 1 was much better in terms of quality than the following seasons.
In addition to this, the biggest factor for me is simple:
The comic is better is almost every respect.
After season 2 of TWD, I started reading the comic book, and I realized why so many people were annoyed at the plodding pace of Season 2. There are very few changes I actually like more than what the comics did for this show. I could start listing specifics, but honestly, the list would just be too long. When it comes down to it, the biggest problem with the show vs. the comic are the
stakes.
The comic was very much GOT-style in terms of it's storytelling. No one was safe from death, except Rick. Basically everyone was at risk of dying, it didn't matter how cool that character was or how much of a main player they were, they could, and would, die. The show hasn't had the balls to live up to that kind of storytelling yet. They got closer with the mid-season finale, but even then, if they were going to do the equivalent shock-value that the comic had for that moment, it wouldn't have been Herschel under the Governor's sword, it would have been Daryl. (Who is equivalent to the character that got offed in the comics for that moment).
When you adopt the "no one is safe" kindof story-telling, the fear is always there. And that is how you SHOULD feel with this kind of show. You should honestly be worried every time a character is in a dangerous situation. But because of how this show has been written, I'm not. In the comics I'm constantly at the edge of my seat. The show desperately needs that kind of tension.
That said, I still enjoy this show quite a bit. But after reading the comics, I'm much harsher in my assessment of it, because I've seen how amazing it could be.