Valter Núñez

S3800489
The Walking Dead and its Recap Culture

The Walking Dead​ has started a lot of conversations around itself. It has been almost
10 years since the pilot ‘​Days Gone Bye​’ aired, which attracted millions of viewers to
AMC’s​ series. With 10 seasons already created, and at least one more confirmed, ​The
Walking Dead'​s success has not only been achieved by the writers, directors, producers
and actors. It has been through Recap Culture that the show has become one of the
most popular series in the modern era.

For the sake of this article, ​Recap Culture ​is defined as the expansion of recap
authorship and consumption (Lynch 2018). This includes summaries, analysis,
behind-the-scenes content and predictions for the show. The ​recap ​content is created
by both official (the creators of the discussed series) and unofficial (fans and specialized
media not related to the creators) parties.

Now let's talk about the show. ​The Walking Dead​ is an american post-apocalyptic horror
show, where the goal of the main characters is to survive. In this comic book-based
series, there are millions of undead human-eating beings roaming the planet. However,
the series focuses on a small group in Georgia, United States and the story of how they
adapt to the new world they live in. The members of said group change a lot, and some
characters that are considered secondary in one season can become main characters
in another.

AMC ​continuously provides the ratings for ​The Walking Dead​. This may seem
old-fashioned, but it has a big purpose. By giving away the ratings, prospective viewers
can see how successful a show is and how many people are watching it (Lynch 2018).
By knowing you are not alone in watching a specific show, a sense of community is
created. People now feel like they can discuss what they are seeing with a lot more
 Valter Núñez
S3800489
people. That there are millions out there sharing this show with them. That they are not
alone.

When talking about the ​The Walking Dead​ community, we talk about masses. Mass
culture has become a bad term in the last few years. It is an apocalyptic idea that
threatens our society (Levine & Newman 2012). However, that is not the case now.
Mass culture around TV has evolved and is now not only accepted, but seen as good.
Part of this transformation is because of the existence of ​Quality TV​ shows like TWD
that provide a good topic for conversation and analysis to anyone keen on doing so.

While some people might argue that the show is dead, numbers tell another story. Its
subReddit alone has more than 1 million followers, which can engage with other fans by
creating of commenting threads about the show (2019). The season 10 trailer has
almost 2.5 million views on ​YouTube ​with 6,000 comments approximately (2019). The
average score of the series in ​Rotten Tomatoes​ is 81% for audience and 91% for critics
(2019). After almost 10 years, ​The Walking Dead​ is still a popular topic of discussion.

As stated before, recap content can also be created by official parties. In the case of
The Walking Dead​, they created ​The Journey So Far​. This 2016 movie is focused on
the behind the scenes content of the first 6 seasons of the show. It has interviews with
the cast at that time and the ones that left the show before. The main purpose of it, of
course, is to provide more content outside of the main series. By giving away little
secrets of the show, ​The Walking Dead​ fans feel a stronger attachment to it, since they
feel as part of the crew that created the series.

The grim look of ​The Walking Dead​ helps its ​Recap Culture​. ​Quality TV​ nowadays has
a darker mood almost always. It almost feels like the seriousness is an attempt from
shows to distance themselves from their soap opera roots (Alsop 2015). In regard of
TWD,​ we have some clear examples of it. In season 5, the episodes with the highest
 Valter Núñez
S3800489
viewership are ​The Suicide King​ and ​Welcome to the Tombs​. By the mere name of the
episodes, the viewers know that it will not be all fun and games. Series like ​The Walking
​ long with its seriousness, appeal to a big group of viewers.
Dead, a

The Walking Dead​ is one of the shows with the biggest active communities today. And
this has been achieved through its recap culture. The show has provided a lot of ‘extra’
content in the ​AMC ​platform, which includes interviews and behind the scenes content.
The main purpose of these content is to create a conversation.Nowadays, fans of the
series can discuss their favourite shows in platforms like Reddit and YouTube, as well
as consuming official ​Recap ​content. By providing more content that is not part of the
narrative but it is from the show, ​AMC​ takes the lead in the recap culture of its famous
show. The success of ​The Walking Dead i​ s due to the conversations its viewers
generate.

Word Count: 824

 Valter Núñez
S3800489
What ​does​ ‘television’ mean for me in my life?

I have never really thought about my television viewing habits. Not until this semester
anyway. When I was a kid, I watched quite a lot of TV, but as I grew older my habits
changed. I thought about TV as something that makes the country stupid. TV is a mass
communicator, and mass culture is often seen as something horrifying (Levine &
Newman 2012). I never thought Netflix was considered TV, honestly. However, now that
I​ do​ know, I can take a real insight into the impact of TV in my life this semester.

I have relied on ​Netflix ​as my main TV provider. In Australia, I don't even own a TV.
Most of the shows I watch are in either the Australian ​Netflix ​or the US one, for which I
use a VPN. The ones that are not, I watch on ​YouTube​, ​DailyMotion o
​ r, rarely,
download them illegally. This semester I just used the first two. ​Netflix,​ especially the
US one, has pretty much everything you could need. Aside from the Disney content that
just got removed, ​Game of Thrones,​ ​Chernobyl​ and very specific shows like ​The
Legend of Korra​, ​Netflix i​ s my saviour.

The Time-Use diary was the most useful tool to understand my viewing habits. I tend to
​ nd ​Genre TV. ​I really enjoy how rewarding it feels to watch a
watch a lot of ​Quality TV a
show continuously. ​American Horror Story,​ for instance, continuously give away specific
rewarding narratives to the viewers by bringing back characters from other seasons.
And the only way to really enjoy those moments is by watching each and every season
of the series. Another show I watch that uses that a lot is ​Star Wars: Rebels. ​By
connecting old characters and stories, like the Clone Troopers, with the new series,
adults feel rewarded and happy, even if the show is intended for young children. When I
first saw Ahsoka Tano and Captain Rex in Rebels, it gave me chills!

However, the thing I most cherish of the shows I tend to watch is the community and
​ s said my Andrew Lynch
conversation created around them, or the ​Recap Culture a
 Valter Núñez
S3800489
(2018). Sticking with ​Star Wars: Rebels​, there were not that many news portals talking
about it, compared to popular shows like ​Game of Thrones​ or ​The Walking Dead.
​ nd several ​Star Wars Facebook g
However, ​Reddit a ​ roups engaged a lot with each
episode. Even today, a year after the last episode aired, the subReddit is still creating
threads, pointing to newer theories. Interestingly enough, most of them are not even of
the show. When I saw something interesting in ​Rebels​, I immediately stopped the show
and looked for clarification on Reddit or the show’s ​Wiki. ​Having all the knowledge about
what and how is everything happening makes the show feel more important and
powerful.

The Time-Use diary also highlighted that I tend to watch TV alone. That is not that of a
surprise, considering I am an only child and my roomie is not that into TV content. I tend
to watch one episode or movie before going to sleep almost every day. It has become a
ritual of sorts. Watching TV marks the end of my responsibilities and the beginning of
my leisure time.

Most of the content that I do not watch alone is ​Reality TV, ​specifically​ Extalón México.
The show is divided into 2 main parts: an obstacle course and the drama part. I believe
it is created in that way in order to not be categorized as ​Reality TV,​ as shows like ​Big
Brother​ are seen as ‘unclassy’ in Mexico. However, as said by Su Holmes and Deborah
Jermyn in ​Understanding Reality Television (2004) ​, sometimes ​Reality TV ​is a hybrid,
as it attempts to avoid general classification. I only watch the sports part, but I do it
while talking to my parents. We discuss the show while it is running, as there is not
much talking and there is available. We like to try and predict the outcome of each
match, as they are fond of the team that I am not. I watch just the sport bit because I
don’t like the drama and stuff the producers do. They create conflict where there is none
for ratings. I believe the obstacle courses can’t be faked and seeing real mexican
athletes competing in difficult circumstances also gives a bit of a nationalism spirit.
 Valter Núñez
S3800489
Analyzing my viewing habits was not easy at all. I am not used to it. However, the task
became easier with the Time-Use diary. My first reflective post was more of a narrative
of my life around TV. However, now, I did a much better job as I had way more
understanding of several aspects of TV, thanks to the course. Whenever I watch TV
now, I notice, for instance, how the mise-en-scene helps the narrative the show is trying
to tell. I know understand why they say that a picture is worth a thousand words.

Word Count: 831

References:

Alsop, E 2015, ‘Why Prestige Dramas Like GoT & True Detective Are So Bleak’​,​ ​The
Atlantic, ​8 July, viewed 27 October 2019,
<​https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/07/true-detective-game-of-t
hrones-bleak-television/397577/​>

GameSpot Universe Trailers 2019,​ The Walking Dead - Official Season 10 Trailer |
SDCC 2019​, YouTube, 19 July, viewed 27 October 2019.
<​https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie_6qO0B8AU​>

Holmes, S. & Jermyn, D. (eds.) 2004, ​Understanding Reality Television​. Routledge,

New York.

Levine E, Newman M 2012. ‘Another Golden Age’ in ​Legitimating Television:​ ​ Media

Convergence and Cultural Status. ​Routledge, pp.14-37.

Lynch A 2018 ‘The Last-night’s Watch Game of Thrones, Contemporary Recap Culture,
and HBO’s Continuing Legacy’ ,in V McCollum, G Monteverde (eds), ​HBO's Original
Voices: Race, Gender, Sexuality and Power​, Routledge, ​pp.155-168.

Reddit 2019, r/TheWalkingDead, viewed 27 October 2019,

<​https://www.reddit.com/r/thewalkingdead/​>

Rotten Tomatoes 2019, The Walking Dead: Season 10, viewed 28 October 2019,
<​https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/the_walking_dead/s10​>