'The Walking Dead': 5 Critic Reactions Slamming AMC's Season 6 Cast, Plot And More

"The Walking Dead" season 6 has been getting rave reviews, but not every critic's response has praised the start of AMC's latest cast and plot. Here are five statements from qualified outlets that slam the new batch of episodes.

1) We Got This Covered

It's also classically plodding storytelling that only "The Walking Dead" can accomplish. Full of characters talking around an event rather than discussing it directly and writing that constantly mistakes sparsity for cleverness, there's a diminishing returns factor on the show's entertainment value as it becomes more engulfed by its lackluster overarching plot of blunt-faced survival.

As the years go on, the treading on the tires are starting to wear and sometimes it's hard not to wonder how many times these people will stumble upon a community, witness something awful, walk for a while, and do it all over again. Repetition can breed complacency, and some fans will be just that - completely content with watching these characters struggle in this world. For the rest of us, it's just breeding boredom.

2) The New York Times

Like all zombie stories, "The Walking Dead" is a life-or-death proposition at nearly every moment. That kind of unremitting intensity stretched over so many episodes can make the question of who survives take on transfixing interest, despite dialogue that's not always convincing and an uneven cast.

The big, scary moments in "The Walking Dead" pump up the action, but they also serve a practical function: They weed out the cast, the expansion and contraction of which constitutes much of the show's drama.

3) The Hollywood Reporter

"The Walking Dead" hasn't tripped up much to lose viewers - they are insanely loyal - so the idea of doing the same thing over and over again isn't going to be the death knell for ratings. But there's always the hope that the series keeps being relevant by sticking to what makes it work (the humanity) and avoids the repetitive dramatic tricks (we trusted people we shouldn't have - again) that curtail its potential.

Here's hoping the epic opening to season 6 points to a new, unfamiliar direction.

4) Forbes

Rick is a loose cannon, bitter and reckless and eager to get things done regardless of input. I get why he's this way, but I find myself feeling exhausted whenever he's on screen.

Actually, the Alexandrians are all horribly wimpy and pathetic. It's almost too much. When a few slow walkers interrupt building operations they very nearly kill the lot of them until Morgan intervenes.

Rick's educational and training leadership skills leave much to be desired, but I'm as annoyed as he is with how brittle and cowardly these people are. I'm reminded a bit of the extras in "Lost"-these people are just fodder for the slaughter.

5) IGN

The (easily resolved) conflict here came from Ethan Embry's Carter, who sort of magically appeared in this episode along with a search team that had been away for the few weeks that Rick and his crew had been there. A slight cheat, to be honest.

Anyhow, Carter was brought in (and then quickly dispatched) to help sort of help the series bring us up to speed on the basic themes of the Ricktatorship - which was now in full bloom. Whether or not you needed a refresher on the "strong vs. weak" aspects of the show at this point is you're call. Most of it was a retread.

There seems to be an obvious pattern in this small crop of negative reviews. After six years on the air, it appears that some of the show's most enthused fans are starting to feel like its plot treads a tad too heavily on familiar ground. That being said, most of the responses weren't this harsh. "The Walking Dead" season 6 currently has a 79 aggregate rating on Metacritic.

"The Walking Dead" season 6 continues Oct. 25 on AMC.

Will these reviewers eat their words as the new episodes progress? Has the new cast and plot been disappointing? Let us know in the poll and comments section!