Eons ago, I started watching this show called The Walking Dead.
After a few seasons, the show started getting old. Same basic plot, different particulars. More dead people. Zero investment in any of the characters (why bother if they’re going to die?).
Boring.
One of the things I really loved about the first season was the fact that people hadn’t lost their humanity in the midst of an apocalypse. My wife and I came to the conclusion that we like it because it’s a story of hope. It shows what the human spirit is capable of in the most depressing and hopeless of circumstances. My wife normally hates zombie flicks…but she liked this show, at first.
I mean seriously. The fact that anyone is still alive is amazing. But…that people are trying to live normal lives is even moreso.
Then, when you see acts of heroism…people saving other people’s’ lives…
Well…let’s just say I’m not surprised the show has lasted as long as it has.
And then… the writers got lazy (as they usually do after about the third season of anything). You start to see people’s dreams crushed over and over. You start to realize there is no reverence for human life, and that the cast of characters are nothing more than zombie fodder. I think the producer or director of the show admitted as much at some point. I know some will argue “but Dave, the drama! Drama makes the show”. No arguments there. But, after about 3 seasons, it’s pointless drama.
Which is, unfortunately, how some people’s lives really are—pointless drama.
It took me decades to figure out that what makes a good television show (at least for me) is when everything is thought out in advance and there’s a beginning, middle, and end. Drama, sure, but it has a point.
Same with financial planning. A beginning, middle, and yes… and ending point where you’re not just endlessly revising your plan and reacting to things in life.
