Lightening in a Bottle This series started off with a bang and continued with interesting characters, great makeup, and a smart script compelling the viewer to watch. Each season seemed to build off the last, with tragedies being rewarded with certain success followed by even worse tragedies. The struggles and brutality outweighed the unlikely and/or impossible and the need to watch was great. This was definitely something in the "very good" (8) or higher category at that point.
Unfortunately, after the Saviors were defeated, the show fell off into the "above average" (6) territory. It declined even further with Rick's idiotic departure, Maggie's disappearance for the most ridiculous reason, followed by Michonne's (totally out of character) mysterious abandonment of her children plummeting it into an "average" (5) range. This wasn't helped by Maggie's sudden return, which made even less sense than her departure, as well as Darrell's girlfriend's "resurrection" which morphed her into a supervillain which was absolutely unbelievable. There can be no doubt a lot of people stopped watching along the way for the reasons I stated above. Still, I am sure many hung in there wanting to watch to see how everything eventually turned out regardless.
That leads us to its conclusion. The ending was decent, with Darrell riding off to parts unknown. It had the feel, almost deja vu, of the last episode of "Lost." If it ended at that point it would have been good. However, for some unknown reason they decided to shoehorn in scenes with both Rick and Michonne, as an attempt to explain where they were, I suppose, and it completely ruined the "rescue" this last episode attempted to provide.
Ultimately, it's hard not to recommend because the earlier seasons were so enjoyable. However, it is disappointing as a viewer to watch it devolve like it did knowing it didn't have to. They had the right formula then got away from it. It's like they caught lightening in a bottle, kept it there for a while, then let it out unnecessarily.