User:7839Paul/How Kang is Ripping Off Gimple and Getting Praise for it

The Case
Out of everything she stole from Scott Gimple, I will be focusing on the easiest to explain which is structure. This is a classic example of "can I copy your homework as long as I change it a little bit?" I feel like the easiest example is how she copied the Savior Arc for the whisperer arc, although I can also do other aspects of structure. People are giving Kang an A for something that they gave Gimple an F for. Anyway, let’s get cooking. Again, I am only focusing on Savior Arc vs Whisperer Arc.

1. Both Kang and Gimple used a finale and premiere to introduce the antagonist after they technically appeared in a mysterious matter earlier. The technical introduction is the protagonist side finding out what they are facing with the antagonist side for the first time. Saviors were 616 and 701. Whisperers were 908 and 909. In both introductions, someone major died. For the Saviors the main antagonist killed Glenn and Abraham. For the Whisperers, a minion (not the main antagonist) killed the leader of a main community which is something even Negan couldn’t do no matter how much he tried. This was just done to raise the steaks from the last villain but it is still the same thing. The stakes would have to be raised either way, so I don’t know if you wanna give Kang a cookie for doing what she was supposed to do, but you can if you choose to I guess. Also both instances had a cliff hanger between the episodes. I know the savior cliffhanger was worse, you don’t have to tell me that.

2. After the antagonist (Negan) was introduced, Scott Gimple used the next chronological episode which was Season 7 Episode 3 “The Cell” to make the audience learn more about him. We also saw his brutality towards his own people on a deeper level and more personal level. This is different than Negan bashing two men’s skulls upen and hammering their brain into the ground and acting like an evil bastard in front of the opposing group. What did we see in Season 9 Episode 10 “Omega”? I’ll give you a minute. OH SHIT, REALLY? Yes. We saw the same thing with Alpha through her Flashbacks and Lydia’s characterization.

3. Note: I know many of you in the talk page will say "Kirkman just wrote the source material simularly" and "she is using inspiration. To bust these myths, I will be using the same sentence to 100% describe the next comparison to a tea. There is a difference between corbon copying and taking inspiration/remixing. Season 7 Episode 4 “Service” was the antagonist (Negan) causing conflict on the Protagonist’s home terf, Alexandria. It also had a raise the steaks aspect of people with a fire under their ass going on a wild goose chase to save Olivia’s life, which was the search for the 2 missing guns. This ended with Negan getting what he wanted which was the two guns. Episode 704 was the antagonist punking the protagonist. Season 9 Episode 11 “Bounty” was the antagonist (Alpha) causing conflict on the of the Protagonist’s home terf, Hilltop. It also had a raise the steaks aspect of people with a fire under their ass going on a wild goose chase to save Alden and Luke’s lives, which was the search for 2 wild teenagers. This ended with Alpha getting what she wanted which was her daughter. Episode 911 was the antagonist punking one of the protagonists.

4. Season 7 Episode 7 “Sing Me A Song” was seeing the antagonist (Negan) on his own home terf through the lense of Carl. We also get to see how Negan acts in Carl’s presence. There is also a scene where Negan pushes an Iron on Mark’s face. This was a scene used to educate the viewer about the savior's rules. The episode ends by Carl no longer being on Negan’s home terf. Season 9 Episode 12 “Guardians” is seeing the antagonist (Alpha) on her own home terf through the lense of Henry. We also get to see how Alpha acts in Henry’s presence. There is also a scene where Alpha punishes two whisperers for doing something to piss her off. This was a scene used to educate the viewer about the whisperer's rules. The episode ends with Henry no longer being on the whisperer home terf.

7. The climax of Season 7 first half was 7x08: Negan killing multiple (2) people on the Protagonist’s side on the protagonist’s home terf. What was the climax of Season 9B HOLLY SHIT! REALLY! Yes, 9x15: Alpha killing multiple (10) people on the protagonist’s side on protagonist home terf. Well I’ll be damned. It looks like Kang will also follow the Six Point Plot Structure like Gimple did, which puts the Whisperer Finale at S11 E8. I hope they are over in Season 10, only so it does not drag along but the structure says otherwise.

Filler Episodes??
The following episodes were the 3 episodes which were not mentioned above. In both half seasons, there was 1 half filler episode and 2 total filler episodes. 1. 705 is just a Hilltop catchup/establishment episode with some savior action and other drama within this group. It also has a side story completely indepndant from the main plot with Carl and Enid. 913 was a Daryl, Connie, Henry, Lydia, and Doggo group catchup/establishment episode with some whisperer action (particularly with Beta) and other drama within this group. It also has a side story completely independatn from the plot with the highwaymen. Episode 705 and 913 were both half filler episodes. 705 only served as a way for Carl to escape and foreshadowed Maggie's superiour leadership skills. 913 only served as an intro for the Highwaymen, some fighting action, and orgnic changes of character (especially in Daryl).
 * Note, I know there were side stories in the above five episodes I did not mention, but as I said before my main focus was on the Negan Arc vs. Alpha Arc comparison. I can easily make it wors and compare the side stories in those episodes too.

2. 702 was a 100% non negan filler episode that intorduced the kingdom. Only negan there was is 2 seconds of Gavin's group but that doesn't really count because it was a part of kingdom back story. Just to clarify, filler is not at all a bad thing. Filler is only excess story to make the structure work. I personally liked episode 702 as a good introduction episode although it was not my favorite episode in the series by far. 914 was a 100% non whisperer filler episode that revealed the X-scar mystery. Yes it was a stellar episode and one of my fovorites in the series, but the whole X-scar thing from a writing perspective was filler. Again, filler doesn't mean it was bad.

3. Episode 706 was a 100% non negan filler episode with it's own story (the Oceanside) going on that does not tie back into anything else going on. It was literally Tara in Heath getting lost, Heath getting kidnapped, Tara hanging out at Oceanside, and then Tara going home with the knowledge of the Oceanside. Episode 916 was a 100% non whisperer filler episode with it's own story (the Storm) going on that does not tie back into anything else going on. There was no whisperer stuff at all besides the Alpha and Beta BDSM and that scene was under a minute. It is literally our heros fighting a storm, character drama, and the Kingdom moving. I loved the episode, but saying it wasn't filler is completely false from a writing perspective.

Conclusions
I am excited for Season 10 (aka Season 7B and Season 8A) despite this critisisum.