Season 1 (6 episodes) is the only one that had a narrative track... And one they have completely ignored since then - finding a cure. There hasn't been any further discussion of how it started or how to end it since Eugene's lie. Thats a huge mistake for a zombie show. The plot is meandering and the excuses for narrative arcs we have gotten since then are pointless and repetitive, just as the Verge article discussed. There's absolutely no point to the story as the original premise has been functionally abandoned.

Season 1 was also the last time Frank Darabont was involved, and it very clearly shows. I hate the way AMC has turned this show into a soap opera in a lame zombie setting. Every episode is as pointless as a soap opera episode and the writing is just as bad.

All it takes is watching a well executed (or even moderately well executed) serial drama like Breaking Bad, GoT or even The Expanse to see how godawful the walking dead writing is.

The reason people speak with such venom about it is because we can all see how great it could be if it were handled correctly. That is really frustrating.