An interesting question because there are several ways to interpret the show and your criticism of the show has to be based on whatever that interpretation is.
In listening to Robin's podcasts on this show, I have felt for awhile that the reason he might not enjoy the show as much as some others (although he obviously enjoys it enough to continue to invest time in watching it and recording the podcasts) is that he has perhaps set the bar too high and expected more out of it than the show was ever intended to give.
To me....the show is first & foremost a real-action version of a zombie genre comic book. It is horror and post-apocalyptic. It inherently deals in drama because as much as it's a story about zombies, it's even moreso a story about people. And stories that involve people - no matter what kind of story you're telling - is going to deal in relationships between people, i.e., drama.
As the show was based on a comic book - a comic book which was not a mini-series but rather a story that was supposed to be ongoing - it is therefore a show where the overall arc is unknown even to those who are creatively involved in it.
For me, the dramatic aspects of the show are secondary to the fact that these people are living in a world where death is thrown at them from multiple directions. Survival is a 24/7 job and in order to survive you must be creative in your survival as well as skilled.
It does seem that our heroes (and human villains for that matter) are like Pac-Man....the more skilled will hang around longer....but ultimately - the ghosts will get you.
But maybe not? Their ability to survive....and how they survive.....and those that ultimately don't survive....it's why I keep watching.
