My main point is, is that at least in the comic book the story moves forward. Season 1 was great, the story progressed nicely. Season 2 however, they are stuck in the farm for 6 episodes looking for the lost girl while we "get to know" the characters (all of which we know from season 1 so its pretty much redundant storytelling). You are dead right, this genre is more than just the zombies, its how people deal with the situation.
I imagine the biggest problem with it is the budget restraints imposed by AMC when they cut the budget possibly forcing the writers to keep them in the farm location as long as possible, but it sure has dragged on.
The plot is like a shark, if it stops moving forward it dies.
Fair point. I'm still enjoying it (though haven't caught the newest episode yet) but I do wonder if the "MID-SEASON BREAK!!!111one" (how do they market everything as a positive these days?) has also killed the momentum. Would they stretch out the farm plot that much if they were not taking a big break in the middle, it wouldn't make sense to do it in an episode or two less and leave a new story in limbo. I hope they don't plan on splitting it like that every year.