The Walking Dead
had no hesitation when it came to killing offnkey characters in the series, and that was one of the selling points of the show, but there were moments when this tactic backfired, and deaths that felt hollow, and disappointing. The Walking Dead had a spectacular 11-season run, with several spin-offs that came during the run and after. To this day, it remains one of the most widely loved zombie apocalypse shows ever made, but that doesn’t mean the show was flawless.
From killing characters who had so many episodes that promised development and an onward arc, to simply killing others in the background in such a way that they could have been entirely missed, TWD’s kill streak had some lacking entries. The show also had certain actors who left or were written out of the story prematurely compared to comic counterparts, which was also a disappointment for fans of the comics that inspired the show. However, some deaths were considerably worse than others.
10
Laura
Laura joined The Walking Dead way back in season 6, when she appeared as one of the members of the Saviors. However, her time on the show saw her progress and change in many ways. She moved up the ranks in Negan’s community, before eventually leaving the Saviors and becoming a leader in Alexandria. Then, she became a soldier in the Coalition when several communities rallied together to defend themselves from threats like the Whisperers.
Related
Rick & Daryl’s First Scene In The Walking Dead Season 1 Shows Why Their Friendship Is The Best In The Series
Rick and Daryl are two of The Walking Dead’s most important survivors, and their first scene together proves why their friendship is so great.
However, despite Laura’s long history in the apocalypse, and having faced and survived many different threats, her end is swift and sudden. While attempting to rescue Mary from Beta, she manages to free Mary and distract the attacker. However, Beta overpowers her, breaks her neck, and leaves her for dead. The issue here was less the death itself, and more the aftermath, as it wasn’t clear that Laura’s neck was broken, and thus, she could have been left knocked out, but the show never acknowledged her again to confirm things one way or another.
9
Alden
Alden similarly had his start in the Saviors camp. However, he quickly left the former group in order to support those at the Hilltop, where he began building a life and family for himself. He became a respected member of the community, and eventually became a close ally of Maggie’s in Alexandria.
Despite the growth and time spent developing the character, his death was not afforded the opportunity to be delivered on screen. Instead, Maggie leaves him to guard an empty house, and has him promise to be there when she gets back. Playing on the emotions of this scene, the next time Alden appears, he is still at the house, but he is a zombie, having been killed in the line of duty. It feels disappointing to have a character that meant so much never get a final moment or struggle on screen, and that is what happened here.
8
Dale
Dale was one of the original characters in TWD. A member of the group since Atlanta, and the voice of reason and morality when everyone was on the brink of crossing the line. In the comics, he survives for far longer than his TV counterpart, and he plays a role that is similar to Hershel’s during season 2 and 3, where he helps to keep the group in tune with their own humanity.
Related
10 Ways The Walking Dead’s New Spinoffs Are Better Than The Main Show
The Walking Dead’s recent spinoffs have reached a consistently high standard, and they do some things even better than the original series.
However, as the first member of the core group to die, and early in season 2, Dale’s influence was short-lived. The character was simply bitten and shot by Daryl before he turned, but this felt like an unceremonious and cold way to say goodbye to such an important character early on. The show would obviously continue this reputation at times, but Dale’s death in The Walking Dead stung as the first.
7
Andrea
Andrea is another original member of the survivors group, and she is one who developed a close relationship with Dale when they traveled together. Later on, she decided to join with the Governor in his new community, but this ultimately led to her downfall due to the Governor’s deceptive ways. However, Andrea was never a pushover, which made her early death all the more disappointing.
She is tied up and trapped by the Governor in a small room with Milton, another person who betrayed the Governor. Milton is initially told to kill Andrea if he wishes to leave alive, but he turns a knife on the governor only to be killed. Then, his body is left in the room with Andrea to turn and eventually kill her. However, there appears to be a long time between Milton’s death and his transformation. Despite this, the moment when Andrea vigorously tries to escape and breaks her bonds is as Milton’s zombified body approaches, which frees her just in time… to be bitten.
6
Sasha
Sasha went through a lot in her time on the show. She first appeared in season 3, along with a small group of survivors who were all killed long before her. She continued to work with the other survivors until season 10, becoming a pivotal member of the team, but her demise was underwhelming to say the least. After being captured, Sasha gives up all hope of alternative plans of survival, and she takes a cyanide pill given to her by Eugene.
Related
Should The Walking Dead universe end in the next few years?
The Walking Dead premiered in 2010, and since then, several spinoff series have been released, with more planned for the next few years. As the main series is over, the franchise’s future could go one of two ways. Either the current spinoffs with beloved Walking Dead characters — with possibly more coming — build to a crossover event and end the franchise, or the universe goes on beyond them with fresh characters and stories. More than a decade after The Walking Dead was released, I find it hard for the franchise to remain as popular after Rick, Negan, Daryl, and others leave.
This death was intended to cause an attack on Negan when he opened the coffin where she was being held, but there was no guarantee Negan would be the one to open it. On top of that, it feels like a huge departure for the character. Sasha was a fighter through and through. It would have made more sense for her to stand her ground and escape some other way, but instead, it felt cheap and weak as a death for such an important character.
5
Isabelle
Isabelle was one of the primary characters in the TWD spin-off, Daryl Dixon. She was invaluable as an ally to Daryl, and helped to protect and raise Laurent for over a decade. However, despite her central role, and her longevity after the apocalypse occurred, her end was sharp and in some ways lacking.
Isabelle meets with Losang, and with the character revealed as an antagonist who was working with the Genet, Isabelle lashes out at Losang. She lands a clean slash to his face, but with the aid of his henchmen, Losang has Isabelle restricted from moving. He then simply stabs her in the stomach, allowing for her to bleed out slowly, and die a painful death. It felt like a frustrating way for the characters to meet their end, and one that was disproportionate to their contribution up to that point.
4
Beta
Beta, as the name suggests, was the number two in command of the Whisperers. He was a huge hulking figure, who constantly wore a Walker skin mask to conceal his identity and blend in with the dead. However, he also appears to be unstable, viewing himself as one of the walkers despite being alive. After causing a lot of trouble, Beta is put down with relative ease.
Related
8 Possible Replacements For The Walking Dead’s Main Villain
With major threats like Genet and the CRM being defeated, The Walking Dead lack a central villain leaving the franchise in need of a replacement.
Daryl manages to stab the giant in the eyes, and that causes the mand to seemingly give up. Despite spending so long defending and protecting his tribe, he stands in the middle of a crowd of Walkers and embraces death willingly. He appears almost gleeful at the prospect of becoming part of the horde, and overall, it’s a hugely disappointing end to one of the most menacing and powerful villains in the show’s run.
3
Tyreese
Tyreese was another great leader who appeared in TWD early on. When he and his small band of survivors met Rick and his group, Tyreese was hopeful that they could combine their efforts and become stronger. While initially hesitant, Tyreese proved that he was a worthy asset, and he earned the respect of Rick’s group. He was also focused on morality and striving to stay human despite the dire circumstances.
Regardless of his hopes and intentions, Tyreese suffered a sad fate when he was bitten on the arm by a Walker. While amputating the infected flesh could prevent the spread, the group was slow to act, and Tyreese hesitated to proceed. After a considerable wait, his arm was chopped of, but by then, it was too late, and the infection had spread further. In addition, he lost blood to the point of almost dying. Michonne then had to sacrifice him before he could reanimate, but overall, it was a disappointing end for a character with a lot of potential.
2
Beth
Beth was one of the most interesting and compelling characters to be introduced after season 1. She was the younger sister of Maggie, and daughter to Hershel, and despite her age and size, she proved how determined and strong she could be. After bonding with Daryl, and learning how to take care of herself, Beth is captured by the group living out of an old hospital, where she once again becomes an asset to their people.
Related
Will The Walking Dead season 12 happen?
The Walking Dead ended with season 11. At the moment, there are no plans for the series to make a return for season 12 or more, as the focus of TWD universe is on the spinoff projects that are currently airing and other possible ideas of how to push the franchise in exciting new ways. However, multiple people involved with the shows have talked about the possibility of doing a crossover event between the spinoffs, reuniting characters like Rick and Daryl at least one more time. While it should not be called season 12, that reunion has to happen at some point.
However, being a prisoner, she wanted freedom, and longed for the moment when her found family would find her again. Daryl and the others did arrive to rescue Beth, and they managed to set terms to take her away without more problems, but Beth decided in her final moments to step up to Dawn, the leader of this community, and stab her fatally. Dawn was holding a gun, as were many of the others in the hallway, and Beth was shot in the head, resulting in a needless death that killed off one of the most promising characters on the show.
1
Carl
It’s clear who lands the first place spot for most disappointing death on the show, because it literally marked a turning point where the show started to really go downhill. Rick’s son, Carl, had been set up from the very beginning to be the best of the next generation. Growing up in an apocalypse, he was a tough kid, but he also cared deeply about others, and he had a lot to live for with a family consisting of his step-mother, Michonne, his father, and his baby sister, Judith.
Carl proved how capable of a leader, negotiator, and inspiration he could be, but his end was heinous and completely uncharacteristic. He was always careful, could handle a horde of Walkers on his own, and rarely made mistakes, but his death threw all that aside and saw him get bitten by a single Walker. To add insult to injury, they dragged out his death to cover two episodes, and tease the character a little more before finally shooting himself to avoid turning in his final The Walking Dead moments.
Based on one of the most successful and popular comic books of all time, AMC’s The Walking Dead captures the ongoing human drama following a zombie apocalypse. The series, developed for television by Frank Darabont, follows a group of survivors, led by police officer Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), who are traveling in search of a safe and secure home. However, instead of the zombies, it is the living who remain that truly become the walking dead. The Walking Dead lasted for eleven seasons and spawned several spinoff shows, such as Fear the Walking Dead and The Walking Dead: World Beyond.
- Release Date
-
October 31, 2010 - Finale Year
-
November 30, 2021 - Seasons
-
11
- Streaming Service(s)
-
Netflix
, AMC+ - Directors
-
Greg Nicotero
- Showrunner
-
Frank Darabont
, Angela Kang
, Scott M. Gimple
, Glen Mazzara
