The Walking Dead universe has been infected by terrible villains

Over time, however, the infected who once elicited terror became like ants milling around in a house—unwanted but easy enough to get rid of. Instead, TWD adamantly made the case that humans were the true monsters (shocker!), relying on their worst impulses to survive in this bleak new world. That’s why Shane’s (Jon Bernthal) slow but inevitable heel turn was a crushing blow, as was the collapse of Alexandria and challenges to the group like an unwell CDC scientist, a militant officer in a hospital, escaped convicts, crazed cannibals, and authoritarian leaders such as The Governor (David Morrissey).  

So far, spin-offs led by original characters haven’t captured an iota of the dread that watching early TWD evoked. In their respective sagas, Negan, Maggie, Daryl (Norman Reedus), Carol (Melissa McBride), Michonne (Danai Gurira), and Rick face off against a roster of villains painted with annoyingly broad strokes. Take Daryl Dixon, in which Reedus’ crossbow-loving lead finds himself in Marseille. Even across the ocean, series creator David Zabel apparently had no desire to turn in a fresh take on how the world is coping. Daryl’s enemies are now fluent in French, but they still feel like shells of the villains this franchise has presented before. 

The same problem derails TOWL, which was co-created by Gurira, Lincoln, and TWD vet Scott Gimple. In it, Rick and Michonne reunite after several years apart, but their sentimental conversations aren’t enough to bolster this dull series. The couple works together to bring down the Civil Republic Military (CRM), referred to in TWD often as a cruel organization, so Rick can be free and go home to his children. TOWL arrives with these pre-established stakes, but the CRM’s corrupt structure is dismantled in no time (and with zero buildup) by the duo. The spin-off’s greatest error, though, is wasting the presence of Lost‘s Terry O’Quinn, who stars as a CRM leader but isn’t afforded meaty dialogue. 

Hiring talented actors and not letting them chew the scenery is an issue with Dead City, too. Lisa Emery stole the show in Ozark as a gun-toting psychopath, but she mostly just lingers around as The Dama, who is seemingly killed by fire in season two just when she was getting a juicy backstory and more pathos. (That said, we don’t see a body, so Emery may return in a last-minute finale curveball.) Similarly, Kim Coates is cast here as a blubbering, monologue-loving combatant who already looks easy to defeat. It’s all so foreseeable. As a franchise, TWD has apparently lost its ability to marry suspense and character-driven stories. And all we have now are multiple recipes for disaster.