The Best and Worst ‘Walking Dead’ Characters This Week (Feb. 12)
Don’t Be a Braindead Walker
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Characters on The Walking Dead tend to be more than a little mercurial, switching from murderer to pacifist, sane to insane at the drop of a hat. Coupled with the fact that people die on a regular basis, rapid change in temperament makes it difficult to pick a long term favorite or least favorite character. That’s why TV Insider is putting together a weekly list of the best and worst Walking Dead characters.
This Week’s Best
Rosita
Rosita, as a character, has more often than not been defined by her relationship to others, but this week, she got a chance to prove her worth. It’s easy to forget that Rosita is a trained combatant when she spends most of her time bullying Eugene or throwing barbs at her former romantic rival, Sasha. But with her bomb expertise on the road, she got a chance to remind everyone that she’s a soldier, which is exactly what the group needs with a war looming.
Rick
If there’s one thing Rick Grimes isn’t, it’s a diplomat. His first interaction with Alexandria was punching Aaron in the face, his first interaction with Hilltop was getting in a fight with Jesus, and his first interaction with the Saviors was murdering an outpost full of them in their sleep. So, it was an especially refreshing turn of events when Rick actually made a good first impression meeting Ezekiel. This was a Rick about as far to the reasonable side of the lunatic-leader spectrum as he ever gets. He showed Ezekiel an appropriate amount of respect, and his argument for banding together against Negan was surprisingly coherent, if not entirely effective.
Honorable Mention: Enid
Gone are the days of Enid standing with one food out the door of Alexandria, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Now that Glenn is gone and Maggie is establishing herself as a force to be reckoned with in Hilltop, Enid is ready to commit. Her work to rally the residents of Hilltop against Negan (and Gregory) proves she’s done with her flip-flopping, for now.
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This Week’s Worst
Morgan
Morgan had a chance to save Rick and Maggie from what promises to be weeks of vacillation by Ezekiel, but he threw that chance away, along with millions of viewers’ hopes for a more evenly paced second half to Season 7. Instead of learning from his previous run-ins with the Saviors, Morgan is still clinging to his repeatedly disproven pacifist ideology, which under normal circumstances would be admirable, but in the Walking Dead landscape is just an added frustration.
Ezekiel
It’s understandable that King Ezekiel doesn’t want to send his subjects to war, but The Walking Dead has tread this particular ground so many times before. Thematically speaking, viewers don’t need another Morgan, and with so much filler in the first half of Season 7, Ezekiel’s hesitance comes across more as cowardice than wisdom. The problem here isn’t exactly with Ezekiel’s character, but with the fact that he’s presenting yet another roadblock to moving forward with what’s becoming a painfully drawn out plot.
Dishonorable Mention: Gabriel
Gabriel has a pretty bad track record when it comes to turning on those who are closest to him. Based on Rick’s reaction in the episode’s cliffhanger, it seems like that’s not what Gabriel was doing this week, but taking all of Alexandria’s supplies without mentioning it to anyone was still kind of a shady move. Hopefully next week’s resolution justifies Gabriel’s late night antics.
