The Walking Dead Villains: Who’s The Worst, Part 7

Spencer

I was initially going to reserve this spot for Eugene, but, then, my brother reminded me of someone who I’d completely forgotten: Spencer.

It’s easy to see why, in hindsight: With Eugene willfully joining The Saviors, and Spencer having died back in December, his antics got completely just pushed out of my mind.

However, I intend to make up for my earlier error, and address the heinous actions of Deanna’s remaining son.

To be quite honest, Spencer did only one thing to earn his spot on this list, but, it’s a doozy: He attempted to betray Rick.

Now, you could argue that Eugene did, too, but, Spencer attempted to convince Negan to kill Rick. Say what you want about Eugene, but, when Eugene came to the gates of Alexandria with a megaphone, it was to talk Rick into surrendering; He was trying to minimize the amount of deaths he was sure was inevitable.

Of course, it isn’t simply the fact Spencer wanted Negan to kill Rick, it was his motivation for doing it. Spencer wasn’t doing it to try to save lives, like Eugene, but, because he wanted to run the community.

Spencer, essentially, wanted Negan to kill Rick…to gain power.

Because his mother had chosen Rick to lead the community instead of him, Spencer had become jealous; He believed he was entitled to lead Alexandria, like it was some kind of dynastic monarchy.

While the betrayal itself is bad enough, it’s the timing of it that bothers me the most. By that I mean, if Spencer had been obvious about his desire to lead from the get-go, I’d find it easier to swallow.

However, Spencer suddenly started getting ambitious after The Saviors go on the offensive? Where was all this sage advise about “Making a deal with them when we could have” when The Group was taking it to The Saviors? I remember Morgan suggesting not resorting to violence, but…where was Spencer?

Like any sleazy politician, Spencer waited to become the purveyor of dissenting opinion when it was convenient for him. Then, while Rick was out with Aaron — You know, working to keep Negan appeased — Spencer saw that as his opportunity to get Negan to do what he was too chicken to do: Remove Rick.

Spencer is not quite the same level of backstabber as Shane was. However, while Shane’s behavior was based largely on his inability to deal with the apocalypse and his attempts to cope with it, Spencer had no such excuse. Spencer’s actions were based entirely on his own natural jealousy, his political ambition, and his cowardice. In a world where so many lives are at stake, people need leaders, not self-serving politicians. Rick is the former, Spencer was the latter.

Next: Tyranny With A Smile