The Walking Dead Villains: Who’s The Worst? Part 8

Jared

I said it last season, and, it remains true this season: In a group like The Saviors, it’s tough to stand out for one’s scumbaggery, but, Jared manages to rise to the occasion.

Even if I were to attempt to put all of his actions into a bubble and exclude his antics from last season, Jared still stands out for being a scumbag.

Of course, what may be Jared’s biggest crime may be the shadow of his greatest crime from last season, killing Benjamin. While Jared didn’t kill anyone this season, he made a point of gloating about killing Benjamin and taunting Morgan about it. Sure, that’s not a crime in and of itself, but, it shows that Jared is a cruel, sadistic, callous punk.

Now, last season, I came to think that Jared’s cruelty and sadism was borne out of arrogance, believing The Savior’s gave him the ability to do whatever he wanted. I realize now that that was a mistake on my part.

As we would learn this season, even without an army backing him up, Jared was still cruel, still sadistic, still a callous punk.

What this means is that…this is just what Jared is and, perhaps, always was. It didn’t matter to him that The Saviors weren’t there to protect him, he was still going to laugh at the misery he caused, because he enjoyed it.

Of course, that wasn’t the only thing he did. As he and a handful of his fellow P.O.W. Saviors tried to figure out their next move following their escape, rather than try to help some of his infected comrades, he just wanted to leave them there to die. Evidently, his callousness wasn’t reserved simply for people under The Saviors’ thumb, but, even extended to his fellow Saviors!

Jared’s cruelty and callousness, even towards his fellow Saviors puts him in a category beyond the majority of the hostiles we’ve seen in The Walking Dead so far.

Far from most, who, while certainly not good by any means, at least had some concern for the people in their group, Jared, on the other hand, with his willingness to just abandon his cohorts, is reminiscent of Terminus.

If you recall, back in Season Five’s “No Sanctuary”, as Terminus was getting overrun by walkers, the residents simply left their compatriots behind, even when they could have helped them. Jared reminds me of them: They both leave teammates behind because, ultimately…they don’t give a damn about them.

Jared is (Or, rather, was) a cruel, sadistic creep, being amused by killing people and even more amused by tormenting their loved ones left behind. Even without an army behind him, he behaves in the same callous way, because that’s just the kind of cockroach that he is. Worse still, he can’t even muster concern for people within his own group! He’d just as soon leave them to die as he would help them.

Spoiler alert: He is not the most irredeemable The Walking Dead character this season, but, if someone else didn’t take the crown, Jared just might have.