The Worst Decisions In The Walking Dead, Part II

Season Seven: Rick decides to trust The Scavengers.

This was another tough one. There were some pretty dumbass decisions in this season: Rosita trying to shoot Negan, Spencer trying to get Negan to kill Rick for him (Neither of those ideas would have worked out very well…), Negan trusting Dwight, but, I think the worst, the most obviously bad idea, with the biggest impact that season, has to go to Rick trusting the Scavengers.

I know, I know, Rick didn’t have much of a choice, but, I feel like, in hindsight at the very least, the decision to trust the Scavengers was clearly a mistake.

Honestly, what did Jadis do to warrant Rick trusting her? She shook his hand. Okay, cool. What else?

When you look at the Scavengers in season seven, you have to ask: Why trust them? They introduced themselves to Rick by kidnapping Father Gabriel. Then, they made Rick fight Winslow, a walker covered in spikes. Neither of these things suggest someone who’s friendly. On top of that, while Hilltop, The Kingdom, and Oceanside all had had run-ins with the Saviors prior to meeting Rick, the Scavengers…didn’t. This meant that they had no dog in the fight, no reason to risk their own safety fighting the Saviors (In fact, doing so ended up being their undoing), so, it stands to reason that they, simply out of sheer pragmatism, would side with the group that seemed stronger, rather than make an enemy out of them.

So, once again: …Why trust them?

It was a massive blunder, and, frankly, one that would have cost Rick dearly. The only reason this blunder didn’t cost Rick Carl was because King Ezekiel, Maggie, and the peoples of The Kingdom and Hilltop arrived to drive the Saviors away.

When the only thing that stops your bonehead decision from getting your son killed is dumb luck…you screwed up.