With a universe that spans games, television shows, and a miniseries, The Walking Dead has had its fair share of deaths. Whether they are heartbreaking ones or the most satisfying kills, there is no shortage of pain. The deaths have come for viewers time and time again, and in a world where zombies reign, it only makes sense.
But in The Walking Dead, there were plenty of deaths that just…ruined the story in so many ways. While I’m not blind and know that death has to happen in a show about zombies, it’s the way in which these four deaths specifically were handled that made them twenty times worse. Let’s get into them.
Beth Greene
Cause of Death: Was shot in the head due to reflex by Dawn (Christine Woods) during the season 5 mid-season finale, “Coda.”
What made Beth’s (Emily Kinney) death one that ruined the show—and the first one on this list—was that it set a precedent for the characters.
Were there deaths before that changed the series? Yes. Characters were done dirty and died in the worst ways possible. But many of them were deaths I was expecting. Even with Andrea’s (Laurie Holden) death, when I realized they were moving in a certain direction with Michonne (Danai Gurira), I had a feeling it was coming.
But with Beth, it was the precedent that you could get close to a character who had real potential, and then the show would just kill them off like it was nothing. Yes, you could say that it’s to show that “no one” is safe, but in reality, it only causes trust issues with fans. From then on, I knew I couldn’t really trust this show. I would have been okay if Beth’s death had been a few seasons later, but killing her off right when we were really getting to know her and seeing how her character could change was cruel.
Then that started happening to a lot of new characters on the show—even Noah (Tyler James Williams), the person Beth arguably sacrificed her freedom for. He had the most graphic death of anyone and was killed in the same season.
Glenn Rhee
Cause of Death: Bludgeoned to death by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) with his bat, Lucille, during the season 7 premiere, “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be.”
I don’t think I even need to get into the heavy reasons as to why Glenn’s (Steven Yeun) death was a major whoopsie for fans. Were we expecting him to die? Yes. He died in the comics, and it was probably one of the most iconic scenes ever. It would be surprising if they passed it up.
But fans left the show because of the fake-out. If Negan had just killed Glenn, or just killed Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), I really think people would have stuck around. Instead, they left season 6 on a cliffhanger. They had us theorizing for months about who Negan killed (which Morgan didn’t know either), only for the series to return with Negan killing Abraham and then, because Daryl (Norman Reedus) attacked him, deciding to take out Glenn too.
It was the worst twist ever and absolutely changed the course of the series. The Walking Dead was never the same.
Carl Grimes
Cause of Death: Bitten by a zombie while trying to bring a doctor back to Alexandria in season 8, episode 6, “The King, the Widow, and Rick,” but shoots himself in the head to prevent turning in season 8, episode 9, “Honor.”
Carl’s (Chandler Riggs) death in The Walking Dead is arguably one of the shots that sank the show’s ship. It may not have been the killing blow, but woo boy, did this ruin the plot.
I wasn’t even a huge fan of Carl when he died, but even I can admit when a series messes up so grandly. The entire point of the comics was that he would eventually be the one telling Rick’s (Andrew Lincoln) story. He was raised in this world to survive, and his father did the best that he could. And now, he’s taken out by a walker? Just like that?
Admittedly, I do like that he at least died trying to get a doctor for Alexandria. That is honorable, as the title says. But at the same time, it felt like just a cheap death to change Rick forever and to give us some sympathy for Negan because he felt bad about Carl dying.
Rick Grimes
Cause of Death: Supposedly dead to his family and friends because of an explosion from the bridge to take out walkers but was taken away in a mysterious helicopter in season 9, episode 5, “What Comes After."
Yes, I put this in quotations because it's not really a death, but it kind of is. The final nail in the coffin for The Walking Dead in terms of ratings was “What Comes After,” because we were already told it would be Andrew Lincoln’s last episode as Rick Grimes. We were expecting him to die. Fans tuned in, saw him get seriously injured in the episode prior, titled “The Obliged,” and expected him to have a heroic death.
However, when Rick used explosives to take out a bridge to prevent a herd of walkers from harming the communities, he was suddenly picked up in a strange helicopter thanks to Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), who had allies somewhere far away that we wouldn’t find out about for years—until we discovered who they were in The Ones Who Live.
I mean… talk about a cheap “death.” A way to lure fans in, only to promote Rick movies that didn’t even happen. From there, everything with the show just fell apart. The story was decent, but it was never quite the same.
While I think a lot of the spinoffs have improved certain characters' stories, these deaths are the ones that changed everything. I still think the series is very watchable, but I’d rather skip these deaths in my next rewatch.
You can stream all of The Walking Dead on Netflix.
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