In a show that runs for 11 seasons, some friendships stand out. And I’m sure anyone reading this instantly thinks of Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) as the best friendship in The Walking Dead. But I’m here to tell you, there’s a better one, at least to me.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe their friendship is valuable in many ways. There’s a reason they ended up with a whole spinoff show dedicated to them that's lasted for a few years and is now entering its final season. However, there’s one friendship that was unexpected at first, but I’ve grown to love it over the years and through my rewatches.
And that’s Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Judith (Cailey Fleming).
It’s a classic grumpy-man-protecting-a-kid trope
Okay, I have to be honest: a big reason I love these two is the trope they're associated with. In almost every video game or TV show I’m obsessed with, this trope shows up — the grumpy older man who takes a younger kid under his wing. He really doesn’t want to, but he begrudgingly does. And then, eventually, he begins to care.
It happened with The Last of Us, one of the greatest zombie shows out there. It’s happened with video games like Telltale’s The Walking Dead, God of War, and so many others. I’ve seen it play out time and time again. I love the trope.
And these two fit into it well. Once Judith is old enough to form her own opinions, she starts talking with Negan while he’s still locked up under a house. He talks to her through the bars, and she tells him she doesn’t believe everything he says because of what happened in the past, but she’s honest, and he "shoots straight" with her, which she loves. Negan really admires how she reacts and how she sees the world, which instantly creates an interesting connection between them.
He genuinely cares about kids, not just her
One of the biggest reasons I like this friendship is that Negan doesn’t just care for Judith. He cares about kids — not unconditionally, but on a moral level. That’s one of the few personality traits that makes him even remotely redeemable: he makes it his mission to not intentionally harm or kill children. And that principle carries into his talks with her.
Negan's biggest connection with Judith comes through Carl (Chandler Riggs). When Carl died in season 8, Negan was genuinely upset. He didn’t want a kid to be a casualty of this war, and he had several interactions with Carl and knew the kid had guts and was extremely brave.
I believe a big reason that Negan likes Judith so much is that he sees a lot of Carl in Judith. He sees her bravery, her wit, and her smarts — heck, she’s even wearing the same hat. He can see what she can be even if her brother is gone, and it makes him want to keep her safe, in whatever way he can.
They have hilarious interactions
You don’t need hilarious interactions with anyone to have a good friendship, but I must admit watching these two interact has always made me chuckle. As I mentioned before, Judith knows who Negan is. She grew up with him on the property where she lived, and she visited him often.
It’s not like everyone around her hasn’t fed her stories. But because of how she grew up, she can lay into that and really tell Negan how she feels about him and what he’s done. She has a kind of sass that's unusual for a young kid in this world, and Negan likes it because she can keep up with his own.
These two had some pretty funny moments together, and I can’t deny that it’s one aspect of the show that I miss.
She sees the good in him before anyone else
The biggest 180 that Negan has pulled off in this post-The Walking Dead spinoff world is that he’s not as bad as we initially thought. He’s still pretty terrible, but he fights for the people that he cares about and isn’t afraid to get dirty. Maggie (Lauren Cohan) saw that in the season 3 finale of Dead City.
That being said, Maggie also tried to kill him at the beginning of Dead City. Judith genuinely saw the good in him, even when he was still behind bars in Alexandria years ago. And she recognized it again when he saved her and Daryl’s dog in the season 9 finale, “The Storm.”
He wants to do good to make up for his past, but because of what he’s done, many people have disregarded him. But Judith knew that there was something there, and because she doesn’t remember anything he’s done, she has much more empathy towards him, and for that, I have to be at least a little grateful.
Their reunion is one I’d give anything to see, but who really knows what will happen now? I hope there’s some nod to them somehow getting back together and having one last moment of ripping on each other.
You can stream all 11 seasons of The Walking Dead on Netflix.
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