Though it has somewhat managed to redeem itself with a change of showrunner in season 9, The Walking Dead is no stranger to hate and backlash from its audience. Since its premiere on AMC in 2010, the show has garnered ratings that any other series would kill for. TWD has been positively received since the beginning, but at the same time, it has also been notably criticized for several reasons.
The crew behind The Walking Dead has undoubtedly made some questionable decisions that led to some of the most hated storylines on the entire series. By now, it's clear that the series has a talent for angering even its most dedicated fans more than it has one for entertaining them. The Walking Dead is on its tenth season now and still going strong but we'll be taking a look at some of its darkest moments, such as the most hated storylines it's ever offered.
The Endless Search For Sophia
The Walking Dead's second season premiered in October of 2011 and ultimately aired thirteen episodes from the months of October to March of 2012. The season was the first of the series to get a midseason hiatus, however - unlike most other seasons that would follow - the characters remained in the same place from the beginning of Season 2 to the end.
Season 2's main plot was the survivors searching for Carol's missing daughter, Sophia, The search went on for what one can assume was a couple of weeks, in the TWD-verse, and this translated to seven episodes in total - that's half the season. Understandably, that story got old fast, and it remains one of the most infamous of the entire series.
Lori & Shane
Lori was one of the most hated characters on The Walking Dead, and she's still hated today, despite having died early on in the series' third season. The backlash against this character has been compared to the infamous hatred of Skyler White in Breaking Bad, as both weren't exactly justified.
One of the things that fueled fans' hatred for Lori was the fact that she started a relationship with Shane during the apocalypse when she thought Rick had died back at the hospital. The drama between Lori and Shane filled up a lot of TWD's first two seasons, and obviously fans were glad to see the end of it.
The Governor & Andrea
The Governor was introduced in The Walking Dead's third season, in which he served as the main antagonist and most major threat that the survivors faced. All the survivors except Andrea, that is, who made herself at home in Woodbury and quickly struck up a romantic affair with the Governor himself.
What was most distasteful about Andrea's decision was that she abandoned Michonne for a town and a man that she barely knew. This is made even sadder by the fact that it ultimately led to Andrea's demise in the Season 3 finale, and thus was the end of Michonne and Andrea's intriguing friendship.
The Governor's Drawn-Out Fate
Fans had been rooting for the Governor's death since Season 3. At the end of that season, he slaughtered a number of his own people and infamously killed Andrea and his right-hand-man, Milton Mamet. Sadly, the series did not put an end to the Governor's reign of terror by the time Season 3 wrapped up.
When Season 4 premiered several months later, fans were pretty much over this villain. But that didn't stop TWD from dragging out his fate for another half-season, as well as giving the Governor two whole bottle episodes.
Carol's Banishment
Season 4 was full of questionable decisions on the TWD executives' part. From the Governor's neverending arc to an unexplained illness plot taking up half the season, then-showrunner Scott Gimple's first season running The Walking Dead was a rocky one.
Rick was already engaging in some pretty questionable behaviour by the end of Season 3, following the death of Lori. This continued into Season 4, which opened with the revelation that Rick was no longer in a leadership position. That would mean that he wouldn't be allowed to make any major decisions, right? Wrong, apparently, because Rick had no problem banishing Carol - with no outside input from anyone - when he discovered that she killed two ill citizens, Karen and David.
Grady Hospital
Grady Hospital was a pit-stop on The Walking Dead's journey toward introducing communities like Alexandria and Hilltop. The Terminus arc - made popular by Robert Kirkman's graphic novels - took up a very small portion of screentime in the first half of TWD's fifth season. The rest was dedicated to the survival and eventual death of a character, Beth Greene.
This understandably annoyed many fans, as the Grady Hospital storyline came across like a delaying tactic, while more could have been done with the cannibals.
The Wolves
The Wolves, like Grady Hospital, was a storyline created by then-showrunner Scott Gimple, and it was a badly received one at that. Since the group of villains made their most major appearances in Season 6, they are often seen as yet another stalling tactic to drag out the anticipation of the introduction of Negan and the Saviors.
This could have easily been the case, as the Wolves were killed off pretty quickly before the Saviors were introduced. Additionally, the group remained quiet mysterious - or rather, underdeveloped.
Sending Carol To The Kingdom
Carol has been a part of The Walking Dead since the series third ever episode back in Season 1. In Season 4, actress Melissa McBride was promoted to a series regular position. In the Season 5 premiere, Carol established herself as a fan-favourite when she saved the entire group from the cannibals by infiltrating Terminus single-handedly.
In Season 9, the core characters were divided into different communities - an already poor decision - and to make matters worse, Carol was reduced to playing "Queen" in the Kingdom. Separating beloved characters on TWD is never a good idea.
Redeeming Negan
Negan is arguably the series' most controversial villain, keeping fans talking since he was first introduced at the end of Season 6. Jeffrey Dean Morgan brings his outstanding charm to the role, making it hard for several fans to really hate the antagonist.
However, redeeming Negan is something that several fans have questioned. It seems a disrespectful decision, considering all that Negan has done and the fact that he brutally murdered a fan-favourite, Glenn Rhee.
Negan & Alpha
In The Walking Dead's recent midseason premiere, "Squeeze," Negan and Alpha shared an intimate moment in what will most likely be deemed one of the most controversial scenes in the series' history. Out of everything that happened in the aforementioned episode, Negan and Alpha's extremely disturbing romantic moment was something fans could not stop talking about.
It's safe to say that the fanbase as a whole hated this unsettling moment between the two antagonists, but who knows; there may be more where that came from!