Season 2 of the “Walking Dead” spinoff is a must-watch for any fan of the franchise
BY: JACOB POLITTE
Managing Editor
Season 1 of “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” was unspectacular to say the least. The story wasn’t the best, the writing was subpar, the characters weren’t necessarily likeable, and the settings the characters visited weren’t inspired. When Season 1 concluded last year, any feeling of mild intrigue about the direction of the show wasn’t nearly as strong as the feeling that the viewer’s time was wasted.
But the show’s second and final season, for all intents and purposes, is a swift kick in the ass to anyone who doubted the show. It’s well acted, it’s well written, and the story told over the last 10 episodes is nothing short of incredible. The characters actually become fully formed people to root for or against, and even the most cynical fan can’t deny that every major character has layers. Unlike the main show and even “Fear The Walking Dead” (and likely due to the fact that there is only a limited amount of time to tell this particular story), the stakes in World Beyond feel very high, and they have genuine consequences for the future at large. The series as a whole did a complete 180 for the better, and should be commended for it.
Part of the reason for the show’s turnaround has a lot to do with leaning more heavily into a greatly unexplored (and big) part of the franchise’s lore: the Civic Republic Military (CRM). The group that took Rick Grimes away from “The Walking Dead” and currently has a recurring presence on “Fear” (both of which are much earlier incarnations of the CRM) was advertised as a big part of the show, but any vital information to be learned about them took a backseat in Season 1 in order to focus on the stories of the show’s four main children: Iris, Hope, Silas and Elton. While the children are not bad actors, following a bunch of kids being chaperoned by Felix and Huck (Annet Mahendru) across the country didn’t make for the best TV. Until, it was revealed at the end of Season 1 that Huck was a CRM mole.
While the kids still feature prominently in Season 2, we finally get more of an insight to how the CRM operates, and why they do the heinous things that they do, and that information helps kick the show into high gear.
And the arrival of another familiar character from elsewhere in the franchise helps up the stakes even more: Anne “Jadis” Stokes (Pollyanna McIntosh) returns for the first time since she flew away with Rick on that fateful helicopter ride years ago. We don’t learn what happened to Rick afterward, other than she traded him for entrance into the Civic Republic community (it’s never explicitly revealed on screen, but it’s present-day Philadelphia), and eventually joined the CRM where she has become a high ranking member, willing to do anything to ensure the CRM’s efforts to rebuild society are successful.
The ultimate mission of the CRM won’t be spoiled here, but needless to say, our characters learn it, and it is truly horrific. This gives their fight to stop it incredible meaning, and it gives every character an important role to play in trying to stop it. Jadis ultimately proves to be the top villain of Season 2, and the show is all the better for it; not to mention, McIntosh plays a villain extremely well. It’s extremely fascinating to see this version of Jadis, whose history the viewers know, interact with the characters on this show and it’s also interesting to see how the events that the viewers saw happen to her before influence her choices in the present.
It’s also somewhat refreshing that Jadis is basically unstoppable. She has mastered the art of being a soldier, and is never fooled by any of our characters. She sees through everything instantly. These smarts, however, are also matched by every single one of the protagonists. No one feels or acts dumb in “World Beyond,” not even the kids. For a franchise that largely relies on characters suddenly acting stupid in order to move stories forward, that is quite the accomplishment.
Perhaps the most surprising journey is the one that Silas takes. The way his story wraps up in World Beyond is fascinating, and he will likely be a vital character to the Rick Grimes movies later on at some point.
It also must be noted that in particular, Mahendru gives an absolutely stellar performance throughout Season 2, and she helped make Huck’s story among the best “Walking Dead” plots ever. Huck may have been one of the antagonists in Season 1, but she is among the biggest heroes of Season 2.
The show’s final episode also features an intriguing post-credits scene that has implications for the entire Walking Dead universe going forward. While it doesn’t directly tie into the events of World Beyond whatsoever, it does feature the answer to a pivotal question that fans have always speculated about: the origin point of the outbreak. In a twist that no one saw coming, we get to visit the surprising location of what is essentially “Ground Zero” and we revisit a long departed character in the process.
Overall, “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” turned into something that is not only spectacular, but absolutely vital to watch if you’re a true “Walking Dead” fan.
