The Walking Dead: 5 Characters Who Overstayed Their Welcome (And 5 Gone Too Soon)

The road to Terminus was a long and enjoyable story arc that progressed through seasons 4 and 5 of The Walking Dead, but the climax was unbelievably underwhelming. All the build up to Terminus and the introduction of its leader Gareth ended with a quick escape and few repercussions.

Yes, Gareth and a few of his Terminus teammates managed to reappear and cause a little further torment to Rick and the gang at Gabriel’s church, but appearing in only four episodes across his entire story arc left a lot of potential on the table.

Dedicating as much time as the show did to the reveal of Terminus led viewers to believe something more would come of their interactions with the leader of the compound. However, viewers were presented with a rather punch-less and irrelevant adversary. Beyond killing a returning, and unmemorable, Sam, Gareth and his gang had literally no effect on the ranks of Rick’s posse. Their only other victim was Bob, who had already been bitten by the undead and died due to the bite rather than at the hands of the Termites.

The show missed a prime opportunity to explore the parallels between Gareth and Rick Grimes. Both men started the apocalypse by trying to help others and both were willing to do anything needed to protect their families. A story arc delving into Gareth’s turn from good to evil, while also teasing Rick’s journey down the same path would have been a welcomed addition to the show and provided more substance to the conclusion of the ‘journey to Terminus’ story arc.