Poll: Were the Residents of Terminus Truly Evil?
Through the first four seasons of The Walking Dead our survivors, especially Rick and Carol, have learned through a long and painful process to do absolutely anything it takes, no matter how brutal or reprehensible, to survive. Although some of their comrades may complain or not have the stomach for it, they do what must be done, as was amply demonstrated in the season premiere.
But wait, aren’t Gareth the residents of Terminus doing the same thing? They started out as peace-loving apocalypse hippies welcoming anyone and everyone into their home, and the world knocked them down and raped them and kicked their teeth in. As summed up by the Termites themselves, they realized you have to be either the cattle or the butcher. So now they eliminate any potential threat that comes their way, and hey, no sense letting good food go to waste. Their system is cold, impersonal and violent. But is it evil? Andrew J. West, who plays Gareth, doesn’t see it that way.
“I think he’s definitely a practical guy. And I think he’s a guy who is concerned with surviving. He’s very much concerned with figuring out a way to live in the new world. What’s interesting about the character, too, is that Gareth isn’t really the Governor. Really he’s more like Rick or even Glenn in a lot of ways. He’s a guy who’s searching and struggling for a new way to exist, because he has acknowledged and accepted that the old way just doesn’t work anymore. Society is different now. The world is different now. And the old rules just need to be reexamined. And he’s willing to do that. And I think that’s where the leader qualities come in. He is willing to sort of abandon certain ideas about the way the world used to be and find what the world needs to be now. And he’s he’s sort of a strong-willed guy, too. So, to answer your question, I don’t think of him as a bad guy,” West said of his character.
So that’s what he thinks. And it’s pretty clear that debate is not over, because Gareth is very much not dead and letting him live will certainly come back to haunt Rick and the rest. But what do you think? Vote in our poll and let us know.