- "The Walking Dead" ended its 11-season run in 2022, but it inspired multiple spin-offs with one more on the way.
- lnsider ranked the five current "TWD" spin-off shows, including "Daryl Dixon," from worst to best.
- "TWD: World Beyond" is easily the worst spin-off. "Dead City" is the best by default.
5. "The Walking Dead: World Beyond" was often a slog and a laborious chore to get through.
Originally meant to serve as a bridge to the canceled "TWD" Rick Grimes movie, the two-season spin-off followed a group of kids a decade into the apocalypse as they searched for the kidnapped father of two girls.
Painfully slow-paced with uninteresting teens who couldn't hold their own against the dead, the series disappointingly failed to connect the larger "TWD" universe in more meaningful ways or to the flagship series' final season.
The show felt like a placeholder for Rick Grimes' return to the "TWD" universe as it frustratingly dangled clues about the Civic Republic Military (CRM), the mysterious group who took Rick Grimes on season nine of "TWD" without ever delivering anything of substantial interest.
Often, "World Beyond" largely felt like a bait and switch, never fully exploring some of its most interesting characters and the CRM.
The most interesting aspect of the show came in the form of scientists searching for a vague cure to the zombie breakout that was barely explored. Not even the return of Pollyanna McIntosh as Jadis from "TWD" could save the show's slightly better second season.
"TWD" creator Robert Kirkman wound up being right when he predicted back in 2015 that a spin-off about a bunch of scientists working to find the cure and learn the origins of the walker apocalypse "would bore" him to tears.
You can read our full finale review here.
4. "Tales of the Walking Dead" was largely a disappointment that should've been better.
The "Walking Dead" anthology series had the potential to be a great spin-off. Each of the first season's six episodes explores different individuals' or duos' responses to the zombie apocalypse during specific points in time.
When the concept for "Tales" was first pitched, it appeared the series may jump on the opportunity to revisit and tell more stories with former "TWD" characters killed off years ago like Glenn (Steven Yeun) or Abraham (Michael Cudlitz, who has since directed episodes in "TWD" universe). But that didn't happen.
Only two episodes, starring Terry Crews and Samantha Morton reprising her "TWD" villain, Alpha, are worth watching.
Overall, "Tales" was a wasted opportunity to better connect with the larger "TWD" universe.
Even without fan favorites returning, the show failed to introduce any new characters who were related to or loosely connected to the flagship series or "Fear the Walking Dead."
It's currently unclear whether or not the series will receive a second season.
You can read our review here.
