The climactic ending of Rick and Michonne’s long-awaited spinoff The Ones Who Live has surprisingly elevated the stakes for one of the franchise’s other current series. By swiftly defeating and disposing of the formidable CRM military organization and its ruthless leader Major General Beale, the Rick Grimes story largely emptied the villain landscape throughout The Walking Dead universe.
This sudden absence of an overarching antagonistic force puts increased narrative pressure on the Daryl Dixon spinoff to transform its own primary adversary, the nefarious Frenchwoman Genet, into the franchise’s next truly menacing big bad. Originally introduced in Daryl Dixon’s debut season, Genet aims to brutally conquer all of France through her private militia – employing inhumane experimentation and forcing subjugated survivors into deadly arena combat.
However, despite her villainous acts and iron grip over the region, Genet failed to achieve the same level of raw intimidation as many of The Walking Dead’s most iconic antagonists from the flagship series. Her first season antics paled in comparison to the formidable reputations built by famous foes like Negan and Alpha. With the CRM now dismantled by Rick’s group, the writers have an opportunity to double down and evolve Genet into a more frightening, uncompromising force of villainy moving forward.
“Genet definitely has major potential to fill that big bad void left by the Rick/Michonne spinoff’s conclusion,” said Joe Gastaldo, editor-in-chief of The Walking Dead fan site Roamers & Lurkers. “While her initial portrayal was still finding its footing, a full-on heel turn making her even more ruthless and cruel could cement her as the franchise’s most dastardly villain yet.”
Such an elevation could see Genet escalate from a regional menace in France to an adversary expanding her oppressive sphere of influence across multiple continents – much like what the CRM was building towards. Writers may opt to make her conflict with Daryl more personal by having Genet develop an intense grudge, potentially going so far as to kill one of his closest remaining allies to drive the feud.
Whatever thematic or narrative direction the creative team chooses, the fact remains that all eyes are now on Daryl Dixon to fully embrace and cultivate Genet’s villainous role like never before. With Rick having liberated the communities and Beale’s CRM no longer looming, the Walking Dead universe finds itself at a pivotal crossroads searching for its next paradigm-shifting big bad. All signs point to Daryl’s French archenemy being primed to seize that mantle.
