Well that won't happen you know, because Rick's the leader and hero

The show could easily go on without Negan, not so much without Rick despite what people think about his character. I would say Rick and Daryl are the only two untouchables, followed in tier two by Eugene, Carol, and Maggie.

As much as they prop up other characters like Tara and Rosita it doesn't work. They are all very expendable, and as I mentioned in an earlier post, in some cases they have completely outlived their usefulness. This is why they keep getting jammed into phony situations and spout silly dialogue in clumsy attempts to make the audience give a turd about them again.

Eugene isn't expendable? As much as I like the actor off the show, I would rather he go at the same time as Tara and Rosita.

He brings a perspective and outlook absent in the other characters. So while I don't think he is a major character, he has something to offer, unlike the others.

Bullets and mullets; that is what he offers.

I'd agree about Eugene. They ruined him as bad as they did Andrea. They don't need him they have the book of knowledge!
Tara remains the most useless character in there, no question.
Rosita, I could see her kept in there.

Eugene doesn't add anything to the show that makes him worth keeping around. If the show would improve if they trimmed the cast, he should be one of the first to go.

Whether you like the character arc or not, at least Eugene is ... different.

Rosita has the hotness factor but I'd throw Enid and Tara into the zombie pit without hesitation, 2 for 1 buffet style!

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Honestly trimming the cast would be a really good idea. They've made so many characters worthless and they try to force plots with them despite that fact.

And while everyone has their own favorite character, the entire idea that a character is "untouchable" due to popularity really drags any tension during dramatic scenes down to nothing. Because you know without a doubt that these characters will be okay, no matter how dire their situation is. So despite how much I like Daryl, it would be a massive step in the right direction to show any character can bite it, by having characters like him & Rick killed off. But we know that isn't going to happen. The Network and Showrunners won't even consider it.

But being realistic as to what characters could go and still help the show out: Pretty much Tara & Rosita. Neither of them serve any purpose other than to take screentime away from worthwhile characters.

Another thing that would help is to quit having meaningless one-off episodes that don't drive the plot forward, while also cutting out other padding/filler by condensing the season down from 16 episodes to like 10-13. But again, that is something that isn't going to happen.

And that's my point...versus for instance Aaron and Jesus who could easily be morphed into the same character and it would change absolutely nothing - except remove the requirement to give them utterly redundant screen time.

The cast is bloated and Simon is the cure baby!

That's a great point and it goes to show the incompetence of the writing team and showrunner because Eugene and Jesus are great characters in the comics that have been utterly ruined by their incompetence.

Daryl? Who is ... oh! You mean Carol ...

This in spades. Any of the characters we have COULD be interesting characters. They all have some unique angles that they could bring to the story. However, as Luds points out, the writers and producers are incompetent.

Father Gabriel — what does the Apocalypse really mean to a man of faith? Does anybody even remember that he is single-handedly responsible for the wholesale slaughter of his entire congregation?

Tara — she started off with some great character set-up but it was quickly abandoned. People only seem to remember the current “fist-bump derivative” Tara, not the law enforcement student who was trying to care for her elderly family members before she fell-in with a seemingly safe community.

Rosita — we really haven’t gotten any backstory on Rosita, but she seems to be a badass. Tell us where she came from. Was she in the military? Was she a stripper? We don’t know because the show runners want to leave as many things blank as they can. That way they can pull things out of their ass and think that it isn’t incongruent.

One of the most fascinating speeches in the show came from the short-lived character played by Alicia Witt. She talked about a boss that would sexually harass her and how the tables turned in the zombie apocalypse. I had hoped her character would continue, but it wasn’t meant to be. Give me more of that!

I could go on and on ... any of these characters could be fascinating if the show runners were worth a shit. Instead we keep getting retreaded plotlines and copious amounts of Rick sweating and staring into the distance like a subway hobo.

I don't disagree with you, but, any time an attempt at character development is made, people on TWD forums start howling about the lack of zombie deaths and action on the show. I've never seen a show so damned no matter what they did.

I agree with you but disagree with those that have that criticism. It’s not meritless, but it is just such an inane criticism. Most of that ill-will comes from their other shenanigans and carries over.

Granted — if the show runners had better talents, they could balance the two of those and give us one hell of a show.