Angela was remains of the most hated The Walking Dead characters to appear in the long-running AMC zombie drama – and as a fan of the Robert Kirkman comics it’s based on, I know that she shouldn’t have been. Played by Laurie Holden between seasons 1 and 3 of The Walking Dead (along with some flashback cameos in seasons 10 and 11), Andrea was one of the first survivors Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) encountered in season 1. Initially traveling with her ill-fated sister Amy (Emma Bell), Andrea’s story arc quickly became one of the most tragic in the show’s earlier seasons.

Laurie Holden remained part of The Walking Dead cast until the season 3 finale, when Andrea was killed off. There were many TWD fans who were happy to see her go for a variety of different reasons. However, it didn’t have to be this way. While I am generally a fan of how AMC adapted Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics, Andrea didn’t benefit from the changes. Had her story been even a little like her on-page counterpart, Andrea could have been one of the most popular TWD characters.

What Happens To Andrea In AMC’s The Walking Dead

Grief And Loss Break Andrea’s Character

Andrea was one of the group of survivors traveling with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), Carl (Chandler Riggs), and Shane (Jon Bernthal) when Rick caught up with them in The Walking Dead season 1. Laurie Holden’s character was initially portrayed as strong and confident, and played a pivotal role in Carol (Melissa McBride) standing up to her abusive husband, Ed (Adam Minarovich). She and her sister, Amy, seemed central to the group’s decision-making, especially due to their close friendship with Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn). However, this all changed in TWD season 1 episode “Vatos”, when Amy died.

The death of Andrea’s sister led to the drastic change that led to her being one of the most hated The Walking Dead characters. No longer self-assured and confident, she enters into a deep depression that she never really seems to recover from. During season 2 she has a brief relationship with Shane, and does seem to gradually regain some of her former self (and become more like the comic book version of Andrea). She becomes incredibly efficient at killing walkers, and seemed to be on the path towards being the likeable character she could have been if she were a little more like the on-page Andrea Harrison.

It was a sudden end to an incredibly short narrative arc compared to Angela in The Walking Dead comics, and one that didn’t win over many fans of AMC’s TWD adaptation.

Sadly, in season 3 Andrea ends up in Woodbury under the watchful eye of The Governor (David Morrisey). During this time she becomes romantically involved with the sinister The Walking Dead villain, and seems to place her own safety and comfort in Woodbury above the needs of other survivors (including Rick’s group). She also seems to lose much of the confidence and ability she gained in season 2. While she eventually comes to her senses, the damage to her reputation as a character was already done as far as many TWD fans were concerned.

Andrea eventually double-crosses The Governor, and is tortured for her betrayal. She dies not long after in The Walking Dead season 3, episode 16, “Welcome To The Tombs” when, after being bitten by a walker, she opts to take her own life. It was a sudden end to an incredibly short narrative arc compared to Angela in The Walking Dead comics, and one that didn’t win over many fans of AMC’s TWD adaptation.

Why Fans Hated Angela

Her Character Arc Went From Bad To Worse

Despite starting out with a lot of promise, Andrea is one of the least-liked characters in The Walking Dead TV show. There are three key reasons why Andrea is disliked by a lot of the TWD fanbase – her lack of self-preservation, her treatment of other members of Rick’s group, and her relationship with The Governor. While she isn’t universally despised and does have some popular and well-received moments, overall it’s these three reasons that many viewers have claimed they didn’t like Andrea on The Walking Dead.

The backlash against Andrea started when her sister, Amy, died in season 1. While Andrea was one of the first characters to experience such a loss on the show (on-screen, at least), her reaction did nothing to win over fans. Losing her sister was a tragic moment for Andrea, but she wasn’t the only character on the show to witness the death of a close family member. While nobody was expecting her to just get over it and move on quickly, she wallowed in her grief so long and so deeply that fans grew to find her irritating.

The reason sympathy for Andrea’s depression wore thin for many The Walking Dead viewers is that she used it as an excuse to charge headlong into danger (or refuse to try and get herself out of it).

The reason sympathy for Andrea’s depression wore thin for many The Walking Dead viewers is that she used it as an excuse to charge headlong into danger (or refuse to try and get herself out of it). She became reckless and never really tried to keep herself alive. Her grief was also the reason she became borderline hostile in her attitude towards other members of the group, arguing with almost all of them for trivial reasons. So many episodes of The Walking Dead passed before Angela started healing and returning to her season 1 self that it was too little, too late as far as many fans were concerned.

The other reason many fans of The Walking Dead hate Angela is much more straightforward – her relationship with The Governor. A large portion of the fanbase of TWD simply couldn’t forgive her for being able to look past so much of what The Governor did. While she did try and dissuade him from a few brutal acts while living in Woodbury, Andrea was still far too close to the sinister and sadistic villain for comfort. Speaking to Daily Dead in 2013, Laurie Holden explained that she knew just how controversial this decision would be:

I read [ The Walking Dead] Compendium One , so I know all about The Governor and how evil he is. We really made a major departure from the graphic novel, and I knew it was going to be very controversial to have Andrea hook up with the sociopathic villain of the piece. There’s nothing wrong with controversy. The way the story was structured, the audience did know things that Andrea didn’t, and I know there were questions about why she went back to Woodbury.

By the time Angela’s death came around at the end of The Walking Dead season 3, viewers had mostly seen Angela in one of two ways. These were either season 2’s depressed liability to her fellow survivors, or season 3’s passive member of The Governor’s community during the time they were a considerable threat to Rick’s group. Neither version of Andrea was popular, and the earlier episodes of The Walking Dead in which she was a likable and essential member of the group seemed like a distant memory.

What Happens To Andrea In The Walking Dead Comics

The On-Page Andrea Is A Pillar Of The Narrative

Andrea’s story in Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead comics is incredibly different from AMC’s TWD show, and it’s without a doubt this version of the character I personally prefer, as do many fellow fans of both versions of the story. While Andrea dies in both the comic and the TV show, her journey lasts much longer on the page – and she’s more integral to the central plot.

In The Walking Dead comic books, Andrea and Rick eventually become a couple, and Andrea even takes the Grimes name (even though they never have a formal wedding). While she still goes through an intense grieving period after the death of Amy (which also happens early on), this passes much more quickly. She ends up in a physical relationship with Dale, and is back to her former self by the time the group discovers Hershel’s farm, once again more-or-less co-leading the group with Rick.

Andrea never becomes part of the Woodbury community in The Walking Dead comics, and doesn’t have a relationship with The Governor.

Andrea never becomes part of the Woodbury community in The Walking Dead comics, and doesn’t have a relationship with The Governor. Instead, she is the one leading the defenses against the Woodbury army when it arrives at the prison Rick and his survivors are holed up in. She is still alive by the time the group reaches the Alexandria Safe-Zone, and is present when Negan is introduced – which, in The Walking Dead TV show, was a full three seasons after Andrea had died.

Rick and Andrea become romantically involved during The Walking Dead Volume 15: We Find Ourselves, and she eventually dies in The Walking Dead Volume 28: A Certain Doom. Her death occurs during the war with The Whisperers. For comparison, in The Walking Dead TV show, The Whisperers didn’t appear until season 6. Andrea was long dead by this point, highlighting just how different the character’s story was between the TWD series and comic books.

Andrea’s Comic Book Story Would Have Made Her More Popular

AMC’s Show Should Have Followed The Source Material More Closely

Looking at both versions of the character, it’s not too difficult to see why I and many others prefer Andrea in The Walking Dead comics to the version played by Laurie Holden in the AMC series. It has nothing to do with the comic book version ending up with Rick, either. The changes The Walking Dead TV show made to Michonne (Danai Gurira) by changing her to the central love interest worked both for her character and Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes. Even if Laurie Holden had been in the show for longer, her version of Andrea simply wouldn’t feel right as a Rick Grimes love interest.

However, even without the romantic Rick Grimes pairing, the show could have borrowed more from the source material when it came to Andrea. By the time Andrea died in the comic books she was absolutely fearless, and one of the most interesting characters still living from Volume 1. Killing off Andrea in season 3 meant The Walking Dead didn’t have time to explore her character arc fully, and the decision to have her so close to The Governor was a huge deviation from she was in Robert Kirkman’s version of the story.

If Andrea had survived for another few seasons she could have been one of the most interesting and beloved presences on The Walking Dead , even with her relationship with The Governor in season 3 taken into account. TWD fans are open to redemption arcs after all, as Negan continues to be proof of. Unfortunately, since she died so early, Angela’s time in AMC’s The Walking Dead culminated in her being one of the most hated characters.