The CRM's Plan That Doesn't Make Sense To Walking Dead: World Beyond Fans
Spoilers ahead for the season 1 finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond!
The Walking Dead spin-off World Beyond has provided a different kind of story set against the backdrop of the zombie apocalypse. While the series connects to The Walking Dead in certain ways, such as hinting at the fate of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), it forges its own path within the genre. The focus this time around is on a group of teenagers, led by Hope (Alexa Mansour) and Iris Bennett (Aliyah Royale), who set out to find the girls' father in New York. These kids have some dark secrets, but over the course of the first season, they learn to work together and survive in extreme circumstances.
Season 1 is officially a wrap, and the finale treated fans to a shocking twist. While Hope and Iris thought they had received a message from their father, it was actually sent by Huck (Annet Mahendru). The teens' journey this entire season was orchestrated by the Civic Republic Military to test their skills, particularly Hope's. It turns out she's incredibly intelligent, and the CRM wants to recruit her to their cause so that she can help save humanity, which is projected to fully go extinct in 30 years. It's a stunning revelation and sets up a very different plot line going into season 2 — and just like with any other twist, fans have been vocal about their thoughts on it.
Many fans think the CRM's plan was completely unnecessary
In the season 1 finale, we learn the CRM was behind Dr. Bennett's messages, and they just wanted to see if Hope and her friends could actually survive the journey. However, fans point out that seems like a pretty risky idea, especially if Hope is truly capable of saving humanity. Numerous Reddit comments suggest the CRM could have just told Hope and Iris where their dad is, and they could've safely been transported to New York. Redditor quiettimess writes, "I don't understand why they couldn't just ask Hope to come join her Dad?? Just bring her and Iris. I'm sure they would have gone since they were so desperate to be with their Dad. Why trick Hope into leaving??"
Redditor picorisword backs this idea up by stating, "You know the CRM could've just been like 'Hope you're good at computer? Come to New York we got hot cheetos and TV.'" Other fans chime in and talk about how it seems like none of what we just saw throughout the last season needed to happen. With only 20 episodes across two seasons, World Beyond will be a short show, and half of that time was spent on a journey that didn't actually need to take place.
Some fans, like blue_399, have another issue with the twist in that it seems farfetched Hope is the only intelligent person worth saving. They write, "It doesn't make sense at all. Out of 10K people, only Hope was worth saving? Nobody else was [intelligent]? At least, the others could work in security, farming, etc." If humanity indeed has 30 years to save itself before getting wiped out completely, then it would seem to make sense to save as many people as possible and not just one singular "chosen one." Hope can work with the CRM while everyone else takes on various roles to help keep civilization afloat.
It's always possible the twist will pay off in more ways once season 2 airs. Fans will just have to wait until next year when it (hopefully) airs to see how this storyline wraps up.