At one point in time, this show was pretty cutting edge and had a slightly different feel (out of necessity) to The Walking Dead, it's predecessor and sister show. For approximately four seasons, there were interesting story lines, characters and conflicts. Moreover, the show appeared to have a reason for being, an underlying logic the justified the series existence in a world where a regularly-aired post-apocalyptic zombie series was already in an advanced stage of development in the minds of the audience that was most likely to watch a similar incarnation of the original series.
However, since the near-simultaneous stripping of the two lead characters from the show entirely not so long ago (maybe because they were too white and hetero for the modern film industry to bear... who knows?; the show was initially built around the relationship between a hardened career mother and her mentally checked out, drug-addicted son, both of whom had the ability to carry the show as co-leads and, in the case of the actress who played the mother, as the sole antagonist in this post-apocalyptic drama), the show has been in a precipitous decline and now merely drifts aimlessly from one uninteresting event to the other... however, it does so minus the interesting characters and conflicts that previously occupied the series.
In place of the dynamic mother/son lead duo, the series has pushed Alicia, who up until recently was a relatively peripheral figure, despite being the daughter of the one-time female protagonist, into the lead role and, unfortunately, the character doesn't have the personality to pull it off.
Alicia is largely a blank slate and a dull one at that. She has very little to offer beyond her character's overly-emphasized, one-dimensional angst. To make matters worse, her co-male lead (a cast-off from the original series) is just as one-dimensional, morally-prudish and angst-ridden as is his co-star... and in an anarchic environment which you would not think would be all that hospitable to the extended practice of moral philosophising and, moreover, as the world around them burns.
Adding to the list of brooding and uninteresting characters that have robbed this show of the excitement and interest it used to possess are John, June and Althea, who each give the viewer no reason to care about them whatsoever.
The show's only interesting characters since the departure of the mom and son duo have been Victor (whose character originally possessed the backstory, charisma and personality to carry the show but whom now, since having been domesticated, more closely resembles a carbon copy of the dependably-dull Morgan) and the almost-completely sidelined Luciana (who possesses an understated charm and sense of vulnerability that ensures that the viewer actually cares about the fate of the character).
All in all, the killing off of Madison and Nick was a huge mistake. As was the senseless termination of Troy, who was an extremely interesting and engaging character who met his demise at the hands of Madison when she and her crew lost control of the dam. Additional mistakes includes the recruitment of uninteresting and lifeless background characters from the original series to fill prominent roles in the show going forward, the elevation Alicia (who possesses both the looks and lifeless persona of a standard beauty-pageant participant) to prominence is also the consequence of a huge error of judgement.
The addition of an extraordinarily uninteresting and obviously lesbian character (which helps fuel suspicion that political correctness has motivated the removal and introduction of a number of cast members that has so harmed the show as of late... the irony being that of the most interesting and engaging current characters in the show, one is a gay/black man and the other is a Latin female) is completely unnecessary. While even the most gruesome death possibly imagined for the likes of John and June is highly unlikely to elicit much concern from the viewers.
Of all of the new characters introduced to the show, only Charlie is intriguing enough to, along with Strand and Luciana, fill the shoes of the departed.
I have not even gotten into the completely confused path that more or less the entire crew has decided to willingly embark on, which seems to involve very little in the way of planning, logic, foresight and an awful lot of senselessly flying (sometimes literally) by the seat of their pants, leading to one artificially-contrived tangle after another.
In summation, nothing can now be done about the departure of previously engaging characters. However, the most interesting characters (Victor and Luciana... joined by Charlie) in the show need to become the focal point of the series and quickly. While the group itself needs to set upon a logical/feasible objective to provide some semblance of realism and structure to what is a surreal environment but at the same time a pretty directionless and confused show... for the time being, at least.
