I say she is a neutral character, much like Otto and Walker. Non is evil in the manner of Negan or The Governor. They do what is needed.

 

I think neither good or evil but rather someone with really bad judgment. She should have seen if the reserve water and potentially future negotiations would resolve the conflict.

 

She should. Both leaders where stubborn. And the whole "3 down, 1 to go" as 3 out of 4 "Forfathers" of the Ranch had died...I think war could been unavoidable! Still, Madison acted way to fast here!

 

I wouldn't call her evil until she has a harem of 7 husbands who she steals from their wives and threatens to essentially kill their wives if they dont have sex with her. At that point I can call her "evil" the way I do with Negan.

Remember she hesitated to kill Zombie Gretchen. She has real feelings for other people.

At the same time she is willing to compromise all morals for safety. She's a very neutral/gray character. Rick IMO is more of a "good guy" because he spent so much time and effort trying to do the 'right' thing until he became forced to stop doing so.

 

Madison is an emotionless robot. I don't know if she is written to be that way or whether Kim Dickens simply cannot convey emotions well. It seems like there are times when the character is supposed to show emotion but it just doesn't happen. She is nothing like Rick. Rick is a very emotional character and Andy Lincoln does a great job of conveying that to the audience. All of his decisions, good and bad, are driven by emotion. I don't really know what drives Madison's decision making

 

Bad. Something happens to a person after he/she murders another. A line is crossed. We're not talking accidental death here. Lots of kids see violence in the home but never resort to murder. This dramatically changed the way I look at Madison.

 

Bad

 

I don't think she's evil. I do think she hasn't broken free of her childhood traumas and wouldn't want to have to trust her for anything unless I felt really, really sure I knew what her motivations were, as she is willing to be 100% ruthless to get what she feels she must. Well, I guess it's easier to say I'd rather keep my distance from her as a general rule.

I definitely do NOT see her as good, "my needs first" would be closer to the truth. I don't think she'd ever look out for someone else's welfare, for example, if it would result in it inconveniencing Nick. I think I'd actually feel safer with Trump as an apocalypse partner than with Madison.

I do think it's funny that they made her a guidance counselor. There's the common wisdom that people with psych problems tend to gravitate towards psychology as a major in college, maybe the same thing applies here.

 

And here I thought Nick was the clear main character...