Fear the Walking Dead season 6 has fixed a big problem with Dwight (Austin Amelio) that carried over from season 5. A lot of fans familiar with Dwight’s arc from The Walking Dead took issue with how the series handled his character development when he joined the spinoff show.
After being a member of the Saviors and one of Negan’s most reliable lieutenants on The Walking Dead, Dwight betrayed his leader and helped Rick (Andrew Lincoln) win the All-Out War. Though he contributed much to their victory, it wasn’t enough to make up for his actions during his time with the Saviors. For this reason, he was banished for good by Daryl (Norman Reedus). Following his exile, Dwight met up with John (Garret Dillahunt) and June (Jenna Elfman), and joined Morgan’s group in Fear the Walking Dead season 5. Since then, Dwight has evolved into someone Morgan (Lennie James) and the others can depend on.
The situation with Dwight took an interesting turn when Sherry (Christina Evangelista) re-entered Dwight’s life. In Fear the Walking Dead season 6, episode 5, “Honey”, Dwight found himself initially siding with Sherry and Rollie (Cory Hart) against Morgan and Althea (Maggie Grace) in the debate about what to do about Virginia (Colby Minifie). Dwight also used torture against the Pioneer that was driving Al’s SWAT vehicle. Dwight’s behavior in these scenes was reminiscent of the person he was in The Walking Dead when he was working for Negan. Showing this side of Dwight has helped Fear the Walking Dead fix a problem that the AMC series had in season 5, which was rushing his redemption arc.
In season 5, it didn’t take long at all for Dwight to adjust to the views of people like John and Morgan, who have been intent on doing what they can to help to survivors in need. His interactions with the selfless and good-natured John Dorie had a transformative effect on Dwight, and to many people, it was believed that Dwight changed a bit too quickly. After all, Dwight was a villain on The Walking Dead and someone who was from a good guy (even when he was on Rick’s side). It should be noted that Dwight didn’t help Rick because it was the right thing to do; he fought against Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) for the purpose of revenge.
It was hard to imagine Dwight's dark side disappearing so easily, but “Honey” has shown that it was never really gone; it was merely repressed. To be a better person, Dwight locked away that side of himself, but it was always there, and Sherry’s return threatened to send him back on a dark path. As Dwight admitted to Morgan and Al, he wanted to be with Sherry so badly that he was willing to help her kill Virginia. It’s become clear now that Dwight’s transformation isn’t complete, and considering how far he had to go, that makes sense for his character. Fear the Walking Dead is continuing to make improvements to Dwight, and it will be interesting to see what the series has in store for him as season 6 moves forward.