The Walking Dead will enter a brand new era in the second half of Season 8 due to the upcoming death of none other than young Carl Grimes. The midseason finale back in December revealed that Carl had been bitten by a zombie on the torso, which meant that his life couldn't be saved via amputation. The poor kid is going to die sooner rather than later, and fans will have to say goodbye to Chandler Riggs from the show. Andrew Lincoln has played Carl's dad from the very beginning, and he found a special and rather silly way to say goodbye to his on-screen son: via song. Take a look!
Don't quit your day job, Andrew Lincoln! As touching as this song was, I can't say that Lincoln should really give up his career in acting to pursue a career in music. That said, I could watch him belt "CHANDLER OOH LA LA" over and over again. In fact, I may need to revisit this video in the aftermath of the midseason premiere that will feature Carl's demise for a few laughs. It's probably safe to say that this is the only song that has ever included the line "God, I hate those frickin' zombies" because they "keep eating all of my friends and family."
Andrew Lincoln did see a silver lining to the loss of Chandler Riggs from the set of The Walking Dead. He busted out his Rick Grimes accent to celebrate the fact that he won't have to say "Carl" -- or "Coral," as the case may be -- all the time, and he made the point that Riggs will be visiting London in the not-too-distant future. Even if they won't see each other as frequently as they did before Carl got chomped on by a zombie, they'll still get to reunite. All things considered, the song is a combination of hilarious and heartfelt that seems like a fitting goodbye to Chandler Riggs.
The song (as shared on The Walking Dead's Twitter) is certainly funnier than Andrew Lincoln's initial reaction to Carl's death. Shortly after the midseason finale revealed Carl's looming demise, Lincoln shared his sadness over Chandler Riggs' departure, although he was also quick to note that The Walking Dead will at least give Carl a respectable sendoff in his final episode. Carl may be dying, but it sounds like he'll get much more of a goodbye on the show than Glenn or Abraham or any of the others who died brutal deaths with little warning.
Unsurprisingly, Andrew Lincoln wasn't the only member of the Walking Dead team who had a hard time dealing with Carl's death. Danai Gurira revealed that she was "depressed for a while," which is understandable. Michonne became a mother figure to Carl, and Gurira had a fair amount of scenes with Chandler Riggs over the years. His absence would certainly affect her. Norman Reedus, who plays Daryl, stated that he "was desperately unhappy" about Carl's death and always thought "Chandler would be the last man standing, to be honest." Riggs' mom seemed to take the news well enough, but his dad had some harsh words for the show and showrunner Scott Gimple.
Chandler Riggs himself has shared a couple of upsides to no longer having a place on The Walking Dead. He got to finally cut his hair, and we can bet that he's happy to no longer pretend to have lost an eye. Plus, he won't have to go to any more death dinners.
Be sure to tune in to The Walking Dead on Sunday, February 25 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC to see Chandler Riggs' performance as a dying Carl. For more viewing options now and in the coming weeks, be sure to swing by our midseason TV premiere guide and our 2018 Netflix schedule.
