Why Andrew Lincoln Didn't Leave The Walking Dead In Season 8 As He'd Planned
The end is nigh for Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead, and fans are facing the final stretch of episodes before he's gone for good (barring any flashbacks or hallucinations). While the news that he was leaving in Season 9 came as a shock to many, it turns out that Lincoln originally intended to leave the zombie apocalypse behind in Season 8. Here's what he had to say:
Yes, Andrew Lincoln was planning on leaving The Walking Dead in the eighth season as far back as Season 4, when he had a conversation to that effect with then-showrunner Scott Gimple. Despite the fact that he had plenty of time between Season 4 and Season 8 to prepare for the final goodbye, Lincoln's comments to EW reveal that he simply wasn't ready by the time Season 8 rolled around. Interestingly, Lincoln realized that he wanted to stick around into another season relatively late in the game. Apparently, his change of heart happened halfway through filming Season 8 at San Diego Comic-Con.
I have to wonder if Andrew Lincoln's change of heart contributed to the decision to kill off Carl, whose imminent death was revealed in the form of a zombie bite in Season 8's midseason finale and ultimate demise took place in the midseason premiere. Statements from Chandler Riggs (and his dad) after Carl's death hit the airwaves (without having been spoiled due to Riggs' intervention) indicate that he learned that he would be out of a job very suddenly. Perhaps the need to keep Rick around but a desire to kill off a major character resulted in Carl's death. We can only speculate at this point.
Now, we shouldn't take Andrew Lincoln's references to"the funeral" so literally as to mean that Rick is definitely going to bite the dust in Season 9. He's definitely on the top of our list of characters most likely to die and we've come up with some morbidly fun theories about how it could happen, but there's no 100% guarantee that Rick is going to die. Besides, there's no way Andrew Lincoln would spoil Rick's death months ahead of it taking place on the small screen. The metaphorical funeral is the one that takes Lincoln away from the show that turned him into a household name and the friends he made during his time in the zombie apocalypse.
The good news is that we don't have too much longer to wait before Andrew Lincoln begins his swan song as Rick Grimes in Season 9. The Walking Dead returns on Sunday, October 7 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. There are plenty of other options on the small screen as well.
CINEMABLEND NEWSLETTER
Your Daily Blend of Entertainment News
Laura turned a lifelong love of television into a valid reason to write and think about TV on a daily basis. She's not a doctor, lawyer, or detective, but watches a lot of them in primetime. CinemaBlend's resident expert and interviewer for One Chicago, the galaxy far, far away, and a variety of other primetime television. Will not time travel and can cite multiple TV shows to explain why. She does, however, want to believe that she can sneak references to The X-Files into daily conversation (and author bios).