Fans of the long-running zombie drama ‘The Walking Dead’ should know by now that Andrew Lincoln is exiting the series after playing main man Rick Grimes since Episode One. And while the news has been in the open for a while now, it doesn’t change the emotion behind the decision.
Since the news of Lincoln’s exit broke, members of the cast and crew have said how much they will miss him. Among them was longtime writer and now showrunner Angela Kang, who had the arduous task of writing the exit for Rick. In a recent interview, Kang spoke about feeling the pressure to handle the moment in a way that would show respect for the character and give fans the closure they need. She said:
“To write his exit on the show, which we knew was coming, is just… I just don’t want to mess it up. I want to do service to this character. The writers, and everybody, the crew, the actors, everybody’s just putting their all into it because we love him so much and we respect him so much, and we want to do service to that journey. I feel a great responsibility to the fans to try to write him out in a way that’s worthy of his character, so I hope that we accomplished that.”
Lincoln’s Rick has been the driving force behind ‘The Walking Dead’ since the start. The plan is to continue the show without him, however, there’s no denying that his absence will hang heavy over the series. This is why Kang and the team put so much effort into creating what they believe to be the perfect exit for the character. In ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 preview special, Kang expressed her hope that fans would appreciate the end they have come up with.
The wait to find out is almost over, as ‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 premieres on Sunday, October 7.
