We all know that the midseason premiere for ‘The Walking Dead‘ is going to be the end of the line for Carl Grimes and Andrew Lincoln is sharing how Rick is going to deal with the situation. The episode closed with The Kindom being overtaken, Maggie executing someone and declaring war on The Saviours, Alexandria burning, and Carl revealing he had been bitten by a walker. Not only are we going to have to deal with all that when the show returns, but it will also be Chandler Riggs‘ last on the show barring flashbacks, a dream sequence, or that random helicopter randomly appearing and taking Carl away at the last possible moment to someplace that has a cure.
That last one likely isn’t going to be happening.
So what was it like for Lincoln to have to say goodbye to Riggs who has played his son for the last eight seasons?
“I’m not going to lie to you, that was sad The beautiful thing is it’s what we rarely do in our show — we actually give the opportunity for a goodbye. It was unusual in that regard. Usually, things happen and people are ripped from you in this world that we inhabit. Thankfully, there was some sense of catharsis on this one, because we got to leave it all out on the screen. I thought Chandler did a remarkable job, as he always has done, but particularly in this episode.
It’s a very sad farewell. And a farewell that I never thought would happen. Neither did most of the rest of the cast, I would imagine.”
Fans of the comic are still surprised as not only is Carl alive and kicking in the comic series but Robert Kirkman has claimed for years that he would be the last survivor of the original group. The impact on future stories will be felt going forward and on Rick himself as well:
“[Carl] is the linchpin. It goes back to the flash-forward where my mercy prevails over my wrath. There is a balancing of the scales in Rick’s life that happens in the back eight episodes. A lot of it is because of what is said in Episode 9, by his son.”
One would assume that they are using this as a way to follow the comics as to how the current story arc plays out. I’ll warn you that I’m about to reveal a pretty big spoiler. ..
In the comics when this story comes to a close, it isn’t with Rick putting a bullet into the back of Negan’s skull but just keeping him locked up. I’ve long suspected that this quote might be related to just such a scenario but we’ll see when the current and likely next season unfold.
Are you ready to say goodbye to Carl on ‘The Walking Dead’? Do you feel that Andrew Lincoln is going to give us one of the most emotional scenes on the show to date? Share your thoughts below!
‘The Walking Dead’ returns to infect AMC on February 25th, 2018!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
