Losing Rick is the Best Chance to Save The Walking Dead

June 1, 2018
Mr Game
Rants
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We were shocked as anyone to learn this week that series protagonist and definitive narrative anchor to The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes, would be exiting the series this season as actor Andrew Lincoln confirmed he’s ready to move on. Reasons are unclear but it’s been suggested the show prevents him from working on other projects and after the bizarre choice to kill off his son, Carl, recently there’s limited if any reason to continue a story about Rick.

Yeah, it kinda felt like that.

It’s a big, shovel-to-the-face, hit to the franchise as Rick’s journey has been the captivating, driving force for 9 seasons ever since we crawled inside that empty tank with him in the first episode. The ensemble around him as changed dramatically over the years and the overall quality of the show has, well, unfortunately eroded pretty consistently season to season, but Rick’s always been there to connect us to the events. It’s somewhat stunning how well Andrew Lincoln pulled off Rick considering we only knew him as the super creepy guy from Love Actually.

Best Best Man ever

But as much as we hate to see Rick go, especially as the show seems more and more aimless in its storytelling, but this may not be the worst thing for TWD. First of all, as mentioned the loss of Carl and the capture of Neegan removes just about all tension in Rick’s life. Sure, the Whisperers can and likely will show up in the next season, but it just doesn’t feel like Rick’s fight anymore.

Second, Fear the Walking Dead is proving there’s still life in zombies. In a remarkable twist no one saw coming, about two years ago Fear the Walking Dead surpassed The Walking Dead in overall quality. This is after a fairly underwhelming opening and lackluster first two seasons. New showrunners and the addition of the always awesome Garret Dillahunt and Maggie Grace to the mix, the show is getting a sense of levity and purpose. It also helps the show operates on a smaller scale, allowing drama and tension between characters instead of trying to track dozens and dozens like TWD. As TWD is fading into obscurity through exhaustion, maybe it’s time to go off book and enter a Rick-less world. There’s a (slim) chance it could be interesting.

Seriously, this guy needs more recognition.

We understand the sentiment though from longtime series fans. Our inclination is this is the death knell we knew would one day come for this show we never thought would exist. But we also know the show was on life support as it was. Jeffrey Dean Morgan did his damned best to keep us hooked the last two season, but even he can’t chew charismatically through lines like, “I hope you’re wearing your pee-pee pants.” The show needs a significant reboot and that can’t happen with Rick in the driving seat. This could be a really good thing. And, if not, you’ve always got Fear the Walking Dead which you should be watching by now anyways!