AMC Doesn’t Know How The Walking Dead Will End

Given the ratings juggernaut that it is, AMC clearly has no interest in ending The Walking Dead. We already know that we’ll be getting an eighth season and with Robert Kirkman still writing the comic book that it’s based on, we can assume it will continue on longer after that as well. In fact, showrunner Scott Gimple recently revealed that not only is there no end in sight, but they don’t even have a planned conclusion yet.

Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, here’s what Gimple said:

No, there’s no communication whatsoever [about the ending]. They have no approval over what happens in the comic. Scott Gimple is an avid reader of the comic, and prefers to experience the comic book as a reader, so he gets the advance issues as they’re published, but he doesn’t read scripts. He gets mad at me if I give him any kind of indication as to what’s coming, because he doesn’t like spoilers. So, they’re kind of a hundred percent in the dark, which I guess is pretty remarkable, and I would probably say it’s a testament to the trust that AMC has in me. I mean, I guess to a certain extent, at this point, the comic book is kind of a workshop of future seasons of the show, and it’s fun to think that I can just completely torpedo the story if I wanted to.

Someone who does know how it’ll all wrap up though is Mr. Kirkman, who told EW that he knows “exactly how it ends,” but that he’s still in the “middle” of the story, which means there’s a lot more to come:

Yeah, I know exactly how it ends, and I’m always taking baby steps toward that point as I’m telling the story. I know what the end point is, and at the end of the day, I want this entire long narrative to be a complete story with a beginning, middle, and end. We’re just spending a lot of time in the middle, so, I kind of have to know what that direction is, and I have to know what that end point is to be able to keep building towards it. I think that’s the only way to keep it alive.

Kirkman’s comments make sense, and in a way, it is good that at least someone involved in The Walking Dead has a clear ending in mind. As good as the show may be, we don’t want it to overstay its welcome. Granted, it’s probably pretty far from hitting that point, but the time will eventually come when it’ll be in the best interests of the network to bring it to a satisfying conclusion rather than needlessly extend it.

Whatever the ending may be, it’s just good to know that for the time being, The Walking Dead isn’t going anywhere and we have a lot more of Rick, Negan, Lucille, Daryl and everyone else to look forward to.