Well, that was it, folks. You just witnessed the penultimate episode for Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead, as Andrew Lincoln’s set to bow out of the show next week. Despite the cliffhanger ending we got tonight, it’s still not 100% clear how exactly the fan favorite character will make his exit, with the cast and crew teasing that he may get a peaceful end to his story.
Whatever ultimately happens, at least a few faces from Rick’s past will be stopping by next week – presumably in flashback or hallucination form – and one of them just so happens to be Jon Bernthal’s Shane Walsh. The actor’s set to swing by The Walking Dead for Lincoln’s final hurrah and now, we have our first look at him.
Seen in the promo above – or the screenshot below – is a quick glimpse of Shane, as he sits beside Rick in a car. It’s not much, and doesn’t really give us anything to go on, but it’s sure to get fans excited regardless.
After all, Bernthal’s tenure on The Walking Dead goes back to 2013, when his character was killed at the hand of Carl Grimes – incidentally, this pivotal scene was also one of the first telltale signs that everyone’s infected, given that Shane returned from the dead despite having not been bitten.
We don’t imagine he’ll have a huge role to play in next week’s episode, but it’ll be nice to see Shane and Rick together one final time, as The Walking Dead prepares to say goodbye to its leading man. And it all goes down on Sunday, November 4th, when episode 9×05 “What Comes After” airs and fans everywhere bid farewell to Andrew Lincoln after nearly a decade of watching him in the role.
