Season 9 of The Walking Dead was set to be a return to form for the hit show after an underwhelming reaction to the last run. It seems that this isn’t exactly going to plan, though.
Episode 7 for instance, titled “Stradivarius,” scored a soft 4.79 million viewers, which gave it a 1.8 rating in the key 18 to 49 demographic and, believe it or not, made it the least watched live episode in the show’s history. Now that Andrew Lincoln has departed, you’ve gotta wonder how much longer fans will continue to tune in.
That’s the question on everyone’s mind right now, especially since his exit comes after a string of lowly rated outings, with the season 9 premiere in particular really taking a hit. In case you haven’t heard, that outing scored the lowest audience for a premiere since the first season, with a relatively anaemic six million viewers tuning in.
Despite all this, though, AMC has no plans to slow things down. In fact, we’re learning tonight that they’ve gone ahead and renewed The Walking Dead for a tenth season. Given that we’d heard late last year that the next run was already in development, this isn’t too surprising. It is, however, nice to have some kind of confirmation – even if it doesn’t come from the network themselves.
That announcement will likely arrive soon now that the news has gotten out, but fans can at least take solace in the fact that Daryl, Carol, Michonne and the rest of their favorite characters will all be back next year for more walker-filled adventures. Although, it looks like their problems may soon start to extend just beyond the undead.
As you surely know, when The Walking Dead returns to AMC for season 9B next month, it’ll kick off a storyline dedicated to The Whisperers, who might just be the most dangerous foes our survivors have faced yet. And if those creepy promos we’ve seen are anything to go by, it certainly looks like dark times lie ahead.