The midseason finale of The Walking Dead ended on a whopper of a revelation, as Chandler Riggs’ Carl Grimes was discovered to have been bitten by a walker – meaning the end is nigh for Rick’s son, who’s been part of the show since the very beginning. It seems, though, that this cliffhanger is just the start of what will be some “sad times ahead” for the gang.
Skybound Entertainment, the company behind Image’s The Walking Dead comics, teased as much in a reply to a fan’s question as part of their official mailbag. In response to an inquiry about whether the second half of season 8 would be “slow and very heavy on dialogue” or whether it would “speed up” the narrative, Skybound’s Johnny O’Dell said:
“The back half of Season 8 will continue this season’s action theme while also mixing meaningful dialogue and new plot twists that push the story along. There may be sad times ahead – but fans are really going to enjoy the latter half of Season 8.”
Despite O’Dell’s assurance that fans will love what’s to come over the rest of this season of TWD, Carl’s impending death has been far from universally acclaimed by viewers. In fact, ther’s been a major backlash against the move, with a petition even being created that calls for Carl to be resurrected and showrunner Scott Gimple to be fired. Even Norman Reedus has hinted that he’s not happy with Riggs’ exit.
The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, however, stands by the decision to write Carl out of the picture. In particular, he said that the midseason premiere is a very worthy episode that serves as “a great tribute to Carl the character, and Chandler the actor.”
We’ll have to decide for ourselves if that’s the case when The Walking Dead season 8 returns on Sunday, February 25th on AMC.