It hasn’t been a good year so far for The Walking Dead in terms of ratings. Season 9 was ushered in with the lowest-viewed premiere of the lot – even lower than season 1 – and that was followed up by episode 3, ironically titled “Warning Signs,” earning the least amount of viewers for any episode in the show’s history. At last, though, episode 4 showed some positive signs as the ratings finally went up.
According to TV By The Numbers, the long-running zombie drama continued to hold its place at the top of the Sunday cable leaderboards, something even the weakest episodes have done, but also managed to increase from episode 4’s series low of a 1.94 rating to a respectable 2.0 in the critical demographic of adults between 18-49.
It’s not hard to deduce why this incline happened, either. AMC’s been up front about the fact that episode 4, “The Obliged,” was the penultimate outing to feature Andrew Lincoln as Rick Grimes before he exits in episode 5, “What Comes After.”
The news that the series star was hanging up his sheriff’s hat this year came out before the season had even aired, so you might have expected it to have an effect on the premiere’s ratings, but now that his exit’s impending, it seems that it’s enough to spur some wavering fans to tune back in. No doubt this Sunday’s figures will be even more impressive.
Even if the ratings dip off again once Rick’s left though, there’s no reason to worry for The Walking Dead‘s future. Showrunner Angela Kang recently said the series will only end if creator Robert Kirkman stops writing the comics while AMC apparently has plans for another decade of the show, with ideas to keep on expanding the franchise.
So, do your part to keep it going by tuning in to see Rick’s final episode of The Walking Dead this Sunday on AMC.
