9.05: The Walking Dead - What Comes After

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The death of Ricktator (Photo by Jackson Lee Davis/AMC)

Rick is forced to face the past as he struggles to maintain the safety of the communities and protect the future he and Carl envisioned.

At the end of the episode, there is a time jump of 6 years.

 

[REBerg]

When this episode opened, I was certain that it would end with Rick's death, keeping the much-publicized promise of the "final episode" for Rick Grimes.
That promise seemed to have been kept when Rick set off the dynamite. Rick was going out, literally, with a bang as the hero who saved the world he was building. Being "rescued" by Anne (a "B" is more valuable than an "A"?) and airlifted to a mysterious new life, leaving the door open to his return some distant day, seemed to break the farewell forever promise.
I was more skeptical that the episode would also bring an end to Negan. I feared that Negan's broken man death wish was all an act, and that Maggie was about to leave the series when she let him out of his cell. Her confrontation with Michonne to gain access to Negan also made me wonder if little Judith would soon be an orphan.
Speaking of little Judy, she really does turn out to be a chip off the old block -- complete with daddy's gun and hat. I thought that was a bit much.
I guess I should have known that Rick is unkillable. He was able to pull himself off that impaling rebar, regain his horse (which waited politely after bucking him off in reaction to the walker horde overrunning them), patch himself up and, still leaking an apparently limitless supply of blood, lead the horde to the bridge.
Despite being only a few feet behind during the entire pied piper sequence, the walkers never caught up whenever Rick passed out and revisited some of his key lost companions. I was surprised that Herschel was among those urging Rick to keep going. Not only had Herschel been beheaded by the Governor in season four, Scott Wilson, the actor to played Herschel, died last month.
Overall, I thought the episode spent too much time immersed in Rick's fevered fantasies. On the plus side, the flaming walkers raining into the river, was pretty cool.

 

[Anthoney]

They have announced that Rick will be back for 3 feature length movies. When the world blows up there will be nothing left but a huge pile of roaches, Capt. Jack Harkness and Rick Grimes.

Here's a piece from TV guide.

In Lincoln's final episode of The Walking Dead, Rick Grimes was left wounded and flying away in a helicopter with Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) toward an unknown destination. The first of the three films will resolve that cliffhanger and explore what Gimple calls the "vast mythology" of a still-mysterious community who collects "A" or "B" people. The Gimple-penned film is expected to begin production in early 2019.

The films are only the first step in the expansion of The Walking Dead franchise. After having been promoted from showrunner to the new position of chief content officer, Gimple began developing numerous projects to make The Walking Dead into a Star Trek-style multi-platform franchise. As part of Gimple's multi-year plan for The Walking Dead universe, there are other projects currently in development, including additional films, specials, series, digital content and more. Some of the stories will relate to The Walking Dead as fans know it while others will be standalone stories that break into new creative territory. According to THR, "Gimple's vision stretches beyond that and includes introducing content with brand new characters, revisiting old fan favorite and obscure ones and, maybe, spinning off others in shows that could run anywhere from 16-episode seasons to short-order miniseries."

 

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I admire Rick's determination, the sheer amount of will power that he is possessing to be able to drag him out from the life threatening situation, even if it hurts. Most of the people I know would not be able to ignore that there was is half a meter of rebar sticking out from their guts, because it really, really, really hurts when you are wounded in that way.

I get why he starts to hallucinate as a sepsis is a very likely outcome from landing in a place like that. Like so many survivors before him, he pushes through the pain until he feels safe. But when the hallucinations starts, it feels like he is dying and recalling the past moments.

I loved seeing Shane talking back, telling him that he's done and that it should have been him, instead of Rick who survived. However, if I speculate for a minute, I still think that Shane wouldn't have survived the reign of the Governor, the horrors of the Terminus, or the fight with Negan. If he had made it at the end, I believe Shane would have killed Negan to be able to stay as the dictator of the Shanenation.

He tells Rick to dig deep to find the rage to be able to push through the moment of death. The pain makes you know that you're alive, while the hate and rage builds up the adrenaline level to push through it all. So, know that if you're hurting nobody will look you wrongly if you curse like a drunken sailor.

There are people who has crawled, walked, ride and driven long distances, because they had a reason to live. If you don't have one, you are most likely to give up. Hershel showed him a paradise, a way out into the Heaven, instead of being cast down in Hell with Shane. But he also told Rick that his place isn't in the Heaven, but his place is to be at the Earth, because he still have a role to play.

It was great that they next showed that the way to the Purgatory goes through the TWD's famous doors. I don't really understand why Sasha was there, asking him to stay, to give up on his life, that there is no reason for him to live. Why did she then told Rick to wake up?

They didn't needed to show him slumbering forward as if he was part of the dead. For the amount of blood he had lost, he should have been long lost. I cried when he blew up the bridge. They could have left it there and everyone would have been happy.

What made Rick B? And what happened to Gabriel after Jadis lifted Rick off from the ground? Are they all now in the same place?

I was more skeptical that the episode would also bring an end to Negan. I feared that Negan's broken man death wish was all an act, and that Maggie was about to leave the series when she let him out of his cell. Her confrontation with Michonne to gain access to Negan also made me wonder if little Judith would soon be an orphan.

Michonne and Maggie scene was necessary as it has been on the cards for over two years. We all hate Negan for what he did. But in Michonne's defence I can say that she's right, because marder will only open another door for the cycle of death. They all need closure, because keeping Negan alive, only reminds them about the failures in the past.

I liked that the at the end Maggie saw the reason in Rick's decision, as weeping, begging Negan is like seeing a castrated dog, whining after his lost balls.

The voice in the radio, who talks to Jadis, somehow reminded me about the Fear characters, even though I'm certain that there hasn't been characters like him in the series before.

On the plus side, the flaming walkers raining into the river, was pretty cool.

I agree. One of the best scenes in this season and almost as epic as the twister full of dead. I still like twister better, as it brought some true horror episodes in the show. Not just survival tales.

 

[svalbard]

I am in between two minds on this episode. At one level Ifeel it is a cop out and Rick's miraculous saving at the end took much of the emotional impact away from the episode.

At the same time I did think it was one of the better episodes of the last few seasons. Maggie's scenes with Michonne and Negan were excellent. Not believing Negan's breakdown for a second.

How badass was little Judith at the end

 

[nixie]

A bit of a cop out, I think I'd have preferred the bridge blown up as the final chapter.
Not sure about the films.
I liked the flashed back but I'd have liked to have seen Glen.
We also know Maggie isn't going to die, happy as I am about that it's another cop out.

Who is going to lead now he's gone?
Maggie would be the best candidate but she's leaving.
Daryl is a follower not a leader.
Michonne is essentially a loner.
Carol is too unstable.
Aaron, Ezekiel and Jesus aren't ruthless enough.

Negan, was it an act?

Looking forward too next week although not sure about what they are turning Judith into, surely there are enough adult fighters that they can leave the children behind the safety of closed walls at least till they reach mid teens. Yes teach them to fight but don't take them on sorties, they are the future.

 

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Who is going to lead now he's gone?

Thing is, after Old Man Rick was going to stay on the porch, smoking cigars and drinking moonshine, Carl was going to be the star, while Rick stayed as a leader. In the comics, they did acknowledged that Rick was a bad dictator and he got them in trouble, so Maggie, Michonne and Jesus made a committee around him, and basically told him how it was going to go forward.

Not believing Negan's breakdown for a second.

Negan, was it an act?

I don't think it was an act. Isolation breaks tough characters and we now know that he's going to spend another six years in that cell. If they're going to need his ruthlessness to survive, it's gone. He's going to be like those institutionalised people, who commit a crime to get back inside the cell, because that is all they know.

I wonder how realistically they are going to portray 8 years of isolation?

 

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Throughout Andrew Lincoln's last episode, fans were shown several touching scenes that included several deceased characters from his character's — Rick Grimes — past.

At the end of the hour-long episode, fans were left scratching their heads as to why Rick's late wife Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies) or late son Carl (Chandler Riggs) were nowhere to be found.

According to The Walking Dead showrunner Angela Kang, there was "a reason" for that.

“We dove into this idea of the ‘third man phenomenon,’” Kang the Huffington Post. “When people are close to death, sometimes they imagine seeing somebody that they knew or that they don’t know that helped drive them to survive and keep them going."

"We had these three particular characters [Shane, Hershel and Sasha] who are sort of filling an emotional need for him in the moment, but Rick’s entire journey is looking for his family, and I felt, creatively felt, that if he sees Lori or Carl he would feel like, ‘OK, I fulfilled my mission. I found them. I’m home. I can lay down and die now.’”

Kang went on to explain that Rick's hallucinations didn't include his real family members because he was, instead, focusing on the friends that became family throughout his journey on the show.

“He needed to keep going for the family that is still there, and so to have that kind of restlessness of like, ‘I still haven’t found them. Where are they? Where are they?' bringing him back to realizing his family has always been there all along ― that the people he’s fighting for now are still his family ― that’s what keeps him going. So he can’t find them, otherwise it’d be too easy for him to give up.”

The Real Reason Carl Didn't Appear On Rick's Final 'The Walking Dead' Episode Revealed

The downsizing has begun. AMC claims that they need to reorganise their work roster, but we know that recently the ratings has been down and as the numbers is the only thing the executives seem to care, sacking the workforce was the obvious thing they were going to do. I don't expect them to finish the movies.

AMC Networks will be laying off upwards of 40 employees — about 2% of the workforce — as the company works to centralize operations, according to Deadline.

Executive Sarah Barnett has been promoted to president of entertainment networks, a step up from her previous role as GM of BBC America.

Fellow AMC execs David Madden and Linda Schupack also received promotions, with Madden will now head network programming while Schupack will be the new President of Marketing, Entertainment networks. Both staffers will report to Barnett in their new roles.

According to AMC Chief Operating Officer Ed Carroll, the reorganization is an attempt to make the network as "nimble as possible."

“We wanted a structure that would make us as nimble as possible,” Carroll said. “We wanted to see the entire marketplace from one seat.”

'The Walking Dead': AMC Networks Laying Off Around 40 Employees

In lieu of a eulogy, here’s a tribute to Rick Grimes, the man, the hat, the beard, the legend…

The Walking Dead: the seven ages of Rick Grimes

 

[Judderman]

Ah so Rick is flown off to do a Trilogy eh. So presumably this means we don't see the heli people in the series. Well, unless they pick up Maggie too... Ah well, this season has been pretty good so far by recent standards and I'm more hopeful there will be some good story/action going forwards. Daryl could become kind of a leader if there is a physical threat that has to be averted.

A bit unrelated, but I was just looking back at season 5. Wow, Beth, Tyreese and Noah all had unexpected and varied deaths in the space of seven episodes.

 

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"It's interesting because when we talked about the episode and which characters would come back and which ones wouldn't come back for cameos," Nicotero said. "I had just been at a convention with Scott [Wilson] in Australia and we spent a lot of time together and I just kept pushing for Herschel and I kept saying, You know Scott...'"

Shortly thereafter, Wilson became sick with leukemia, an illness which would get the best of him by the beginning of October 2018. "When I found out that Scott was sick, because none of knew he was sick then, I found out about two weeks later," Nicotero explained. "I went to see him in the hospital in Los Angeles and I took my iPhone with the scene and I showed it to him and he was like, 'That brought tears to my eyes.'"

Wilson, in fact, couldn't get enough of the scene which brought Hershel back. "He was so proud and then I kept trying to leave and he kept making me show it to him over and over again," Nicotero said. "S,o he watched it like six times. He was so excited about it, and it, you know, I really... I'm really just... I don't even know how to express how grateful I was to be able to share that with him."

Proudly, Nicotero stood with Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln for Wilson's return, where he declared this was what it was all about. "He so eloquently preserves and shows everything about what we love about The Walking Dead," Nicotero said. "The day he came to set, when he walked on set and everybody clapped and I pulled Andy aside and I'm like, 'This is what the show is.' Scott Wilson. And that feeling reminded all of us of the heart of the show."

'The Walking Dead': Greg Nicotero Opens Up About Scott Wilson's Final Scene

To end Rick's time on The Walking Dead, he was badly injured and floated down a river after blowing his bridge up in an effort to protect his communities. After he washed ashore on an embankment beside the river, Jadis spotted him and called to her helicopter that she has a "B" which happens to be a friend need. Together, they flew away from Alexandria.

This same group is responsible for Heath's disappearance in Season Seven.

"That was kind of the intention that we had in the back of our heads this whole time," Kang told INSIDER. "Even back in that season where you know we had to write the wonderful Corey Hawkins out because he had huge opportunities in the feature film world... those seeds were already set there."

Heath actor Corey Hawkins left The Walking Dead to play the lead role on 24: Legacy, a series which has since been cancelled. Such news could open him up for a return to The Walking Dead, whether it be on the TV series or for an appearance in the movies centered around Rick Grimes by the Dead universe's chief content officer Scott Gimple.

During a panel a New York Comic Con in early October, The Walking Dead creator and executive producer of the AMC series Robert Kirkman discussed Heath's fate. "We are hoping to get him back and tell his story," Kirkman said. It's a sentiment which new showrunner Kang echoed in her interview, saying, "I hope so, too."

'The Walking Dead' Showrunner Explains Mystery With Helicopter

I did think that the helicopther people are the same people that took Heath, but I didn't dare to add that speculation as back in the day we know nothing about them. I don't remember had even seen Jadis at that point.

 

[grip junky]

I loved this episode! I said this on 5/16/18 on the fear thread -" I wish they would do more one off type episodes, I think some of that, at this point on the walking dead would be much better than some new adversary." Looks like their will be a new adversary, but from what I saw on the talking dead they are going with a few movies and some one offs. I can not wait. I like that Rick lives, and we get to see some newish things around him.

 

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Ah so Rick is flown off to do a Trilogy eh.

Looks like their will be a new adversary, but from what I saw on the talking dead they are going with a few movies and some one offs.

I have been thinking what they should do with the movies and that six plus years he is going to be off the series. Firstly, I think they need to explain Jadis, Helicopter People and what really are the A and B classifications. It can be a massive thing and it might show some of the authorities hiding in the bunkers. Secondly, I strongly believe they should do one with Rick and Fear crew, and all that business going around with the trucks, beer and endless amount of fuel they have left after everyone is dead. Third one, I suspect that it should be the connecting piece whenever they decide to bring Rick back into the series ... if it ever happens.

There is also the wildcard that they could play, and that is to explain the beginning of the whole thing, as Daniel clearly had met the dead before everything happened. The curse that turned to a plague that wiped out most of the living still doesn't have its origin story. As a Kirkman fan, I would want him to pen one, if he has time and will to wade into the film world. At least it should give him a platform to express some of things that might do well in the feature length TV movie. Two and half hours might be too long or not long enough if he wants to show something super cool.

 

[grip junky]

I have been thinking what they should do with the movies and that six plus years he is going to be off the series. Firstly, I think they need to explain Jadis, Helicopter People and what really are the A and B classifications. It can be a massive thing and it might show some of the authorities hiding in the bunkers. Secondly, I strongly believe they should do one with Rick and Fear crew, and all that business going around with the trucks, beer and endless amount of fuel they have left after everyone is dead. Third one, I suspect that it should be the connecting piece whenever they decide to bring Rick back into the series ... if it ever happens.

There is also the wildcard that they could play, and that is to explain the beginning of the whole thing, as Daniel clearly had met the dead before everything happened. The curse that turned to a plague that wiped out most of the living still doesn't have its origin story. As a Kirkman fan, I would want him to pen one, if he has time and will to wade into the film world. At least it should give him a platform to express some of things that might do well in the feature length TV movie. Two and half hours might be too long or not long enough if he wants to show something super cool.

From what I watched on the talking dead, what they are going to do is something new with rick, it may or may not cross over with the other shows. They also said they will have some new people with there own junk going on that might just be one or two shows. I can not wait!

 

[grip junky]

I read back what I said I do not like it. I do not want anyone to think I think they should like what I like. I can not wait but I get if others are not happy or would not be happy with one offs or all new things for Rick.

 

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They also said they will have some new people with there own junk going on that might just be one or two shows.

I'm comfortable with new people, if they're meaningful people and not just faces filling a slot. The TellTale Games did a wonderful job with their TWD version as in every season they brought in new faces, new crew, and some connection to Kirkman's creation. If they do something like that with the movies it's going to be great. And if they decide to kill everyone, by making the story this-is-how-we-died, I'm fine with that as well, as long as they do it properly and not dollar signs in the eyes. If they want dollars, they should support Romero or even allow John Carpenter to provide his keen eye to the play.

 

[grip junky]

I'm comfortable with new people, if they're meaningful people and not just faces filling a slot. The TellTale Games did a wonderful job with their TWD version as in every season they brought in new faces, new crew, and some connection to Kirkman's creation. If they do something like that with the movies it's going to be great. And if they decide to kill everyone, by making the story this-is-how-we-died, I'm fine with that as well, as long as they do it properly and not dollar signs in the eyes. If they want dollars, they should support Romero or even allow John Carpenter to provide his keen eye to the play.

I have a friend who was just over in Scotland lifting the manhood stones and his pics and the pics of some of my highland games friends of the countryside from over there makes me think it would be cool to see what would be going on in that area. That to me would be a cool one off.

 

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That to me would be a cool one off.

Sure, but it would fit Michonne's thing much better. In the comics, she went missing for a very long time, and during that time she was in the boat. So crossing the Atlantic and doing it over here could be a possibility. But, they have not addressed anything that has been going over here. Nobody knows nothing about what happened to the Europeans. With the helicopter people, if they have access to planes and an ability to make petrol that planes can burn, why not. I just doubt they would do such a thing as AMC doesn't have production over here. Only one small office at North London.

If you have seen the World War Z movie with Bradd Pitt as the main character. The production wasn't easy as it takes a great amount of work and money if you want those international scenes to be authentic. But ... as an idea, super cool.

 

[Judderman]

You could set a Walking Dead film/series practically anywhere. The one thing that differentiates The Walking Dead from most zombie films is that everyone who dies by any reason rises again. Though that probably makes it more appropriate for long term programs. Once you get a very aged community..

 

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Once you get a very aged community..

Why is in this last episode, Rick found newly infected in the clearing, before the hut scene, but those zombies that was chasing him were all old, some had had their bits fallen off? The thing I'm pointing at is the old people often has problems with their bones and muscles. Some of them cannot more because it's so painful. So their muscles get wasted and the bones super weak.

Although the necromorphosis would remove the pain issue, it could do nothing for the muscles that the zombie would need to move around, or otherwise it would be immediately facing starvation and real death. So, getting at the point where the veteran zombie hunters would be at the verge of dying from age related issues, shouldn't be an issue to the society, as that point they should have solved problems and there shouldn't be questions if they can prevent certain situations from happening by offering elders eutanasia. Maybe they could at that point even have Star Trek like suicide booths?

 

[REBerg]

Zombies/walkers only eat because they can, not because require sustenance.
The most surefire way to kill a walker is damaging its brain. Logically, every senior citizen walker should "die" when its brain eventually rots to mush and dribbles out through its empty eye sockets.
Nothing about reanimating the dead is scientifically logical. Acceptance of the fantasy does, even if it makes no sense, makes for good entertainment.