Could New 'Walking Dead' Showrunner Bring Back Carl?
The Walking Dead's behind-the-scenes shake up has many fans wondering if the new woman in charge [...]
The Walking Dead's behind-the-scenes shake up has many fans wondering if the new woman in charge can bring Carl back to the AMC series. The answer, however, is "no," for several reasons.
Although Angela Kang is replacing Scott Gimple as the showrunner on AMC's flagship zombie drama beginning with the show's ninth season, the groundwork has already been laid for Carl to have been dead on the show for seven episodes ahead of her start date. The character will die in Episode 8x09, the first of 2018 and the Mid-Season 8 premiere.
Gimple, who oversaw production of The Walking Dead Season Eight and will carry out post-production for its remaining eight episodes, promises, Carl's bite "will play out as bites play out on the show," calling the wound a "one-way ticket." Now, he doesn't outright say the "walker bite" but implies it sufficiently. Though he is no longer the showrunner on The Walking Dead, he is now the Chief Content Officer of the entire Walking Dead brand and oversees all narrative moves, creative decisions, brand expansions, and so forth.
If that's not enough, Skybound's The Walking Dead Fan Mailbag confirmed the bite is not one from a Whisperer, human, stray cat, or any other sort of being other than a walker. "To settle this once and for all – no, this is not a bite from a Whisperer, a dog, or anything other than a walker," Skybound's Johnny O'Dell wrote. "Carl will suffer the same fate as everyone else who has been bitten by a walker in this show."
Furthermore, the cast and crew of the AMC show have already bid Carl actor Chandler Riggs farewell. "This is bigger than any other death that we've ever had and we realize that as it plays out in the back eight," Rick actor Andrew Lincoln told ComicBook.com. "The back eight is completely different from the front eight. This episode happens and everything changes. We spin off into a completely different new world."
What does this all mean?
The only way for Angela Kang to reinstate Riggs' character on the AMC show is to literally undo a death and revive Carl Grimes. This is not a dumpstergate situation where Carl can crawl under the dumpster. He has been marked for death and the bite has been revealed in Episode 8x08 after being attained in Episode 8x06.
The Walking Dead returns for the second half of its eighth season on February 25, 2018. Fear the Walking Dead will debut its fourth season after The Walking Dead concludes its eighth, at 10 pm ET on April 15. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.
