SAY IT ISN’T SO

Andrew Lincoln is leaving The Walking Dead at the end of Season 9. To say I was devastated by this news is the understatement of all time. Those of you who read this column regularly are well aware of my love for this television series which has completed eight successful seasons.
I first watched The Walking Dead as it began its second year. After viewing one episode I was hooked. The series, which is about surviving a zombie apocalypse, has excellent scripts and incredibly talented actors. It’s based on a graphic comic book of the same name written by Robert Kirkman. Kirkman is also involved with the series, adapting it for TV.
Andrew Lincoln has been a part of The Walking Dead since the first episode. He plays the role of Rick Grimes, a sheriff’s deputy in rural Georgia. He has been, since the beginning, the lead character in the show. Grimes has lost a wife, a teenage son and numerous friends over the past eight seasons.
The Walking Dead is a series known for killing off very popular characters. I have always been sure, however, that Rick would survive to the last episode. I was wrong. And I’m crushed.
Lincoln has been quoted as saying, “My relationship with Mr. Grimes is far from over, and a large part of me will always be a machete-wielding, Stetson-wearing, zombie-slaying sheriff’s deputy from London, England.”
Yes, Lincoln is English. But you’d never guess it in the show. Shortly after arriving in the United States to take on the role of Rick Grimes, he tells the story of how he spent a few weeks with a dialogue coach to help him master the Georgia accent. He did an excellent job. No one, including his fellow actors and the crew, realized this because Lincoln stayed in character throughout, even off the set. The story is told that at the wrap party at the end of the season, Lincoln reverted to his normal English accent. One of his coworkers finally said to him, “Andy, knock off the phony English accent. It’s not that good!”
It will be interesting but sad to see how the show’s writers deal with writing out the character of Rick Grimes. Will one of the zombies kill him? Or will one of the renegade human villains take him out? It has crossed my mind that the producers could decide to kill off not only Rick but the entire cast, making the season finale the final episode of the series. Forever.
One thing is sure. The show will never be the same again. And that’s a shame, because there is a lot more story to tell. I’m going to go now, so I can drown my sorrows in chocolate.
Come back, Rick! The post-apocalyptic world needs you . . . and we do too!