Warning, this article contains spoilers for all seasons of “The Walking Dead,” including season 8.
The eighth season of AMC’s biggest shows, “The Walking Dead” is about to end. It has no doubt been one of the most emotional and intense seasons that has been produced.
Each season there is always major characters that unfortunately do not survive. With the introduction of the newest antagonist, Negan, fans quickly realized that even their most beloved characters are in danger of being killed off.
The mid season finale of season 8 left fans crying and shocked at the fact that Carl Grimes was bitten by a zombie and was dying. With the heart wrenching premiere of the second half, it left fans wondering what the purpose of him dying actually was.
It has always been clear that the show itself takes liberties when it comes to content. Even though it does follow what is in the comics to an extent, it is not entirely follow it verbatim. This has been proven several times, including the most recent loss of the Carl.
Scott Gimple, the showrunner since season 4, has recently announced that he will no longer be writing episodes for future seasons and is stepping down from his position.
Gimple started on the show as a writer, and penned many fan favorite episodes such as “The Grove,” the episode where Carol and Tyreese are alone in the woods and deal with their trauma from earlier in the season. He also wrote the season 5 premiere, “No Sanctuary,” where Rick and the gang escape from the cannibals at Terminus.
A lot of fans have expressed negative responses to the more recent seasons for multiple reasons. One of these is because they feel that Gimple has taken away the essence of the earlier seasons and that the newer seasons no longer have the same quality. They
Even though Gimple will no longer be a writer for the show, he is still involved in a new position as Chief Content Officer. Taking his place as the showrunner is Angela Kang. She has been with the show since season two and has written several emotionally driven episodes.
Some of her credits include the season 2 episode “Judge, Jury, Executioner” in which Dale dies. She also wrote “Still” and “Coda,” two episodes focusing on the character Beth, with one focusing on her and Daryl’s relationship, and the other being the midseason finale of season 5 where she is killed in Grady Memorial Hospital.
Like Gimple, most of Kang’s episodes put a focus on character and dialogue and usually end with a crazy twist, like the season 6 episode “The Same Boat,” where Maggie and Carol are kidnapped by the saviors and escape by burning them alive.
According to Gimple, the ending of season 8 will be the conclusion of the main story arch of the first 8 seasons. He spoke about the vision for the future in an interview with Observer:
“Season 9 is going to be unlike things people have seen before on the show,” Gimple said. “And it really is going to take on a very, very different vibe—a very singular vibe unto itself.”
Along with the conclusion of season 8 will be the premiere of the fourth season of spinoff show “Fear the Walking Dead.”
It was recently announced that one of the main characters in “The Walking Dead,” Morgan Jones, played by Lennie James, will cross over into the “Fear the Walking Dead” world.
It has been hinted at that the crossover of characters could indicate that there will be future episodes where more characters of both shows will merge together with same storylines.
Paige Rogers
Reporter