The Walking Dead: Rick's Death Can Save The Show

With Andrew Lincoln set to leave The Walking Dead during Season 9, this might just be the jolt the show needs to get it back on track. In the beginning, AMC's small screen adaptation of Robert Kirkman's Walking Dead comics was clearly centered on one man: Rick Grimes. A cop prior to the apocalypse, Rick served as the focal character that viewers experienced the early episodes through. As time has gone on though, The Walking Dead has become more and more of an ensemble-based series.

Characters like Daryl, Maggie, Michonne, and even Negan have stepped to the forefront as favorites of many Walking Dead fans, and are as often integral to storylines as Rick. That said, the writers of The Walking Dead still seem to have this constant need to recenter the focus on Rick, even if it's to the detriment of the other characters or the series as a whole. While this is in many ways true to the comics, The Walking Dead TV series has diverged from Kirkman's source material in multiple ways by this point.

Reports are now circulating that Lincoln will exit The Walking Dead sometime during Season 9's 16-episode run, and while that fact is sure to upset many fans, it doesn't have to mean the end of the series. In fact, Rick Grimes leaving the picture could be exactly what The Walking Dead needs to right the ship, in the face of plummeting ratings, and growing viewer disinterest. Here's why.

This Page: It's Time For Rick To Leave The Walking Dead
Page 2: What Rick's Death Offers The Walking Dead

Rick's Character Arc Has Grown Predictable

Andrew Lincoln playing Rick Grimes on The Walking Dead

Ever since the beginning of the series, the other characters have looked to Rick as a leader, which isn't surprising considering his past in law enforcement. What is surprising is his continued status as a leader in Season 8. Starting back when he lost his wife Lori in Season 3, Rick has experienced repeated instances of flying off the handle and acting like a crazy person. He also often makes rash decisions that end up costing not only himself but others, sometimes very severely.

This ground was tread yet again in Season 8, when Rick lost Carl to a zombie bite, then proceeded to act like a villain for the next few episodes, wantonly murdering people when he could have easily not done so. Yet, as The Walking Dead has also often done, the very end of Season 8 saw Rick suddenly "come to his senses" and opt not to kill Negan and the remaining Saviors.

Page 2 of 2: What Rick's Death Offers The Walking Dead

Norman Reedus as Daryl and Danai Gurira as Michonne in The Walking Dead

Rick's Death Gives The Walking Dead A Fresh Start

While there are many reasons behind The Walking Dead's steady ratings drop over the last few seasons, one is just that the show's formula has arguably gotten quite stale. Some of that is due to repetitive writing in general - survivors find sanctuary, sanctuary isn't what was promised, they have to leave and look for new sanctuary - but some of it is also specifically related to Rick. As mentioned above, when in doubt, TWD's writers seem to fall back to showcasing Rick. After eight seasons - and with the wealth of characters available to the show - it's time to freshen things up by presenting the zombie apocalypse through different eyes.

Along with the reports of Andrew Lincoln's impending Walking Dead departure came news that AMC was apparently offering Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) big money to stay on and take over as series lead. While Daryl hasn't exactly been the most noteworthy of characters the last few years, he remains extremely popular, so it's not hard to see why AMC is looking to him to step up. That said, Daryl is also closely associated with Rick, and if The Walking Dead wanted to truly reset itself and feel like a new show - albeit with many of the same characters involved - it might be wise to introduce a new lead character, one completely new to the ongoing storylines.

Said new character wouldn't even necessarily have to be someone from the comics. As mentioned previously, The Walking Dead TV series has deviated from Kirkman's printed work in many ways, and there's no reason an entirely new character couldn't be invented to lead the show. For example, Daryl himself was created specifically for the small screen, and that's never impeded his popularity.

Killing Off Rick Raises The Stakes

For about as long as The Walking Dead has been on the air, it's been known for being quite willing to kill off its many characters for dramatic effect, often in incredibly surprising and/or upsetting fashion. One need only to remember Glenn and Abraham's skull-crushing demise at the hands of Negan's bat for proof, or recall when Denise got take out with an arrow through the eye out of nowhere by Dwight. Yet, this "anyone can die" philosophy has often failed to extend to the series' core characters, with Rick never really seeming likely to meet his maker at any point so far.

While Rick's death itself likely won't be surprising - after all, we all now know his actor is leaving the show - it can definitely happen in a surprising manner, and at the hands of someone fans wouldn't expect. Maggie (Lauren Cohan, who herself is only currently contracted for part of Season 9), vowed to show Rick the error he made in letting Negan live, and it would certainly be shocking to see the two old friends end up battling to the death. A perhaps even more intriguing option would be to make Rick's death exceedingly mundane, to illustrate that sometimes death just happens, with no real reason behind it.

Regardless of how it ends up occurring, Rick Grimes dying forever ends the idea that any character is safe from death in the world of The Walking Dead. No matter how protected one might feel at a given moment, the reaper could be lurking behind every corner, ready to end one's life in an instant. The specter of death has always been a close companion to those "lucky" enough to survive the arrival of walkers, but if Rick loses his plot-armor, anyone can. A post-Rick world could end up being an extremely exciting time to be a Walking Dead fan.