Nerd Processor
Can ‘The Walking Dead’ Survive Without Its Lead Character?
It sure as hell can’t survive with him
The Walking Dead may be doomed. With star Andrew Lincoln leaving after only six episodes of season nine (which premieres October 7), AMC’s hit show now faces the difficult dilemma of losing its main character, Rick Grimes. The show is already facing years of declining viewership, and Lincoln’s departure may mean The Walking Dead is destined to die. But Lincoln was also the show’s biggest problem — which means his exit may be the only chance The Walking Dead has to survive.
It’s always problematic when a show loses a main character — think The X-Files after David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson left or The Office without Steve Carell. Andrew Lincoln has been the heart and soul of the series since it began in 2010. His character, Rick Grimes, has been the primary viewpoint for the audience, discovering the zombie apocalypse after waking up from a coma, searching for his wife and son, and trying to protect a group of people in a world where seemingly 99 percent of the surviving human population also turned into murderous assholes. (One of the show’s best and most accurate taglines is “Fight the Dead, Fear the Living.”)
