10 things nobody wants to admit about The Walking Dead

7. The show shouldn’t have continued without Rick

The idea of an ongoing soap set in the world of a zombie apocalypse, showcasing the daily lives of survivors, actually sounds like a pretty amazing idea (when can we greenlight that?). However, that’s not what The Walking Dead was. It was a tale of survival told through one man’s eyes, as he discovered that the world he once knew was no more, and had to adapt to outlast it. So, to continue on without that man just didn’t make any sense.

Rick Grimes was the heart of The Walking Dead. He was our protagonist, who woke from a coma to find that the dead had risen and the world had died, going on a years-long quest to build a community for his loved ones to keep them safe. The amount of loved ones grew exponentially, as Rick’s leadership inspired the communities he helped. But his work was never done, as he continued to lead until his final episode.

Andrew Lincoln’s departure from the show in season 9 was a pivotal moment for The Walking Dead as the show moved on without Rick. That alone was questionable, but the time-jump that was orchestrated so the characters could swiftly move on from Rick felt a little unfair.

Of course we would have loved to have seen our favorite TWD characters continue on, but couldn’t that have been a spinoff in and of itself? The fact that The Walking Dead continued on without its main character for two and a half more seasons, and then ended without him even playing a major role in the series finale (because upcoming spinoff The Ones Who Live will wrap up his and Michonne’s story instead), was just wrong.