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When you've spent the last 12 years worrying that your favorite character from your favorite show could get killed off at any moment, it's quite bizarre to be given confirmation that they'll make it until the final episode — and suddenly start feeling nostalgic over your earlier uncertainty.
As a longtime fan of The Walking Dead, though, it's the predicament I have found myself in.
It first happened last year, when AMC revealed that season 11 would be the long-running zombie drama's last, and that it had already greenlit a spin-off centring on Daryl Dixon and Carol Peletier.
Convinced that there was no way the team would have "spoiled" the ending to the main series, I predicted that the follow-up might be retrospective in nature. You know, filling in some of the gaps from The Walking Dead's timeline, like it did with standalone season 10 episodes 'Find Me' and 'Here's Negan'? Turns out, that is not the case, and Daryl and Carol will definitely, definitely live beyond the events of the flagship title.
The bizarre feeling was exacerbated recently, when the network surprised everyone by announcing that a Manhattan-set series following Negan and Maggie was on its way, too. That's another two characters to add to the list of survivors.
Listen, I obviously don't want Daryl, Carol, Maggie... or Negan (?) to die, but knowing that they won't kind of undermines what has always been one of The Walking Dead's greatest strengths: its unpredictability.
It's based on a series of graphic novels, sure, so big moments — Glenn's murder at the hands of Negan, for example — were anticipated by readers of the source material long before they played out on screen. The adaptation has proved time and time again, though, that it isn't afraid to switch things up: keeping Carol alive, having Rick and Michonne become lovers, snuffing out Andrea early on and much more, so nothing was ever set in stone. In those early seasons in particular, it genuinely felt like anything could happen to any character, and it was thrilling, emotional and scary. Now, the same can't be said for its current installment.
That lack of opportunity for surprises extends further than potential deaths, too. I think back to season 10, where besties Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride) fell out when the latter's recklessness got Daryl's pal Connie trapped in a cave. By that point, though, we knew about their spin-off, so any tension felt meaningless because we knew they’d patch things up. When it comes to Maggie and Negan’s show, we now know that the twosome will learn to live with one another. That's a storyline that is still actively playing out as we speak, having been carried over from the previous chapter.
On a more basic level, why would Maggie ever want to spend time with the man who killed Glenn, the father of her child, in front of her very eyes? In the first episode of season 11, he even rubbed the violent act in her face, referring to Glenn as a "dog" he put down in the mud. The best thing the show could do is see her banish him from Hilltop and be done with it — but now we know that can't happen.
Here's where I should probably admit that I've never really been onboard with the whole 'Negan sticking around' thing, and the fact that his presence has defined Maggie since Lauren Cohan's eagerly anticipated return at the end of season 10 is a real waste of her character. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is good, and I understand that in keeping him alive, Daryl, Carol and co are honoring Rick (and Carl's) call to be better than those they fight. But his inclusion has always seemed jarring and farfetched, and has, in some ways, kept the show stuck in the past. If The Walking Dead hasn't managed to whip up anything fresh with him by now, how will Isle of the Dead?
So far, away from Negan, season 11 has seen the majority of our heroes integrate themselves into the Commonwealth, a civilized, prospering community that puts Alexandria Safe-Zone to shame. With its clean buildings, working hospital and ice cream parlor, it's worlds away from the surroundings our group are used to.
The most interesting threads currently involve Eleanor Matsuura's Yumiko, who has been snapped up by the Commonwealth due to her pre-apocalypse life as a lawyer, and Lauren Ridloff's Connie, who first met governor Pamela Milton before the world ended, when she was working as a journalist. Yet these characters will presumably never be seen again once the main show wraps up.
It makes me wonder why they're ending it at all, if they don't want to say goodbye to a big chunk of its cast? I also doubt whether they'll be able to give every character in its huge ensemble a decent send-off if they're beholden to set up the spin-offs first and foremost. Right now, it feels like most of it is just going to fizzle out as the final chapter becomes nothing more than a springboard for what's to come after it.
With 12 episodes left, I may well be proven wrong. I hope I am. That's double the length of the show's first season and that was an incredible piece of television, so there's still time. It is, however, worth noting that season one had far fewer characters.
The Walking Dead spin-offs can be hugely successful, too. Fear the Walking Dead season 7 is shaping up to be one of the best seasons the entire franchise has ever put out, as Morgan (Lennie James) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) face off against their former friend Victor Strand (Colman Domingo). It's exciting, too, to know that Kim Dickens will soon be returning as Madison Clark — her whereabouts having been a mystery since season four. (Mysteries, remember those?) And even though I wasn't keen on The Walking Dead: World Beyond, it played a necessary part in introducing the Civil Republic Military, which will no doubt factor into the upcoming Rick Grimes movies.
Tales of the Walking Dead intrigues me, admittedly, given that it'll be an anthology series and feature an all-new, star-studded cast. I just hope there won't come a time when even those of us who adore The Walking Dead grow tired of the seemingly endless content we have to keep up with.
Perhaps that time is already here? It's hard not to draw comparisons to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where several shows and movies are being rolled out every year, and how their increased connectivity makes fans feel obligated to watch them all. We should want to watch these things, not feel like we have to just to keep up.
When things prove popular nowadays, studios and creatives scramble to think up ways of capitalizing on that IP. But I'd argue that the most special things are finite, and are bold enough to tell complete stories in their own right. Too much of a good thing and all that. Without proper conclusions, can we ever feel any real sense of satisfaction? After 12 years, I fear not.
The Walking Dead airs on AMC and AMC Plus in the US, and Star via Disney Plus in the UK. Be sure to check out our recap of every major moment (and death) from seasons one to 11.
