"The Walking Dead's" midseason finale was certainly shocking to all of the fans of the show. Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) was revealed to be bitten by a Walker in the ribs, signaling his impending death in the series. Andrew Lincoln, who plays Rick Grimes, also Carl's father, said that "it's the biggest death they've ever done."
Entertainment Weekly recently had a chance to interview Lincoln about Carl's impending death, with the English actor exclaiming that it has never crossed his mind that Carl would leave the show. "I never saw it coming because I always thought that the kid would be the future," he said.
"And that was the whole point of this — that I was going to hand over the revolver and let him walk off into the distance, you know? So it was incredibly shocking. Everybody was reeling from it and continue to reel from it."
Apparently, Lincoln first got the news from showrunner Scott Gimple, who called him and said, "You're going to hate this one." Lincoln mentioned four names, but none of them were right. In the end, Gimple told him it was Carl, and the actor was reportedly utterly speechless for a minute.
Some fans are angry about the show's decision to kill off Carl, as he was one of the most integral characters in the series. In the comic books, Carl's character is very much alive, and the story arc is looking like Rick is going to hand on the reins of leadership to his son. Evidently, the TV series version didn't follow that course of events.
Riggs first knew about his character's death back in June. According to his interview with the EW, Gimple met with him and his parents to talk about the series' story, where he revealed that Carl would die later on in the show. He reveals that it was "devastating," as he basically grew up on the set of the show.
"The Walking Dead" season 8 will return for its midseason premiere on Sunday, Feb. 25, 2018, at 9 p.m. EST on AMC.
