The Walking Dead
Mon Season 8B FOX (*125) 21:00 Sci-fi
Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) is under pressure as season 8 of horror show The Walking Dead (2010-current) continues from today. The mid-season finale in early December 2017 saw the survivors’ stronghold Alexandria blown up by Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and his Saviors gang, and we faded out with Rick’s 17-year-old son Carl (Chandler Riggs) revealing a Walker bite. “The back half [of the season] is Rick trying to live through the unbelievable pain of Carl’s impending death and Rick trying to reconcile this loss with what he is fighting for. This is his worst nightmare,” explains Andrew.
Fans of original graphic novels (2003current) aren’t happy that the show has deviated from the books but exec producer Scott M Gimple explains why the show “had to”. “Carl’s death will make Rick rethink his method of taking down Negan, the person he holds accountable for Carl’s fate.” The teen should die in tonight’s episode 9 but Chandler says that it’s not in vain: “It is Carl trying to teach his dad as much as he can about what he’s learnt and trying to convince Rick not to kill every Savior as there are still good people out there. Making matters worse, Scott teases that “there will be more big deaths coming!”
As for the other survivors in Rick’s group, the one fans are hoping will step up and be counted is Maggie (Lauren Cohan) at the Hilltop Colony, who is set to show a darker side. Scott adds that “all-out war will continue as the factions band together to fight Negan one last time”.