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So why did Andrew Lincoln say this about Carl back in September?

posted 7 years ago by Aphrodite (110)
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So I’ve been reading on here how Andrew Lincoln has expressed that he would like to leave the show, that he was done with playing the character. So I thought I’d look it up, and I found something interesting.

Here’s what Andrew Lincoln said to Entertainment Weekly back in September:

“A Walking Dead without Rick Grimes? Could that actually exist? Lincoln thinks so. Maybe this isn’t a show about Rick Grimes surviving in the zombie apocalypse after all, but rather it is about his young son growing up in it. “Absolutely,” says Lincoln about a potential shift from father Grimes to son. “Absolutely. It’s beautifully set up for that — for the camera to be certainly his story, and then it just shifts off. If ever there was a landscape or an environment to do that, it’s our show. But whether or not that’s this season… well, you have to find out, don’t you?”

I find that interesting, given that Chandler and his dad say he was fired 2 weeks before his birthday (in June). That means Andrew Lincoln knew very well that they had already killed off Carl, so why make it sound like the show would be passed onto him? Why not mention another character, like Darryl or Carol? Just seems odd, given what we know now.

Makes me wonder if some people are right, that they’re trying to pull the wool over our eyes, by telling everyone Carl dies. Why end the mid-season like that and then tell everyone immediately after the show airs that Chandler will be gone in the next episode back? Could the few be right, that Carl wasn’t bit by a zombie but by the next baddie coming up - a whisperer? I saw some other posts where people said the bit looked way too clean to be a zombie bite.

I haven’t actually seen the episode...I’ve missed a few actually. I’m just losing interest in the show, as another thread I posted stated. But I find this interesting, why Andrew Lincoln would kind of hype up Chandler as the next leader, when he knew full well he was already dead come September and would be dead long before Rick gets it. If Carl somehow ends up surviving, I can see that pissing off a lot of people. Another fake out, just like Glenn and the dumpster. It wouldn’t help the ratings at all.

[–] lennonforever (2453) 7 years ago

I'm not sure if Andy is just spouting about the direction of the show, off-handedly.
I contend that he will be leaving this season. I don't know that for certain, but given the lack of screen time recently, I wouldn't be surprised.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

He could have been spouting off. But considering at that time he already knew Carl was a goner, why even make that suggestion that the show could continue with him after Rick leaves? I know many interviews are done weeks and sometimes months in advance, but this interview came out more than 3 months after Chandler was given the boot, at the end of September. No way was the interview that old.

Either way, it is odd that everyone let the cat out of the bag that Carl dies next episode. Just seems...weird. What reason is there to tune in next season, if you already know his fate? Plus the mid-season finale was the worst in the history of the show. If having Carl bit resulted in the lowest ratings yet, how much worse will it be when the show comes back? Everyone knows it’ll be his death episode, since they told everyone anyway. Unless they’ve got a shocking turn of events when the show returns, and this was all some weird ass planned hoax. Maybe some weird way to introduce the next baddies, since we all know that Negan’s arc ends this season? Who knows.

But I wouldn’t be surprised if Andrew Lincoln leaves too. The show has been rinse and repeat for a while now. Same plot and story over and over again. But at the same time, can the show even survive without him? I guess if Game of Thrones can survive without Ned Stark there’s a chance, but 8 seasons in? With both Rick and Carl gone, who would be left? Sure there is Darryl and Carol, but do people really want to tune in just for them? Will they do a massive time jump into the future to where Judith is now a teenager? That would require a completely new cast. Either that or a hell of lot of elderly makeup for everyone else if they age them 15 or so years. Maybe it’ll be a show of Judith and Maggie and Glenn’s kid? Who knows. That’ll likely be the death of the show.

[–] lennonforever (2453) 7 years ago

I won't watch if Andrew Lincoln leaves. I wouldn't be able to. He IS the show. He carries the show now. Actually, he always has. The core group was excellent but Rick is the glue.

I was thinking about all the backlash Gimple and AMC are getting. COULD they have Carl being bitten by the Whisperers? If they do I am DONE.

[–] Aphrodite (110) 7 years ago

A lot of people are pissed off about Carl being bit, because many fans of the show see the Walking Dead as his story...not Rick’s, but Carl. I was reading some reviews from Forbes, and man they went off on how bad a decision it was to kill Carl off. Just shredding the show to bits, so much so that they think they need to just fire everyone behind the scenes of the show. Get a whole new team of people in because they don’t trust AMC, the showrunner or the producers anymore. They pretty much killed off Carl for nothing more than shock value. They did have a perfect setup with him taking over. Like Andrew Lincoln said, it would have been natural to have him grow to be the leader. Maybe not now, but in a few years when he’s an adult and can take charge more. But now? That’s all gone to hell. And if Rick dies too, the show is done.

If Andrew Lincoln does leave, I think I will be officially done. Although I’m already pretty much done now. Darryl is nothing like he used to be. He was a fan favourite before, and for the last 2 or 3 seasons, I couldn’t care less if he dies. I used to be one of those “if Darryl dies, We riot” fans, but haven’t felt like that in a long time. And as badass as Carol has gotten, I don’t think I’d watch for her.

Michonne became like all these other characters who people said they couldn’t wait to see on the screen, and then when they finally get on the show everyone is like, WTF?? She was good at first, but ever since her and Rick hooked up she became so...weak? When that trash girl beat her up in the tower last season, what the hell was that? Michonne should have kicked her ass, but instead she nearly died. I get she has a lot to lose now, and she didn’t before, but she went from a strong character to a weak one. She regressed.