The Loss of Rick Grimes Is Exactly What The Walking Dead Needs

The past couple years has been nothing short of tumultuous for AMC’s hit adaptation of the Image Comics series, The Walking Dead. The show has seen significant drops in ratings, mixed responses from critics and fans, and some character departures that were met with trepidation from both viewers and the departing actors.

Fortunately, all this turmoil has not completely smothered the fire of the show. The Walking Dead still slays in numbers compared to other shows on network and cable television, and its core fan base has remained mostly loyal. (There’s still no shortage of “Kill Daryl and We Riot” t-shirts floating around out there.)

But the recent announcement that lead actor Andrew Lincoln, who portrays Rick Grimes, is exiting his role in the show’s upcoming ninth season might stoke the once nigh-engulfing flames of negativity to higher heights than ever -- even though his departure may actually be one of the best things for the show's longer-term health.

In the comic, the character of Rick Grimes is a complex guy. He’s smart, dedicated, and when he flies off the handle, it often comes to the reader as a shock. He’s also a guy who can talk his way in or out of almost any situation. Despite losing a good chunk of his family and friends (and his right hand) along the way, the current incarnation of the character on the page is still relatable to some degree, even when you take in account all the horrible things he has done to stay alive.

The character in the show, however, doesn’t exactly share this same complexity. The engine that propels Andrew Lincoln’s Rick seems to be stuck between two gears: crazy and controlling. Now, one could make a case that this sort of fractured psyche might be a bit more realistic, seeing as how enduring the horrors this man has suffered would push most people to the precipice of madness and then unceremoniously toss them off the proverbial cliff -- but his portrayal on screen doesn’t always make for compelling television. Instead, it leaves audiences surprised when Rick actually shows someone some mercy, and it’s this lack of altruism within the character that makes him oddly rote and often boring. The cycle of violence that has been Rick Grimes life for the last eight seasons has taken a toll on both the character and the audience. At this point, it’s hard to see if the show has anything left for Rick to face and, if it does, whether we want to watch it.

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Now that the “All Out War” storyline is finished and the survivors are left to clean up the mess, it’s a good time to say goodbye to Rick Grimes. Frankly, he’s served his purpose, defeating the show’s big bad and miraculously showing Negan mercy in an attempt to stop the aforementioned cycle of violence. This is about as good of an ending a character who has caused so much death and destruction could get and still have the audience root for him. Bowing out now is what’s best for the character.

That isn’t to say that we want to see Rick die. In fact, Rick leaving the communities to strike out on his own would actually be more intriguing. Killing off a character is easy; it’s a cheap trick to evoke drama and further the plot. Leaving a character alive and to their own devices is far more interesting, not to mention pragmatic (especially if it means some juicy guest spots in future seasons).

The comic book has done something similar with Rick. Yes, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s The Walking Dead still focuses on Rick Grimes, but it has pulled the camera away from him much more frequently in the last couple years. Entire issues go by without him appearing at all. Villains and side characters are now getting their own storylines without being entangled with Rick’s decisions, and the comic is better for it. The scope of book has widened greatly both in physical territory and emotional connections between formerly sidelined heroes and villains.

Again, while we don’t necessarily want to see Rick in the show die, we would love to be more invested in some other characters. Early on, Daryl Dixon was a complex, morally ambiguous anti-hero, a prime example of the “redneck Jedi” archetype. He was a haunted man who was already grappling with a dark past long before the dead starting walking around and eating people. If anything, the apocalypse may have given him a new lease on life. But in recent seasons, he’s been benched in favor of The Rick Show. The same can be said for other interesting heroes like Carol, who somehow devolved from one of television's most complex characters to someone who is somewhere between Rambo and June Cleaver.

With Rick stepping out of the spotlight, these somewhat ignored characters have a chance to reclaim their glory and give the show new purpose. The show also employing a time jump like the comics would help make this transition both jarring and compelling for viewers. It might just gain some new fans or, at the very least, persuade some of those who have turned their backs on the show to come home.