The fallout from “How It’s Gotta Be” continues unabated.
After hearing the reactions of Andrew Lincoln and Lennie James – Rick Grimes and Morgan Jones, respectively, who will seemingly be brought closer together by last night’s shocking twist of fate – The Hollywood Reporter has relayed an impassioned social media post from William Riggs, father to the young Chandler Riggs.
For those not already in the know: The Walking Dead season 8 reached its mid-season finale with a sucker punch, after it was revealed that Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) had suffered a fatal walker bite while defending Alexandria. But it turns out Carl’s imminent demise completely blindsided both Riggs and his extended family, as his father William Riggs revealed in a now-deleted Facebook comment:
Watching Gimple fire my son 2 weeks before his 18th birthday after telling him they wanted him for the next 3 years was disappointing. I never trusted Gimple or AMC, but Chandler did. I know how much it hurt him. But we do absolutely know how lucky we have been to be a part of it all and appreciate all the love from fans all these years!
Strong words from Papa Riggs. Neither AMC nor Scott Gimple have released an official response at the time of writing, though it should be noted that this isn’t the first time that Gimple and his team have deviated from Robert Kirkman’s source material.
Indeed, while appearing on the hit after-show Talking Dead, Scott Gimple spoke a little more about the last chapter in Carl’s story, and how it’ll affect the remainder of The Walking Dead season 8.
That is a bite on his side.…It will play out as bites play out on the show. It’s very important to Carl’s story and the entire story, what happens in the next episode. I’m just focused on the fact that Carl right now is alive and he has some business to attend to. That is a one-way ticket. But I’d like to think that the things we see in the next episode are so important to his life and the other characters’ lives.
AMC’s The Walking Dead returns to unfinished business on February 25th, 2018, and when it does, you can readily expect more scenes of Rick and Michonne.