Since Halloween four years ago saw the premiere episode of The Walking Dead, ex-sheriffs deputy Rick Grimes has been the beaten and bloody face of the show. From the moment he woke from a coma to find the entire world had gone to hell around him, weve followed him from camp to camp, seen him reunite with his family, seen him fight and kill his former best friend, seen him lose his wife and nearly lose his mind, retire to raise crops and then strap the gun back on again to take on the Governor. In season one, Grimes was the audiences way into the narrative, having come into the story at the same time as we did. As Rick learned about the zombie apocalypse, so did we. When he stepped into the leadership role for the increasingly ragged group, the everyman lawman became the de facto hero of the story. As people around him continued to drop like flies, Rick Grimes demonstrated a moral code, and a desire to hold onto the values hed espoused as an officer of the law, a husband and a father before the apocalypse took place. With season five on the way though, its about time questions were asked, coldly and rationally: is he still that man? Does The Walking Dead need Rick Grimes anymore?If reports are true, Rick Grimes 5.0 will be the most brutal, uncompromising and dynamic version of this character to date, determined not to lose any more of his extended family. Could this upcoming season be the swansong for the groups leader? Lets take a look at some of the reasons why that might be a good idea, and of course there are plenty of spoilers here