10 TV Shows That Got Better After The Main Character's Death
3. The Walking Dead - Rick Grimes
Okay, okay. Sure, Rick Grimes hasn't been killed off in The Walking Dead, but it's hard to argue that the exit of Andrew Lincoln's character hasn't coincided with an upturn in quality for AMC's previously-sagging show.
Rick is still alive and out there somewhere, with him gearing up to have his story continued in a trilogy of Walking Dead movies. In his absence, the main TWD show has spun its fortunes around and become a whole lot more fun.
Rick Grimes is a modern-day great TV character, but he'd realistically done all he could do in The Walking Dead. At best, audiences needed a break from Rick; at worst, the character needed permanently removing.
This is someone who had been front 'n' centre for 120 episodes by the time he was airlifted to wherever in Season Nine's What Comes After. We'd had Determined Rick, we'd had Angry Rick, we'd had Sad Rick, we'd had Crazy Rick (complete with marvellous beard), and we'd seen this once-great character start to be one of the things dragging The Walking Dead down.
It may not have quite hit the heights of the show's prime, but the post-Rick TWD seasons have been vastly superior to the prior couple of years. The Whisperers arrived, Michonne was able to shine, Negan has become an antihero, and all the core characters feel on a way more equal footing than when Rick was the clear main attraction.