The Walking Dead: Why Rick's [SPOILER] Was A Mistake

4. It Repeats The Walking Dead's Worst Habit

Just when you think Rick Grimes is done, The Walking Dead goes back into its handbook and dusts off one of its favourite tricks and absolute worst habits: tricking its audience.

The most notable example with this is, of course, Glenn's death fakeout back in Season 6, and it attempted that again (to an extent) with Rick in Season 7's Say Yes, while we've also seen them fudge big moments like this that did result in deaths, such as Season 6's cliffhanger and the wait for Carl to die between the mid-season finale and premiere of Season 8. It's also the same kind of manipulative storytelling we saw with, say, the search for Beth in Season 5, which only led to her death.

It's a cheap trick, and one The Walking Dead should really know better than by now. Had the episode ended with Rick dying from blowing up the bridge - or even moved on to its other twist with the time jump (itself a reminder of the show's last great mistake in killing Carl, and one that robs us of some potential character development) - then we'd have been given an emotionally satisfying conclusion to what has really been the story of The Walking Dead, with the time jump serving as a true fresh start after that.

Instead, having him saved by Jadis/Anne immediately undercuts the moment, makes all that build up to 'Rick's LAST episode' seem manipulative (if not technically a lie), and leaves a bunch of questions behind. Questions we will eventually get answers to, but ones that aren't necessary at all.