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Norman Reedus was “Desperately Unhappy” About ‘The Walking Dead’s Shocking Season 8 Death

Spoiler Alert!  The following article contains spoilers from the most current season of The Walking Dead.  Only read on if you are all caught up with Season 8.

Norman Reedus was “Desperately Unhappy” About 'The Walking Dead's Shocking Season 8 Death

Season 8 of The Walking Dead delivered quite possibly the biggest shock of the entire series during its mid-season finale when it was revealed that Carl Grimes (played by Chandler Riggs), one of the last remaining original season 1 cast members, had been bitten by a walker.  Due to the location of the wound, it appears there is no saving Carl from a certain death.  Fans of the AMC series are distraught over the thought of losing Carl Grimes and, as it turns out, they aren’t the only ones who feel that way.

Norman Reedus (who plays Daryl Dixon on the series) spoke with Entertainment Weekly recently about Carl’s impending death and, to him, it’s like coping with the loss of a family member.  Reedus said:

“I was desperately unhappy about that. I’ve seen Chandler grow up from a little boy. I’ve known that kid so long, and it always hurts when you lose a family member on the show. Chandler is definitely a family member to me. I was not happy about it. I always thought Chandler would be the last man standing, to be honest.”

Carl’s impending death comes as an even bigger shock when you take into account the fact that the character is still alive and well in the source material comic books.  So, perhaps this shocking death is meant to act as a jolt or catalyst for the series to take on a new life.  Reedus commented on how the loss of one of the original cast members could impact the series.  He said:

“The people that started this show, to me, are the heart of the show.  When you lose those key members, it’s such a big blow to the show, and to the fans, and to us that are there. Who’s left? There’s only a few of us left out of all those people. If you wanted to turn it into a totally different show, you get rid of those people. But if you want to hold onto what made the show special, you’ve got to be very careful what you do with those people.”

With that said, creator Robert Kirkman defends the decision to take out one of the series’ most beloved characters.  Kirkman adds:

“There are big, huge stories coming up that you might think will be massively altered because of the absence of Carl but we have known these storylines have been coming for years. There are plans in place to make it all work. The loss of Carl doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re going to be losing big swaths of the comic book story. It means that there will be some differences to them.”

Whatever the case may be with The Walking Dead series, the one thing that both the cast and fans have in common is wishing nothing but the best for Chandler Riggs.  Riggs will surely have a bright future with acting as he has recently wrapped on an upcoming film called Inherit the Viper.  Additionally, Riggs has recently launched a new venture into the music world releasing two new songs under the alias Eclipse.  Fans can’t wait to see and hear more from Riggs on all creative fronts and Reedus has all the confidence in the world that he’ll come out on top.  He said:

“I love Chandler. He’s very talented, and he’s very driven, and he’s going to do great.”

The Walking Dead was recently renewed for a 9th season at AMC with a brand new showrunner Angela Kang at the helm.  The series will return for the second half of season 8 starting on February 25th at 9 PM EST on AMC.

Now that you’ve had some time to process that crazy mid-season finale reveal, how do you feel about the fate of Carl Grimes?  Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

 

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