When it comes to the biggest mistakes made by the writers of The Walking Dead, Carl Grimes’ (Chandler Riggs) death could be at the top of the list. Viewers of The Walking Dead saw Riggs grow up in front of their eyes, which made his death even more painful to see when it came unexpectedly in season 8. Glenn’s (Steven Yeun) death saw many viewers tune out for good, but the effect that Carl’s death had on viewership was so significant – it signalled the beginning of the end for The Walking Dead.
The Walking Dead was built around the Grimes family and their survival as they try to navigate the apocalypse and rebuild the world with the other survivors. Over the course of the show, viewers saw Carl’s mom Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) die, and the birth of Carl’s sister Judith (Loudyn/Leighton Case), and it seemed as though The Walking Dead was set to follow the comics and base the whole show around Carl, but that wasn’t the case and it cost the show millions of viewers. Here’s why Carl’s death was a huge mistake in The Walking Dead.
Carl Was a Fan Favorite Many Viewers Watched Grow Up
Chandler Riggs was just 10 years old when he was cast as Carl Grimes in The Walking Dead and then spent the next 8 years of his life on screen in the role. This quickly made Carl a fan favorite as viewers watched Riggs grow up as the seasons went on and growing into a teenager and then a young man before his demise in the show. During this time, Carl had grown tremendously, becoming a dependable fighter and protector of his younger sister Judith. As the Grimes family was central to The Walking Dead‘s story, many assumed that Carl would be one of the remaining survivors at the end of the series. Unfortunately, they were wrong, and a kneejerk move to bump ratings ended up costing the show greatly and it became evident very quickly that killing off Carl wasn’t the right move as viewers had become so attached to the character.
Often when a TV series is in a slump, the writers will do something unexpected to get viewers tuning back in, and Carl’s death was unfortunately too unexpected, leading to the opposite effect. The episode didn’t see a ratings boost, instead, it maintained the same level of viewers the show had at this point, which was approximately 8 million US viewers. The following episode dropped down to 6.82 million and the show never saw more than 8 million viewers again. Ratings continued to fall, getting as low as 1.19 million viewers and The Walking Dead ended at around 1.5 million viewers, a large drop from where the show was prior to the death of Carl.
Chandler Riggs Didn’t Expect Carl To Be Killed Off
When you play a character on a show such as The Walking Dead or Game of Thrones, you have to expect the unexpected and know that your character could be killed off at any moment. But, with Carl Grimes being a pivotal character in the comics, it is understandable that Chandler Riggs thought he was in it for the long haul. Unfortunately, this wasn’t to be the case as he was unexpectedly told that Carl was set to be killed off at the worst possible time.
After spending 8 years traveling 2 hours each way to film the show, Riggs decided to buy a house closer to the filming location and enroll in the local University of Georgia. What made matters worse is that the show’s Executive Producer Scott Gimple had told Riggs that they needed him for at least 3 more years, only to then be told a short time later that he was to be killed off within the next few episodes. Understandably, Chandler Riggs’s parents weren’t happy about the news and there was some controversy surrounding his father’s public comments, citing that he felt Riggs had earned better treatment from the show’s producers.
The Walking Dead Was Actually Carl’s Story In The Comics Books
In The Walking Dead TV series, Carl dies in season 8 episode 9 from a self-inflicted gunshot after being bitten by a Walker. However, in the comics, he survives until the very end of the series, which concludes 25 years after the death of Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) which sees Carl take on the role of the protagonist. Although it isn’t apparent immediately, The Walking Dead comics is Carl’s story as Rick fights to keep Carl safe and build a new world for him, which then Carl takes over and continues to build the new world.
It is very surprising that the writers of the TV show didn’t go in this direction. Although they chose to leave the ending very open to allow for spin-offs, a glimpse of the future could have been put in place, allowing fans who have followed this characters for years to see Carl, Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and other survivors being key figures in the post-apocalyptic world. Carl’s death in The Walking Dead will always be a mystery to fans who still it view it as a significant mistake many years later.that he was to be killed off
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