Everybody has their “Strolling Useless” breaking level. It is the dying that pushes you over the sting, curdling your love for the seemingly countless AMC zombie franchise into one thing extra bitter and jaded. For me, it was the lack of Beth (Emily Kinney) in season 4, a pointless shock dying that was the precise reverse of the empowered narrative the present’s forged and crew had been hinting in direction of in press junkets forward of time. Many followers, I believe, peaced out when Steven Yeun’s beloved underdog Glenn Rhee was gratuitously crushed to a pulp in entrance of his family members (a story selection that also conjures up folks to yell at Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan on the street).
Totally different “Strolling Useless” deaths hit followers in numerous methods, however the season 8 dying of Carl (Chandler Riggs) packed a large emotional punch for a number of causes. For one factor, the son of sequence antihero Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) had been with the sequence since day one, and a number of other of its earliest gasp-worthy moments featured the naive, candy child (actual ones bear in mind shedding it when he obtained shot in season 2!). A lot of Carl’s younger life had been tormented by relentless catastrophe, and he’d pulled by way of it so admirable. He was one of many solely “Strolling Useless” characters who followers thought deserved long-lasting plot armor, however when it got here time to up the stakes but once more in season 8, his day on the post-apocalyptic chopping block lastly arrived.
When and the way Carl Grimes died on The Strolling Useless
By season 8 of “The Strolling Useless,” Carl has grown from a helpless child right into a succesful, compassionate teenager, and he places all his abilities to good use throughout his heartbreaking final hurrah. Carl dies within the mid-season premiere episode, “Honor,” after getting ready a number of survivor communities — Alexandria chief amongst them — to outlive an imminent assault by Negan and the Saviors. Whereas attempting to assist a person named Siddiq (Avi Nash, who would change into a principal forged member after Carl introduced his character into the fold), Carl will get bit within the stomach by a walker. It is a dying that is without delay surprising and anticipated: in any case, how did we count on he’d die in a zombie apocalypse?
In traditional zombie story style, Carl would not initially inform anybody about his zombie chew, and he spends a lot of his final hours along with his sister Judith. He additionally writes letters to his family members, and when he lastly does reveal his standing to Rick, Michonne, and Daryl, they carry him to a church the place he describes a dream he has for the long run. In it, an older Rick has established lasting peace and is elevating his household in a group that features everybody — together with Morgan’s often-villainous Negan. Earlier than he dies, Carl saves the Alexandrians along with his escape plan, and Daryl tells him he is a hero. In maybe essentially the most upsetting element of the episode, Carl shoots himself with the gun his dad gave him early within the sequence – ending his life earlier than the virus can flip him into one of many undead.
In Robert Kirkman’s “Strolling Useless” comics, Carl has a totally completely different ending, residing into maturity and elevating a household of his personal. Within the present, his dying in the end serves as a cause for Rick to forgive Negan, permitting each males to reside and diffusing a seasons-long showdown that needed to attain an finish date in some unspecified time in the future.
Chandler Riggs was blindsided by the timing of his exit
“The Strolling Useless” franchise is understood for delivering out-of-left-field deaths that shock each the viewers and forged alike, however few tales of shock exits have been as miserable as that of Chandler Riggs. “It was devastating for me and my household as a result of the present has been such an enormous a part of my life for therefore lengthy,” Riggs advised The Hollywood Reporter in 2017. “For a couple of days, we did not know what to do.” The younger actor famous that he had simply purchased a home in Georgia earlier than getting the information that he was performed on the present.
Interviews and statements within the wake of Riggs’ exit appear to trace at the concept that the actor, at the very least in accordance with sure events concerned, obtained a uncooked deal. In a now-deleted Fb submit shared by Comedian Ebook Sources, Riggs’ father William Riggs allegedly refuted rumors that Riggs had requested to go away the present after being admitted to school. In accordance with the elder Riggs’ alleged submit, the actor who had performed Carl for eight years deliberate to do on-line college, and that author and then-showrunner Scott Gimple advised him he’d be wanted for 3 further years. He signed a one-year contract with a second-year possibility, per William Riggs, however the household was then referred to as into a gathering with Gimple during which he mentioned Carl can be killed off within the new season.
Within the submit, per CBR, Mr. Riggs wrote that he “was disillusioned Scott had been dishonest with a 17-year-old making life choices and waited to inform us,” calling the state of affairs a case of “unkind timing.” In his THR exit interview, Chandler Riggs famous that he did not have any discussions concerning the potential for retaining Carl alive, explaining, “When Scott advised me, that was his resolution.” Gimple, for his half, advised the identical outlet that Riggs’ exit “was a narrative flip, that is it. We didn’t obtain a request [from any actor] or something like that.”
At a fan competition a 12 months later (per Digital Spy), Riggs mentioned that filming his goodbye “sucked,” however that he is “actually pleased with the way it turned out.” As brutal because the circumstances surrounding Riggs’ exit seem like, he is constantly famous how lucky he’s to have been part of the present, and the way excited he is been to work on new initiatives after leaving.
Carl Grimes’ legacy continues to be a significant a part of the franchise
Carl’s exit might have been painful as heck, however “The Strolling Useless” saga has incessantly honored the character within the years since he met his destiny, usually placing his final bits of knowledge on the heart of main, game-changing moments. When Rick lastly slits Negan’s throat within the season 8 finale, he exhibits mercy on the final second, remembering the letter Carl wrote asking the 2 to make peace. Rick in the end decides to construct a greater future because of his son’s insights, displaying restraint as a solution to honor Carl.
Carl’s reminiscence additionally drives – and almost breaks – Rick within the spinoff sequence “The Strolling Useless: The Ones Who Dwell.” After a five-year time-jump, an amputated hand (lastly!), and a reunion along with his love Michonne (Danai Gurira, who co-wrote the epic reunion episode), Rick confesses that he needed to study to reside with out Carl twice. The primary time was when Carl truly died, and the second was when, after being captured and stored on a brief leash (generally actually) by the Civic Republic Navy, he stopped dreaming of his son. Rick was scared to dying, each of forgetting Carl’s face and of letting himself love somebody (specifically Michonne) he would possibly lose once more. As soon as once more, the reminiscence of Carl pushes Rick to maintain going, and Michonne presents him with an engraving of their boy that conjures up Rick to present life with Michonne one other probability.
Riggs truly had a stealth cameo within the sequence finale
After the abrupt and upsetting approach Riggs left the sequence, it initially appeared like he would possibly find yourself by no means going close to “The Strolling Useless” once more. A 12 months after his exit from the sequence, Riggs advised Good Day Sacramento (by way of Looper) that he was shocked to listen to that Andrew Lincoln was leaving too, noting that he hadn’t been in contact with the actor in months. However in accordance with an interview with Leisure Weekly, Riggs took the initiative of asking govt producer Denise Huth if he may come to set for the sequence finale shoot. It was a transfer that not solely reconnected him along with his previous coworkers but in addition landed him a shock cameo within the episode.
Riggs could be noticed within the background of a large shot throughout a sequence finale scene that includes three of the final remaining authentic castmates from the present — Melissa McBride’s Carol, Lauren Cohan’s Maggie, and Norman Reedus’ Daryl. In a scene set on the Hilltop group, the actor performs a resident who’s farming, and he says the thought to have him cameo got here collectively so rapidly that he did not even change out of the garments he’d arrived in. “They had been like, ‘Let’s get you in there. Right here!'” he advised EW, noting that the wardrobe division did give him a wide-brimmed, Father Gabriel-esque hat to put on. Sequence finale director Greg Nicotero, who held many roles on the present all through its 11-season run, says that he had the thought to throw Riggs in a shot and that it “wasn’t deliberate” in any respect.
“It was lots of enjoyable,” Riggs advised the outlet. “It was only a fast factor earlier than the remainder of the filming for the day, so it was fairly cool.” After the complicated context surrounding Riggs’ exit, it seems like his finale expertise introduced some closure – and an opportunity to reunite with former forged and crew members. “Chandler is such an incredible man,” Cohan advised EW, including, “He is simply actually pretty. It was a category act for him to return that day.”
What occurred to Chandler Riggs after The Strolling Useless?
Within the years since leaving “The Strolling Useless,” Riggs has stayed busy; he is not solely continued working as an actor however has additionally launched music, launched a manufacturing firm, and directed a brief movie and a music video. On the “The Strolling Useless: The Ones Who Dwell” premiere final 12 months, Riggs advised ComicBook.com that he was engaged on a brief movie that can function Madison Lintz, who performed Carol’s ill-fated daughter Sophia within the first two seasons of “The Strolling Useless,” and Katelyn Nacon, who performed Carl’s one-time love curiosity Enid starting in season 5. In accordance with IMDb, he labored on the 2024 brief “The Unicorn That By no means Lies,” and his subsequent upcoming brief has an amazing title: “Brad Pitt Dies Quite a bit.”
On the appearing entrance, Riggs has had a recurring position on the weepy ABC drama “A Million Little Issues,” and he is additionally starred within the critically acclaimed vacation indie movie “Breakup Season.” Riggs performed Peter Parker within the brief “Spider-Man” fan movie “The Spider,” which put a horror spin on the teenager hero story and voiced Superman in a feature-length animated Justice League movie. Up subsequent, he’ll seem within the Western film “Florida Wild” alongside Mira Sorvino and Lee Majors.
In his ComicBook interview, Riggs mentioned he began a manufacturing firm referred to as Clean Mix Movies, and in accordance with an interview with the New York Put up, he is additionally DJed and created “cinematic digital music,” citing Hans Zimmer as an affect. Riggs has formally launched music underneath the stage title Eclipse. Talking to the Put up in 2019, the actor, now 25, mentioned one of many greatest modifications post-“Strolling Useless” got here from not being the infant on set. “I can exit for some drinks with my castmates and simply be an grownup,” he defined. “I am attending to work with so many professionals that do not see me as simply ‘the child on the set’ and that is actually cool.”
He’ll all the time be Carl Grimes to us, nevertheless it’s additionally clear that Riggs is making the uneasy transition from baby star to grownup actor about as gracefully as attainable. We’re excited to see no matter he does subsequent.