Mateusz: You are right, the writers of Dead Men often couldn’t patch the story holes, which evidently killed a lot of potentially promising threads. Now that we’ve mentioned the departures on the show, what was the impact of Rick and Michonne’s (temporary?) Departure on The Walking Dead ? Was it a necessary change and gave space for the development of the plot and other characters, or maybe it plunged the series?
In my opinion, Rick’s departure freed up the plot possibilities a bit, because – as befits the main character – most of the plots revolved around him. For too many seasons, we’ve had to re-watch the character’s metamorphosis, from a strong leader to a deranged and power-hungry leader like the Governor, then to a despairing suffering man, ruthless ruler, compassionate warrior, and superhero (even Cap couldn’t handle zombies that well). Honestly, I was getting tired of Rick’s subject. However, I never believed the information that the writers would “beat him”, which translated into the announced film from the world of TWD.It is a pity for Carl, because the hero evolved over the next seasons, thanks to which he grew into a potential leader of the group. It seems that Daryl benefited the most from the departure of the character, because I rate Carol’s case on a par with Rick and I cannot find the motivation to be interested in her too worn-out character.
Aga: In season 9, Rick takes the role of a carpenter or bridge construction manager, and a few years after his loss, we see Michonne as a single mother raising two children and also a member of the city council, who sometimes relaxes in the evening, killing a few stiffs in front of the settlement gate. In real life, these would of course be very noble roles, but for the series, these are not key missions without which its plot could not go on. It is natural to feel sentiment towards both of these characters; We still remember Rick as a lonely gunslinger, straight out of a western, and Michonne in the role of a mysterious warrior with a samurai sword and two zombies accompanying her. Despite the fact that time has taken its toll on them and changes in their lives were inevitable, these images remain the most memorable.
A new group of characters (with the rebellious Magna, music teacher Luke, etc.) that have joined the series do not seem to me as charismatic as the heroes we know before. What distracted me more from the departure of Rick and Michonne were numerous surprising events, such as Alpha’s sneaking into the market, the discovery of her conspirator in the main group or Negan’s secret mission (it seems that the theme of the last two seasons is an undercover activity). Finally, we have two epic battles with Whisperers, the first of which (with an ingenious city siege and the use of a resin launcher) was quite unexpected.
Krzysiek: Rick was already a bit too much, yes, but in my opinion his “leaving the stage” could have been solved better. First of all, we needed a competent and story-driven successor, and we didn’t get that. Any characters who for a time have been clearly directed towards future leaders have been defeated beforehand for no apparent reason. Carl? Glenn? Tare? Jesus? Everyone is dead. Instead, old and / or popular characters are promoted to leaders, even if it completely does not fit their previously built character – Daryl and Michonne are loners, Carol is unpredictable and unstable, Gabriel is a coward and a traitor. They only become leaders because someone has to, and all the better characters have already been eliminated.
As for Rick himself, I’d rather have him “retire” and stay on the show, but in the form of a minor manager and advisor with less screen time to support new leaders, or possibly go to another settlement that we wouldn’t be following, with the possibility of a future return or functioning in the form of an occasional cameo , for example as a voice flowing through a radio station. However, I understand that Rick’s fate was dictated primarily by the decisions of Andrew Lincoln himself, and not the authors of the script.
