The Walking Dead is going strong over on AMC. The ratings aren't as fantastic as in years past, but there's no end in sight for the zombie apocalypse smash hit. Still, one former Walking Dead actor has come up with his version of a series finale, and it's actually pretty great. Michael Rooker explained his ideal final scene, saying this:
A railroad track ... going on forever, into the setting sun. From behind camera, a single individual walks down the middle of the tracks ... into the setting sun. Voiceover. You realize that that individual is Carl ... all grown-up, a man of his own. No one else is with him--just him. And as he does his voiceover, you realize that everything, all the seasons that you've just seen is him reliving his past. So everyone on the show is dead. He's the only survivor, and he's on his own and walks off into the sunset. And that's the end of the show.
Michael Rooker played Merle on The Walking Dead, so he's been dead for a while now. Apparently, he's hoping that almost the entire main cast of characters will also be killed off by the very end. If Rooker has his way, even consummate survivors like Rick and Daryl and Michonne will bite the dust by the last scene. His reveal at the recent Walker Stalker Con in Charlotte paints an interesting and morbid grand finale for the series.
We can bet that some of the consummate survivors will absolutely die before the series comes to a final end. AMC probably won't cancel The Walking Dead any time soon, and it's possible that actors will want to move on. Considering how many of us have been conditioned to our favorites dying gruesome deaths, an ending in which everybody except for Carl is dead might not be that bad. It would certainly be better than Rick stepping out of a bathroom and revealing that the entire show had been nothing more than young Carl's dream. In fact, Michael Rooker's ending is more reminiscent of a How I Met Your Mother ending than a Dallas or a St. Elsewhere ending. Since The Walking Dead isn't exactly a comedy, a death reveal late in the game might not tarnish the legacy of the series in the way that the How I Met Your Mother finale did for some fans.
Of course, we can't say at this point if Carl even has a long future on the show. Chandler Riggs was recently accepted into Auburn University, and he's shown interest in attending at least part time. If he can't work out a way to do both the show and college, he might have to be written off the show in a very permanent way.
Personally, I'd be on board with an ending for The Walking Dead like Michael Rooker proposed, although I might amend it to add Judith into the final scene. Sure, Carl seems practically invincible considering all the things he's lived through so far, but Judith is a baby who managed to survive years in the zombie apocalypse even after most of her caretakers were killed. (R.I.P. Beth and Tyreese.) Let the Grimes kids amble off into the zombie apocalypse sunset together.
The Walking Dead is currently on hiatus. Season 7 returns to the airwaves with the midseason premiere on Sunday, February 12 at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.
