WTWD? | Questions on Season Eight: Episode 9
The Death of Carl Grimes
How can it be possible for The Walking Dead to continue its story without Carl? Fans are upset and confused as to how a character that works symbiotically with Rick's can be axed without collapsing a fundamental premise of the show: a father motivated to protect his children. While Rick, of course, still has his adopted daughter as well as an entire adopted family now to push him forward, how will Carl's death change Rick? That question may be answered in understanding the legacy that Carl has left behind. There is also something to be said about the turning of generations and the clashing of the old and the new. Though audiences may have viewed this returning episode as a bit drawn out and despairing, there is meaning, even beauty, in Carl's death.
The Parent and the Child
Though his strength, faith, and confidence might suggest otherwise, not even Rick Grimes is immune to the dark fears of loss that often visit a parent. This fear has gripped him, often silently and sometimes in a rage, since the pilot episode. Along the way, Rick has managed to pull Carl back from some truly nightmarish scenarios, but it hasn't been until encountering Negan that Rick's fear and doubt in his ability to be the protector has reached a fever pitch. While fear, as Negan has learned and put to vigorous use, can manipulate people -- it will never inspire them. Rick learned this lesson with the losses of his friends at Negan and the Saviors' hands and with the response of love and support among his family. He continues to lose people as he fights this war, though, and the fight is getting more complicated and costly with every moment. So, what can Rick learn now from Carl's life and death to reorient himself in this battle and in his principles?
The look of stunned shock that drops over Rick's face when he sees that his son is dying is to be expected, but it may have come from a surprising place for Rick. When Rick agreed to fight the Saviors, he understood what he was exposing himself and his loved ones to. The possibility of Carl being captured or killed in the fight was a reality Rick accepted. What he did not expect was that Carl would die while deliberately not fighting, and in fact, while helping a total stranger find food and shelter. For a man with such a solid, inborn sense of justice, this cruel irony must be nothing less than devastating -- but at most, it could be a catalyst for a revolution of the mind and heart of Rick and his group.