How 'The Walking Dead' Originally Ended - And Where The Reboot Could Go Next
In 2010, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) awoke after an accident to find the world had plunged into apocalyptic chaos in The Walking Dead. As he learns to navigate flesh-hungry walkers, he teams up with a small group of survivors, who've been watching over his wife and son. Since then, the relatively simple survival story has spawned 11 seasons and multiple spin-offs, not to mention the video game tie-ins (and yes, there are the original comic books, too).
Season 11 marked the final season of The Walking Dead, with the franchise putting its effort into fleshing out the character-focused spin-offs The Walking Dead: Dead City (2023), The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon (2023), and The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live (2024). The issue with all these shows from the very beginning was their ending points. Because as much fun as it is to catch up with fan favorites, the number one thing we fans want is for them all to reunite.
Thankfully (or maybe not so thankfully, depending on how you look at it), the franchise has answered these demands. As reported by Deadline, Netflix has partnered with AMC Global Media to renew The Walking Dead for a five-year deal. With that said, here's where the flagship series left off and what ground The Walking Dead reboot could cover when it returns.
'The Walking Dead' Ends With Peace But Key Characters Separated
The Walking Dead ends on a relatively strong note (although I still think Season 10 would've made the better stopping point). After a drawn-out battle with the Commonwealth baddies, Pamela Milton (Laila Robins), the despicable Sebastian Milton (Teo Rapp-Olsson), and Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton), our heroes restore peace to the community with some casualties of their own. (RIP Rosita, you deserved better.) A year later, Ezekiel (Khary Payton) serves as the Commonwealth's new leader, while Carol (Melissa McBride) helps him out in administration, and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) remains the leader of Hilltop.
However, the series finale also establishes a few threads to continue some of the characters' stories via their respective spin-offs. Maggie sends Daryl (Norman Reedus) out on a scouting mission that sees him temporarily parting ways with Carol and kickstarting the events of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Likewise, the finale hints at Rick and Michonne's (Danai Gurira) eventual reunion in The Ones Who Live. Lastly, Maggie's uneasy and complicated feelings about Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) get further fleshed out in Dead City, when the two team up to save her son, Hershel (Logan Kim).
Rick's MIA Status Made A Reboot Necessary
Rick Grimes is the heart and soul of The Walking Dead. However, anyone who fell off the series after the death of [SPOILER!] Steven Yeun's Glenn in Season 7 might not realize that Rick also goes "missing" in Season 9, Episode 5, "What Comes After," after the bridge explosion.
After a brief tease in Season 11, answers to Rick's whereabouts come in The Ones Who Live, where we learn he's been trying to escape the Civic Republic Military (CRM) for the better half of a decade. Eventually, Michonne and Rick reunite and get to rekindle their relationship. It's pretty satisfying for longtime fans. Still, we never get to see Rick or Michonne rejoin Carol, Daryl, and the others. And, if you're anything like me, a Rick and Daryl reunion feels like one of the most necessary scenes to achieve closure.
Will 'The Walking Dead' Reboot Finally Address A Cure?
While The Walking Dead reboot is needed just to see our favorite heroes reunite (poor Judith and RJ haven't seen their parents for years, at this point), it also offers opportunities to answer old questions.
Perhaps the biggest question everyone has is about the cure. Early seasons of The Walking Dead focused on finding one. (Remember when Rick and Co. went to the CDC in Atlanta?) However, that's taken a backseat in more recent years… until recently. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon introduced the character of Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi), who many in France dubbed a "chosen one" of sorts. With his mother giving birth to him as a walker (yup, gnarly stuff), some prophesied that he is immune to the virus and therefore can create a cure.
Daryl Dixon Season 4 may catch up with Laurent, but the last we see of him is in a helicopter headed back to the US. Thus, The Walking Dead reboot might pick up this storyline, and leave Season 4 of Daryl Dixon to focus on Carol and Daryl's return home. The events of Dead City could also come into play, but they seem mostly confined to Manhattan, which is far away from Ohio and Virginia.
With Daryl Dixon and Dead City still incomplete at the time of writing, it's hard to know how much of their plots will become entwined with the reboot. In fact, it's possible the reboot focuses on the gang's reunion and sets them up with another set of big bads to face. However, personally, I think that would be a bad idea. Watching a rinse-and-repeat of the past formula might be a mistake. The reboot doesn't just offer a chance to reconnect with familiar faces; it's a chance to tie up loose ends and give the fans and characters the closure they deserve.
