The Walking Dead: The rift in Rick Grimes future

Rick Grimes saga is set to continue in several movies on AMC. Fans have mixed feelings. I, myself, am not mad that Rick didn’t die. I’m mad because I don’t know how he survived that explosion.

Rick Grimes – The Saga Continues

Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) has been gone for a week now after he flew out of The Walking Dead and into TV Movie Land.

If you’ve logged on to social media or went to your favorite pop culture site since the episode aired, you’ve seen a lot of reactions. They run the gamut from angry fans all the way to fans who are angry at the angry fans for being angry. The Internet is a wonderful place.

A lot of people seem to have skipped over the first post-Rick Grimes episode. That’s a shame because it includes a reminder of just how hard core Carol remains. It also welcomed the long overdue Whisperers.

Instead, there’s been a lot of scuttlebutt over the fact that Rick may have visited another fandom in his last episode. In between visits from dead friends and trying to avoid walkers, Rick enters a cabin that closely resembles The Cabin from Evil Dead. Inside, there’s even a partial image of a book that may be the Necronomicon. You can check it out at HalloweenLove.

We may not get confirmation until the commentary track for the Blu-ray, if at all, but it’s awesome.

Rick Grimes-The Walking Dead-Courtesy of AMC Networks

Meanwhile, I started to think about Rick’s future. The only thing we know for sure is that Rick is alive. But, he’s separated from his family. He’s lost family members.

Rick has been a leader in a never-ending fight to prevent the apocalypse from wiping out all humanity. He’s had to kill.

Rick Grimes is a lot like Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell). No. It’s not a one to one comparison. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to think that the Rick TV movies could be a lot like Ash vs Evil Dead.

The Rift

I suggest the other Evil Dead easter egg in Rick’s last episode was the explosion.

Nerd Boi/ Fan Boi warning: That explosion should have blasted Rick to bits. Yes, bits you could find. The walkers are constantly decaying dead bodies, but there were a big pile of flaming parts floating in the river. Even walkers in the direct blast zone remained partially intact.

All of our heroes seem to immediately assume that Rick was totally incinerated. I don’t blame them. We see the blast wave ripple hit Rick’s face. There’s a small fireball. There’s debris.

But Rick remains completely intact and unsinged. The blast did throw him hundreds of yards through the air, which also should have killed him. Again, Rick isn’t in great shape, but he’s still alive.

The only thing that’s really injured him was the protruding rebar. Maybe the Kandarian Dagger is actually made from rebar. Hmmm.

I know. There’s suspension of disbelief. I shouldn’t get so technical. Yada, yada, yada.

That explosion is Rick’s Rift. It’s not an interdimensional gap in time and space, but it does get Rick out of Alexandria. It’s an unwanted reward for sacrificing himself in battle, just like Ash got at the end of Evil Dead II.

Rick has to be escorted through the Rift, as well. He’s near death. It’s similar to Ash needing to be dead in order to cross over into The Rift in Ash vs Evil Dead. He needs Pablo’s (Ray Santiago) help with that.

Jadis Ruby and Dealing with Loss

When we first met Jadis/Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh), she was an adversary. Then she made a deal with Rick. A deal she backed out of in order to survive. But then, they were kind of cool again. That’s very close to the storyline of Ruby (Lucy Lawless) in Ash vs Evil Dead.

Rick Grimes-Pollyanna McIntosh-Courtesy of AMC Networks

I expect that to be Anne’s role at wherever she and Rick are taken. There needs to be a remaining constant from the Alexandria storyline in the new trilogy that is not a flashback or a cameo. Sure, those could totally happen. But for these movies to be good and for them to be their own thing, they can’t rely on that kind of storytelling.

Anne and Rick instantly add a layer of loss to the story. The focus will be on Rick, of course. The life he lost to the apocalypse, the loved ones he lost during the apocalypse, and the family he’s left behind to be in this new environment. Again, that maps pretty neatly over the end of Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Ash vs Evil Dead.

Plain Pop Tarts vs Frosted Pop Tarts

I’m not trying to start a war. I don’t believe The Walking Dead is ripping off Ash vs Evil Dead. Or vice versa. But comparing TV shows like this is fun for me. Don’t judge!

If you think I’m being unfair, we can compare Judith (Cailey Fleming) and Magna (Nadia Hilker) to Brandy (Arielle Carver-O’Neill) and Kelly (Dana DeLorenzo).

Judith is a lot like Brandy. She’s the offspring of the absent Prophesied One and a leader in training. Magna is similar to Kelly. She’s an orphan who forges a path to becoming the strongest mortal warrior in a relentless battle against a countless number of foes.

These Walking Dead characters were active in the comics at least a full year before Ash vs Evil Dead even premiered. Brandy is obviously farther along than Judith.

And it’s really unfair to compare Kelly to anyone because of the sheer power and force of Dana DeLorenzo’s performance in the role. I mean, did you see season three? Cast this woman, Hollywood!

But the point is: the argument may go both ways.

Last Chances

Rick may live on in the story forever. Andrew Lincoln will not. Like Bruce Campbell, Lincoln does not want to play the character he is most identified with forever.

Both played their iconic roles for a long time. They’ve been to countless conventions. They’ll likely keep going to those conventions until it stops being enjoyable. But at a certain point, it’s just time to move on from the role.

RIck Grimes – Courtesy of AMC

To the chagrin of true fans and the people who love to pirate TV shows to death, Ash vs Evil Dead was canceled. Campbell put a lot into that show. It was a great trilogy of seasons that gave us more Ash than we ever thought we’d get.

And when it was over, the opportunity to make a clean break was there. Campbell took it. He’s not coming back to the role. He’s got lollygagging and other ventures to explore.

Similarly, Lincoln gave his all to Rick Grimes. By all accounts, he loves his cast-mates and his fans. But he missed his home and his family. It was time to move on. And, at this point in the story, it’s also a fairly clean break.

The big difference is that, unlike Ash vs Evil Dead, we know the end is coming. We’ll get a trilogy of movies to explore and say goodbye to Rick and Andrew. Like Ash, I have a strong feeling that when these movies are over, so is Rick. Enjoy the ride before its ended forever.

How did you feel about Rick’s exit from the Walking Dead? Are you excited for the TV movies? Let’s discuss in the comments!