Will Rick return to Walking Dead?

This time next year, The Walking Dead will be over. As the show has been going on for 11 seasons, that’s kind of hard to believe. There were times when it seemed like the walkers would keep walking forever, but it’s not so; the end is truly in sight. We don’t know the exact release date yet, but we know that there will be only eight more episodes before the end. As that gets closer, there’s a big question on fans’ minds: will Rick Grimes return?

The series began with Rick Grimes waking up from a coma horrified to find that the world had collapsed under the weight of a zombie apocalypse. For nearly a decade, he was the undisputed face of the franchise, but he was written out of the show in season 9 when Andrew Lincoln decided he wanted to spend more time with his family in England.

That said, Rick didn’t die; he was airlifted away to parts unknown. We still have no idea where he is, but surely AMC wouldn’t wrap on the show before letting us know…right?

Will Rick Grimes return to The Walking Dead?

The short answer is that we don’t know whether Rick will return for this final stretch of The Walking Dead. However, there are clues. To start, look at this teaser for final eight episodes:

At the 0:20 mark, we see Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) examining Rick’s gun. That seems like a clue. Might he figure out that Rick is alive and finally bring him back into the fold?

Speaking of Daryl, Reedus was seen at an Atlanta-area restaurant with Lincoln a couple months back, when filming for the final season was still ongoing in the area:

Maybe Lincoln was just visiting friends…or maybe he was there to filming something for the show. Anything could happen, but our money’s on the latter.

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