In the modern era of television, it's hard to find a more resounding success story to rival "The Walking Dead." Based on Robert Kirkman's Image Comics series of the same name, the show premiered on AMC in 2010 and helped to redefine the zombie genre for modern times. It all starts when Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes emerges from a coma to find a world overrun by the undead. From there, it eventually became the biggest show on cable, spawning an entire multi-show franchise.
Rick served as the anchor of the series for its first eight seasons, but all good things must eventually come to an end. While the show did soldier on without him, it was confirmed in July 2018 that Lincoln was leaving "The Walking Dead" behind. At the time, this was a straight-up bombshell. It would be like Jennifer Aniston leaving "Friends" late in the show's run. It was a big deal.
AMC ultimately found a way to continue the show without Rick, but fans were still left to wonder why it had to be this way, especially since the character wasn't killed off like so many others had been over the years. So, why did Lincoln decide to leave the role of Rick Grimes behind, exactly? The answer is an entirely practical one that is pretty easy to understand.
Andrew Lincoln left The Walking Dead to be with his family
Andrew Lincoln's final episode came relatively early on in season 9. Specifically, he departed after the fifth episode of that season, which was titled "What Comes After." For what it's worth, it is widely regarded as one of the best episodes of "The Walking Dead" overall. That's particularly important as the show had seen a drop-off in ratings after reaching all-time highs in season 5. The shocking death of Glenn at the hands of Negan after a season finale cliffhanger had a lot to do with that.
In any event, Rick's departure, in some ways, offered a new path forward for the show, with a time jump taking place in season 9 to help move on from Rick's departure. To circle back to the question of why Lincoln left: It all had to do with his family. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly during San Diego Comic-Con in 2018, the actor explained that he simply wanted to spend more time with his kids at home in the U.K.
"I have two young children, and I live in a different country, and they become less portable as they get older. It was that simple. It was time for me to come home."
In many ways, in hindsight, Rick leaving the show made some sense. His son Carl had already died in season 8. His wife Lori had already been dead for some time. Passing the torch to other characters kept the show from spinning its wheels. From a human standpoint, Lincoln wanting to be more present in his family's life makes all of the sense in the world. In a July 2024 interview with Radio Times, Lincoln further explained that leaving to film the show every year was a dreadful experience.
"Every time, the journey in the car to the airport was horrendous. I was already homesick. I would view with dread the prospect of being away for eight months of filming. We were fortunate that my wife is such an extraordinary woman and was able to up sticks and build a life anywhere. I just didn't want to be the Brit abroad."
Andrew Lincoln eventually returned as Rick Grimes to The Walking Dead universe
AMC didn't wait long to lure Andrew Lincoln back to the franchise. In November 2018, it was revealed that the actor would return in a trilogy of "Walking Dead" movies centered on Rick Grimes. This was, before the pandemic shut down theaters all around the world for months on end and upended the movie business as we know it. The announcement was also made when ratings for the show were higher than they were at the end.
As a result, the project shifted over time and eventually became a TV show titled "The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live," which premiered on AMC in early 2014. Running for six episodes, the show told the story that had previously been planned for the movies, with Rick reuning with Danai Gurira's Michonne. Speaking in that same Radio Times interview, Lincoln explained it was Gurira and showrunner Scott M. Gimple who talked him into coming back.
"People would stop me in the street and go, 'Where's Rick?' There was an unfinished story. And I was talked into it by Danai and Scott. But I didn't want it to feel like a spin-off. I wanted to complete a story that we left unfinished. It was about reuniting two lovers and seeing if their love could survive time and distance apart.
Even though it wasn't on the big screen, the format of "The Ones Who Live" offered them the chance to tell a bigger story centered on a smaller group of characters, with Rick and Michonne at the center of it all. As Lincoln further explained:
"I felt that six hours gave us an opportunity to tell a bigger story. The Walking Dead characters have been scrabbling around in the dirt for years. What if we tell a more operatic story of what the grown-ups have been up to in the apocalypse – rebuilding society? What if there was a viable restart going on?"
