“No matter how bleak things look, this is not the end.”

Well, it is the end and it isn’t. I’m glad I’ll have more chances to write with all these spin-offs in the works for after The Walking Dead original series comes to a close, which is somehow very soon. I haven’t written anything about TWD in so long, or anything about anything really. I’ve been taking care of my chronically ill Mom, who has MS, and now Dad’s gone through a double bypass and will be healing for at least 10 weeks. My business was nearly destroyed by the pandemic and I’ve been trying to save it for the last two years. I’ve also been getting back into being creative via various art and design techniques and attempting to transition that from a fledgling hobby into a business, so I haven’t had time for much else.

I never even had the time before season 9 to put up that “Goodbye Andrew Lincoln” post that I furiously wrote all day and night long when it leaked that he was leaving the series that he had helped make so great with his raw, passionate performances. I crafted this raft of emotional prose, wailing like a banshee over my iPad’s Notes page, hoping his ending would be perfect, knowing the writers wouldn’t let us down when it came to Rick, that maybe he would survive and come back in the end to find his family. This was all way before I had any idea they were planning on doing just that, just not necessarily in the main show itself but rather movies that are now instead a new spin-off.

”This isn’t gonna be easy.” “When has it ever?”

But I was certain I would find the time to say something about the beginning of the end of The Walking Dead. I knew I had to at the very least comment on announcements that came out of TWD’s final SDCC or the trailer that would premiere there. The Walking Dead trailers always give me chills and make me both excited and nervous for what’s coming next. Now, what’s next is all there is. There will be more to the universe of TWD, but this is the end of the captain of this ship and it will be sad; there will be deaths, as there always have been and some of the people I love won’t make it. Just not having it to look forward to every Sunday will leave a hole.

So, I have to talk about TWD at least this one time before the last 8 episodes premiere, since it’s one of my favorite shows of all time. (Or I’ll continue to talk about it since I’ve blathered on for three paragraphs already.) It never lost my faith no matter the direction it headed. I was always there for the story and the characters, whatever the heartache that entailed. The captivating, real, masterful performances made sure I would come back for more emotional punishment. The story that was always bringing growth and pain and rare and well-earned triumph to its characters, and evolving alongside them, held me unwavering in my conviction to see it through to the end. There were no low points for me&emdash;emotionally, it beat me down and that creates a strong bond with these characters. I welcome the tears and terror and I welcome seeing Rick again next year.

”People remember the last thing that you do. The end of each story is very important. How do you want yours to end?”

Even if Rick doesn’t make it into the final scene of the show that started with him, I’m excited that the movies are still happening, now in the form of a spin off 6-episode run. I prefer a series to movies anyway. I miss a lot of movies, unless they’re pre- or post-pandemic lockdown Marvel; and 999 times out of 1000, I don’t do movies solo. My dad is the only one I know who whose love for The Walking Dead didn’t instantly turn to intense hate when Negan destroyed Glenn and Abraham. He wouldn’t have time to go to the movies with me, though, so I’m happy for a series we can watch together.

“We’ve gotta find each other.”

Yes, you do. I’ve long believed—and Gimple once confirmed on an episode of Talking Dead—that The Walking Dead could be summed up in one word: hope. Before Rick’s final episode, I had hope that he would come back to Michonne and Judith (and now RJ, too) in the end of the series. That hope flagged when it looked like Rick was blown to smithereens in “What Comes After,” but the end of the episode had all sorts of scenarios running through my mind of how he could, and had to, return at the closing moments of the series.

”We can’t thank you enough for your patience and we’re working hard to make sure that it’s been worth it.”

Love you, Scott, even for seasons 7 and 8; so many former fans love nothing more than to complain about them, but they were amazing seasons with so much hurt it was hard to bear and remarkable performances by skilled actors. “The Time Will Come When You Won’t Be” is one of the best episodes in all of television.

”Thank you for being the greatest fans of all time. We love you.”

And we love you, too, Andrew. What a nice surprise for everyone at SDCC. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people and I have an itty-bitty bone to pick with something Andy said. I adore him and everything he’s done for the show, but some “hardest of the hardcore fans” can’t get to Comic Con. I wish I could, but family obligations plus a lack of money and no one to go with prevent me from doing anything incredibly fun like that. I always wanted to go to at least once for The Walking Dead, Supernatural, and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., but it wasn’t to be. Oh well, at least I get to watch on YouTube.