Rick Grimes May Not Be The Only Character To Make Their Final ‘Walking Dead’ Appearance

Andrew Lincoln said goodbye to the Walking Dead on Sunday, as many fans expected. What they didn’t expect was that Lauren Cohan would also make her final appearance on the show – at least for the season. According to E! Online, Cohan, who plays Maggie on the show, won’t appear in any more episodes this season – or maybe at all.

The actress was in contract negotiations ahead of the season, which said that she would appear in a limited number of episodes in season 9, and is still in discussions about what it would look like if she returned for season 10 of the show. At the same time, Cohan has signed on to star in Whiskey Cavalier opposite Scott Foley on ABC.

Cohan has appeared on the Walking Dead for the past eight years. The actress says that’s a very long time to portray the emotion that Maggie experiences as she makes her way through the world of the Walking Dead.

“So much of it is really simple because eight years is a long time to spend in one character. Eight years is a long time to spend in the emotional mash-up that Maggie’s in and that Lauren is in by virtue of osmosis. I honestly just was looking at this on a multitude of personal levels, and it just made the most sense for me to do this,” Cohan said.

Cohan’s departure comes after a season that revolves around getting revenge against Negan for the death of her husband. Showrunner Angela Kang is hopeful that this isn’t the last we will see of Maggie. Much depends on whether the show can work around the Cohan’s schedule.

“I love Maggie and I’ll always love Maggie, and we had a really good time so far. And I do say so far, because the beautiful thing I get to experience right now — which I think is such a cherished thing for me in life — is to live in the not knowing, and to embrace it. And I just feel in life generally a sense of that more than I ever have on a personal level. So naturally, that was going to bleed over into that, and just taking the information at hand and making a decision based upon the facts in front of me,” Cohan said.

On the same episode, Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, made his final appearance on the series. The actor will portray Grimes in some Walking Dead films, but will no longer portray the male antihero on TV.

Scott Gimple announced last night that #TheWalkingDead is getting at least three spin-off movies centered around you know who: https://t.co/V4qbIYgcKn pic.twitter.com/UspfnM7kSI

— The Walking Dead (@TheWalkingDead) November 5, 2018