The Walking Dead Season 5 and Beyond... (Possible Spoilers)

[Keyser Soze]

Well, we're on the eve of the Season 4 midseason finale of The Walking Dead, so now could be a good time to start looking ahead. How long do we see this show running? It's not the comic, I don't see it still going strong after a decade. The actor playing Carl isn't going to get any younger, and the other actors are going to want to move on too. I don't want it to be something like ER or CSI where the whole original cast has left and they've cycled in new characters to keep the corpse limping into double-digit numbers of seasons. Much better to leave the audiences wanting more, so I feel like the show should wrap with Season 6. Lost had 6 seasons, it seems like a good number.

A word of warning: I'm not going into specific character faces or plot twists here, but I'll make general comments about the future direction the plot takes in the comics, so if you want to remain totally spoiler-free, best skip the rest of this post!

Here's how I see the way the rest of the show could unfold:

SEASON 4 MIDSEASON FINALE
This is what got me starting to think about this. After thinking the show was entering total uncharted territory, it seems based on the previews we are now right back into the sequence of events that brings the prison/Governor saga to a dramatic conclusion. It would be very ballsy indeed for the midseason finale to end the same way that story ended in the comics, and I hope they go through with it.

SEASON 4: SECOND HALF
With the introduction of Abraham and Eugene, I see the back half of the season incorporating the road to Washington DC, with cannibal nutjobs The Hunters emerging as the new Big Bads pursuing them through the wilderness. End the season the way the "Fear The Hunters" arc ended, with the chilling suggestion that now it's our Survivors who are the force to be feared.

SEASON 5: FIRST HALF
I'd have this be the string of episodes where the group arrives in the safe haven of Alexandria, and work in that whole story of the Survivors struggling to adjust amidst a group of safe, "normal" people. Build up to the massive zombie siege of "No Way Out", reinforce zombies as a threat again.

SEASON 5: SECOND HALF
Start introducing the idea of "A Larger World" I got he show, that there are several loosely connected communities out there, many bigger than Rick's group. Introduce the Saviours as antagonists and their leader Negan as an off-screen menace, talked about in hushed tones. Finally, in the Season 5 finale, you bring in Negan for the final scene, and it plays out exactly how The Walking Dead #100 did.

SEASON 6
After the horrifying cliffhanger that ended Season 5, this whole season is built around the epic war against Negan, eventually lining up with the "All Out War" storyline going on in the comics now. But rather than the story going on afterwards like it will in the comics, find a way to construct a grand, climactic finale from this story, go out on a dramatic high.

What do you guys think? When should the show end? And what would you like to see happen in the show going forward?

 

[Matt]

IMO, your ideas are too similar to the books. Negan only ever was a poor man's Governor and he will come off as even more of that on the show. I think the best route to go is to continue to evolve in a distinctly different way from the comics.

 

[Hyde]

I want them to reach an official government sanctuary. Somewhere that seems safe at first, but when you look closer, things aren't what they seem. Have Rick play detective, biting the hand that feeds him, and set up whoever the leader of the safe zone is as the big bad - think Gus Fring from Breaking Bad and Ben Linus from Lost.

 

[Matt]

I want them to reach an official government sanctuary. Somewhere that seems safe at first, but when you look closer, things aren't what they seem. Have Rick play detective, biting the hand that feeds him, and set up whoever the leader of the safe zone is as the big bad - think Gus Fring from Breaking Bad and Ben Linus from Lost.

I think this would be a good way to take the show. So far, we have only seen Rick and his group as outsiders. Let's see them on the inside. Plus, we know that the government is still kicking to some extent. The soldiers that the Governor had Meryl kill in early season 3 are indicative of that. I'd like to see what the world of The Walking Dead is like and that would be a good way to give the audience some exposition.

 

[Hyde]

Exactly wouldn't mind if they ended it there either. Plus there was already that tease a few episodes ago when Daryl and co heard "Sanctuary" spoken over the car radio...

 

[Shifty]

I hope it leads to The Hunters, Alexandria and then The Saviors.

As for the length of the series, I see it going at least 8 seasons, ending in spring 2018. Of course it depends on how AMC's other new shows go. Obviously the chances of replicating the ratings of TWD are slim but if they have shows with the ratings like Low Winter Sun and The Killing, then AMC will drag it out. Just like NBC dragged out the life of their shows in the 2000s since they had no new hits.

The spinoff launches in 2015 which will likely focus the start of the apocalypse.

Plus I'm sure AMC will do another spinoff later this decade once the main series ends.

 

[Man in the Suit]

It'll keep going until the demo rating bottoms out. Last episode was down to 5.7 and that's still huge. AMC is making so much money. They're not stopping.

 

[Keyser Soze]

IMO, your ideas are too similar to the books. Negan only ever was a poor man's Governor and he will come off as even more of that on the show. I think the best route to go is to continue to evolve in a distinctly different way from the comics.

I've heard a couple of people comparing Negan to The Governor, but save for the fact that they're both bastards and are villains who lead rival groups in The Walking Dead, they are actually very different beasts. The Governor is a psychotic monster who hides behind a face of diplomacy to dupe his community of mostly normal, decent folk. Negan leads a hardened gang of thugs and killers, and is much more like Al Swearengen in Deadwood: morally repulsive, but with his own twisted code of ethics. And while The Governor (in the comics at least) is just utterly despicable and devoid of any redeeming qualities, Negan has become something of a magnificent bastard who you find yourself grudgingly liking on rare occasions. Ultimately, while The Governor is just a madman and is a lot sicker than Negan in the extremes of depravity he'll go to, Negan is a focused, much more dangerous threat to the group.

You may be right in suggesting more time is needed in between The Governor and Negan in the TV show to avoid people thinking them too similar - the comic waited a good few years between the two, after all - but Negan is definitely a character worth bringing into the mix eventually.

 

[runawayboulder]

Not to mention they change show runners like they're underwear. It's not like Boardwalk Empire, Mad Men or Sons of Anarchy where the head guy has a pretty good idea of when they want to end the show.

There's no finite vision that's been established. AMC could run this into the ground if they want to. Kirkman won't care, he'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

 

[Sawyer]

Negan would just be a repeat of the Governor? What?

I don't recall The Governor ever basically installing himself as Rick's ***hole boss or subjugating him and his group... all it's ever been with the Gov is conflict. Negan is more like "I've got you outgunned and you've pissed me off, so I'm gonna kill one of your guys and then you get back on schedule working for me."

 

[Keyser Soze]

Yeah, I gotta take into account that just because rationally one might think, "This show could have another good couple of seasons before coming to a natural end," doesn't mean that'll happen. With a ratings smash like this, it's quite feasible that they'll drag it out to season 8, 9, 10, however long it takes for audience to tire of it.

 

[Sawyer]

I want them to reach an official government sanctuary. Somewhere that seems safe at first, but when you look closer, things aren't what they seem. Have Rick play detective, biting the hand that feeds him, and set up whoever the leader of the safe zone is as the big bad - think Gus Fring from Breaking Bad and Ben Linus from Lost.

So.... basically the entire Woodbury arc from season three played out all over again, with Rick in the Michonne role?

Thanks, but no thanks.

 

[Keyser Soze]

Negan would just be a repeat of the Governor? What?

I don't recall The Governor ever basically installing himself as Rick's ***hole boss or subjugating him and his group... all it's ever been with the Gov is conflict. Negan is more like "I've got you outgunned and you've pissed me off, so I'm gonna kill one of your guys and then you go back to working for me."

What I love about the dynamic with Negan is that, with The Governor it was very black-and-white: this guy only wants to kill us, we have to stop him to survive. With Negan, he does this one absolutely horrible, unforgivable thing as soon as we meet him, that we as readers want to see him punished for. But from there he is then perfectly willing to leave the survivors be... if they play ball. So when Rick and co turn on him and it turns into a battle, there's this uneasy undercurrent where we're questioning whether or not Rick is truly doing the right thing here, or if his need to do the right thing and get vengeance is going to get people killed.

 

[Keyser Soze]

And there's also the fact that, save for that aforementioned horrible, unforgivable thing.... Negan becomes kinda perversely likeable, the more we see of him. That issue where he had this weird chemistry going on with Carl could make for a great TV episode down the line.

 

[Sawyer]

Yeah, I think Negan would be quite interesting to see. Not immediately of course. I want them out on the road for a bit, since they've been given (relatively) safe haven for the better part of the last two and a half seasons. But eventually...

 

[Hyde]

So.... basically the entire Woodbury arc from season three played out all over again, with Rick in the Michonne role?

Thanks, but no thanks.

Admittedly they would be similar, but a political antagonist would be very different to the Governor. Perhaps delve into the origins of the virus. What's happening with the rest of the world? Woodbury was one road long; this would be a whole city. There's tons of potential to explore.

 

[Shifty]

I say you don't bring Negan in until the last half of season six, which would be in February 2016.

 

[Matt]

I've heard a couple of people comparing Negan to The Governor, but save for the fact that they're both bastards and are villains who lead rival groups in The Walking Dead, they are actually very different beasts. The Governor is a psychotic monster who hides behind a face of diplomacy to dupe his community of mostly normal, decent folk. Negan leads a hardened gang of thugs and killers, and is much more like Al Swearengen in Deadwood: morally repulsive, but with his own twisted code of ethics. And while The Governor (in the comics at least) is just utterly despicable and devoid of any redeeming qualities, Negan has become something of a magnificent bastard who you find yourself grudgingly liking on rare occasions. Ultimately, while The Governor is just a madman and is a lot sicker than Negan in the extremes of depravity he'll go to, Negan is a focused, much more dangerous threat to the group.

You may be right in suggesting more time is needed in between The Governor and Negan in the TV show to avoid people thinking them too similar - the comic waited a good few years between the two, after all - but Negan is definitely a character worth bringing into the mix eventually.

The thing is, TV Governor has basically taken a lot of Negan's qualities (especially in this most recent arc). I think the way to make Negan work on TV would be to change him quite a bit. The Saviors have shown some cult-like qualities, and while it has been greatly underplayed, Negan is more or less a cult leader. I think that is how the two characters can be differentiated in the show....basically turn them into a full on cult with Negan as the cult leader. Those aspects need to be played.

 

[Jedi-Spirit]

Second half of season 4 = On The Road & The Hunters...Season 5 D.C. disappointment, then the Safe Zone & the Politics within...Season 6(possibly last season), Rival Groups, Negan & Fall of the Safe Zone!

 

[KDM1986]

Well, we're on the eve of the Season 4 midseason finale of The Walking Dead, so now could be a good time to start looking ahead. How long do we see this show running? It's not the comic, I don't see it still going strong after a decade. The actor playing Carl isn't going to get any younger, and the other actors are going to want to move on too. I don't want it to be something like ER or CSI where the whole original cast has left and they've cycled in new characters to keep the corpse limping into double-digit numbers of seasons. Much better to leave the audiences wanting more, so I feel like the show should wrap with Season 6. Lost had 6 seasons, it seems like a good number.

A word of warning: I'm not going into specific character faces or plot twists here, but I'll make general comments about the future direction the plot takes in the comics, so if you want to remain totally spoiler-free, best skip the rest of this post!

Here's how I see the way the rest of the show could unfold:

SEASON 4 MIDSEASON FINALE
This is what got me starting to think about this. After thinking the show was entering total uncharted territory, it seems based on the previews we are now right back into the sequence of events that brings the prison/Governor saga to a dramatic conclusion. It would be very ballsy indeed for the midseason finale to end the same way that story ended in the comics, and I hope they go through with it.

SEASON 4: SECOND HALF
With the introduction of Abraham and Eugene, I see the back half of the season incorporating the road to Washington DC, with cannibal nutjobs The Hunters emerging as the new Big Bads pursuing them through the wilderness. End the season the way the "Fear The Hunters" arc ended, with the chilling suggestion that now it's our Survivors who are the force to be feared.

SEASON 5: FIRST HALF
I'd have this be the string of episodes where the group arrives in the safe haven of Alexandria, and work in that whole story of the Survivors struggling to adjust amidst a group of safe, "normal" people. Build up to the massive zombie siege of "No Way Out", reinforce zombies as a threat again.

SEASON 5: SECOND HALF
Start introducing the idea of "A Larger World" I got he show, that there are several loosely connected communities out there, many bigger than Rick's group. Introduce the Saviours as antagonists and their leader Negan as an off-screen menace, talked about in hushed tones. Finally, in the Season 5 finale, you bring in Negan for the final scene, and it plays out exactly how The Walking Dead #100 did.

SEASON 6
After the horrifying cliffhanger that ended Season 5, this whole season is built around the epic war against Negan, eventually lining up with the "All Out War" storyline going on in the comics now. But rather than the story going on afterwards like it will in the comics, find a way to construct a grand, climactic finale from this story, go out on a dramatic high.

What do you guys think? When should the show end? And what would you like to see happen in the show going forward?

I like your layout. I personally think your outline will be stretched out till season 7-8. If the show continues to be good it can go forever.

 

[Lord]

As long as the network gets these amazing ratings the show will go on. I would like to see Rick's group becoming bigger and him starting to get a community as their leader, a group big enough to form a village, then a town.