What does the future of AMC (AMC)’s The Walking Dead look like? We have something of an idea. But what does tonight’s season eight finale look like? Well, only star Andrew Lincoln can adequately address that question.
“I can do it in three letters: W.T.F.,” Lincoln told The Hollywood Reporter, adding that the episode, “Wrath,” is “unbelievable.”
Tonight’s episode will conclude the two-season All Out War arc between Lincoln’s Rick Grimes and his merry band of zombie slayers and Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan and his evil Saviors.
The storyline has been The Walking Dead‘s biggest of its run thanks to the scale of the conflict and Negan’s cult icon status among readers of Robert Kirkman’s original comic series. But those familiar with the comic shouldn’t assume they know what’s coming tonight.
As Carl’s death earlier this season proved, The Walking Dead isn’t afraid to go off-book.
“One of the things I love about the storytelling in the finale is that it was always going to be a bit tricky in how we tackle the war. That was always going to be a big decision since it’s such a big part of the comic books,” Lennie James, whose character Morgan will be hopping off The Walking Dead and on to its prequel companion series Fear The Walking Dead, told the outlet. “We had to be very respectful of our source material, but we also have to realize we’re telling a very different version of the same story.”
Scott Gimple has overseen The Walking Dead as showrunner for four seasons now, and while the show’s ratings have declined in three straight years, the quality has improved overall from the lean middle years.
Following “Wrath,” Gimple will transition into a new role with AMC as a kind of godfather for the entire Walking Dead franchise as the network looks to further expand the multimedia brand.
Naturally, he didn’t give anything juicy away during his last day on the job.
“If I said it mirrored [the comics] super closely, that would provide a lot of answers,” he told the outlet. “Aspects of the comics are there, and then there’s some other stuff in there and some big left hand turns to the comics.”
“It’s totally the same, and no it’s not at all the same and it’s completely different,” Gimple added. “It closes down every character’s story pretty much in some tragic ways and in some sad ways, and even some hopeful ways to a degree. There’s closure, in every iteration of what that means, in the finale.”
You can live-stream The Walking Dead on AMC’s Live Stream website, where you will need to log in with your cable provider information. If you do not have access to a cable log-in, you can watch The Walking Dead through DirecTV Now. DirecTV offers a free seven-day trial, so you’ll receive a full week for free before your paid membership begins.
You can also live stream The Walking Dead on AMC’s app. The AMC app is available on Google Play and iTunes. DirecTV also has a DirecTV Now app in the App Store and Google Play store, where you can watch The Walking Dead for free if you sign up for the seven-day trial and cancel it before the trial period ends.
