The Walking Dead: Why can’t we be friends?

Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in Episode 4Photo by Gene Page/AMC
Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) in Episode 4Photo by Gene Page/AMC /
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As we look ahead to All Out War on The Walking Dead, is there any possibility that Rick and Negan could ever work together?

There are some things that can never be undone. Glenn and Abraham are never coming back, and memory is something that is hard to look past. With that in mind, could there ever be the possibility that Rick and Negan could work together?

I’ll remind everyone at this point that I’m only looking specifically at The Walking Dead television show’s canon, and not the comic books. I want to know if Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes could ever work together with Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan.

The short answer?

Probably not.

The complicated answer?

Maybe.

Probably Not

Let’s face it, there’s not a lot you can do by way of apologies to make up for killing someone. Negan has racked up a long list of infractions against Rick and his friends, and there’s nothing he could ever do to bring Glenn and Abraham back. (And Spencer, but…well, it’s Spencer, so…) Rick Grimes has evolved over the course of 99 episode to the point that he knows when he has to accept something, and this isn’t one of those cases.

Rick has friends now. Even with the Scavengers’ betrayal, Rick has Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and possibly even Oceanside standing behind him. Unless their survival is at risk, there’s no reason to cave to Negan’s demands. That means he doesn’t have to find a way to get along with Negan.

Maybe

The “maybe” option is a bit more complicated.

Though Negan looks like the baddest of the bad, there is always the possibility that there is an even worse baddie that could pop up and threaten everyone.

Those members of the TWD Family who read the comics might venture a guess at the next big group to come along, but for the sake of the show we don’t know what is coming up. All we do know is that Negan might not be the worst villain out there.

It’s a terrifying notion.

Could it be that Rick might need Negan? Or that maybe Negan might need Rick?

More from Undead Walking

We have no idea what will happen in Season 8 of The Walking Dead, but what we do know is that there is always something worse out there. That means you should never say never, right?

The Walking Dead returns October 22 on AMC.