The Walking Dead 814: Rick confronts his grief in new images
By Sonya Iryna
New images from the next The Walking Dead episode show Rick and Michonne facing their grief over Carl’s death.
Rick has been trying to outrun the weight of Carl’s death by focusing on the fight against The Saviors on The Walking Dead. But in the next episode, ‘Still Gotta Mean Something’ it looks like Rick and Michonne will have to face their grief. New images from the episode show Rick and Michonne reading the letters that Carl left for them.
In the last episode of The Walking Dead ‘Do Not Send Us Astray’ Michonne tried to talk to Rick about Carl but Rick wasn’t ready to hear her or face his grief. He focused on the fight at The Hilltop and making sure that as many people as possible were safe.
But now that the fighting is momentarily over and there’s time to take a breath Rick’s going to be facing his hardest battle yet – the stillness of life without Carl. Anyone who has ever lost someone close to them knows how deafening silence can be when that space that the person used to fill is empty.
Michonne has found purpose in living Carl’s legacy and making sure that all of Team Family remember that Carl wanted them to stop fighting, after Negan is defeated, and continue to build the communities. He didn’t want them to lose their humanity and Michonne is going to make sure that happens.
But that might too much for Rick. Right now he’s broken and angry and he might not be able to be the person Carl wanted him to be. Reading the letter that Carl left for him and trying to honor Carl’s wish will be one of the hardest things he’s had to do.
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Bonded By Loss
Right now everyone is feeling the profound loss of Carl. But it’s worth remembering that all of Team Family has suffered profound losses. In some ways Rick has managed to remain relatively unscathed. Losing Lori was difficult for him, but the others have been racking up the huge losses over the past seasons.
Maggie has lost Hershel, Beth, and now Glenn. Michonne lost her child. Carol lost her child, in a similar way to the way that Rick lost Carl. Daryl lost Merle. Tara lost her entire family. Carl’s death was tragic, but in some ways it puts the members of Team Family on more equal footing. Everyone has lost those they loved. And now they’re at a turning point.
Their losses can break them apart as they all grieve separately, or it can bond them even more tightly than before. Rick’s road back from the grief he’s feeling now might take awhile but eventually he will see that his statement from earlier seasons that they survive together has never been more true. And that bond that he has with Team Family and Michonne will eventually carry him forward. Will Carl’s last wish for peace be enough to make Rick spare Negan’s life? Or The Saviors? That will be seen soon enough as All Out War concludes in the next three episodes of The Walking Dead.