How will everyone react to the possibility that Rick Grimes is alive?

With the reveal that Rick Grimes survived the bridge explosion on The Walking Dead, how will other survivors react to news that he might be alive?

In last week’s episode of The Walking Dead “What We Become” it is revealed to Michonne that the love of her life, Rick Grimes, survived what seemed to be his death in The Walking Dead season 9 episode “What Comes After”. How will the rest of the survivors react when they learn that he is alive?

Rick was badly wounded and was being followed by a herd of walkers. The bridge that the communities worked on was the only way to eliminate the walkers. Given that the bridge didn’t collapse Rick was left with no choice but to shoot a pile of dynamite left on the bridge to take out most of the herd. Rick ended up going down with the bridge, but he managed to survive. Anne finds him while she is trying to leave with the mysterious helicopter people, and she asks them to save Rick, leaving his story open for movies.

Six years passed and the group never knew what truly happened to Rick after the bridge. When Michonne goes to an island with Virgil for weapons she finds something much better, Ricks boots. Along with the boots she finds a large boat with an old iPhone inside that had a drawing of her and Judith, and the name Rick in the corner. Over the walkie she reaches out to Judith and tells her that there may be a chance that the ‘Brave Man’ is still alive. Judith tells her to go and find him and bring him home.

With this information Judith obtained from her mother, one can only assume she will tell at least Daryl of her discovery. We know everyone could use a sign of hope after everything they’ve gone through the past couple of months. But what are people going to say when they hear that Rick Grimes never actually died? How would people react to news that the man who got everyone here possibly never actually died?

How Will Everyone React?

Daryl and Rick had an unbreakable bond that felt very much like a brotherhood. Once Rick was gone, Daryl never stopped looking for his body even after 6 years. It was as though he lost his other half. After hearing this news Daryl’s reaction will likely be incredibly emotional, and he will also experience a lot of joy. With this news he will probably gain an outstanding amount of hope for the future, and his new mission will be to keep everyone safe for when they return, especially Judith and RJ.

Carol followed Rick since Atlanta, she adapted and learned how to fight this world and become someone strong for the future. One could say Rick is a big part of how she became who she is today. With everything Carol has endured these past two seasons, this may bring a sense of high spirits back to Carol’s heart. Carol lost a lot of hope, but could Rick possibly being alive bring the light at the end of the tunnel that Carol needed?

Maggie has been out of the picture for almost a full six years. She’s been building a new community with Georgie. She will be back this season, but Maggie more than likely won’t hear the news about Rick until next season. But what would her reaction be? Ever since her father died, Rick tried to lead Maggie in the right steps along the way and was proud of the strong person she became. Maggie has lost many close people in her life, so being told that someone from her past never actually died may bring an emotion we’ve never seen in her before.

Father Gabriel never told anyone about the disappearance of Anne or the mysterious helicopter people she was working with. When Gabriel hears that Rick made it out of the explosion alive somewhere, will it all make sense to him that Rick was possibly taken away with Anne? She was never seen again, but maybe Gabriel will tell everyone what he knows finally, or maybe he will be just as shocked as everyone.

Even though they were major enemies with different visions of the future, Negan had respect for Rick Grimes. After a long battle, Rick is the one that kept him alive in containment as a vision of a peaceful future. The reaction we can assume to see from Negan is his famous chuckle and chilling grin as he thinks about how this man really might be truly unstoppable.

If this news happens to pass on to the communities, it should bring a new ideal of hope, a new vision to grow for the future. Rick brought most of them together to build something so much bigger, after everything they lost since then, this might be the spark that lifts everyone back up. Even though he isn’t there, news that Rick is alive could still help lead these communities towards creating a bigger world, and he doesn’t even know it.

How do you think everyone will react to the possibility of Rick Grimes being alive? Do you think Judith will tell people the reason why her mother can’t come home? We hope so, but we also hope wherever Rick is and wherever Michonne ends up, she can bring him home. Tell us your thoughts by tweeting us at @UndeadWalkingFS and @grevorr