The Walking Dead‘s midseason premiere ended on as devastating a note as possible when Carl Grimes shot himself in order to prevent his transformation into a walker. After such a huge loss to the show, fans were left wondering what’s going to happen next. Well, thanks to these new photos released by AMC, we’ve now got a bit of an idea of what to expect this Sunday, when the show returns with “The Lost and the Plunderers.”
We’ve previously been told that Carl’s death will have an “incredible impact on everything going forward” and that the thinking behind the decision to kill the character off was to have it act as a marker of an “ending of an era for The Walking Dead” as well as the “starting of a new one.” And while we don’t see too much of that here, we do get a look at Rick mourning at his son’s grave, along with shots of Simon, Jadis, Aaron and more.
There’s nothing too spoiler-y in these pics, either, so fans should feel free to flip through the gallery without any fear of having things ruined. But first, here’s what the synopsis for “The Lost and the Plunderers” teases:
“Groups unite their forces and converge on the Hilltop. Meanwhile, Aaron and Enid search for allies. Simon takes matters into his own hands.”
Aside from watching the aftermath of Carl’s death, it’ll also be interesting to see this week if The Walking Dead can climb back up in terms of ratings. As you’ve surely heard, Sunday’s midseason premiere didn’t perform too well – even despite it being our last moments with the young Grimes boy.
In fact, with 8.3 million viewers and a 3.6 rating among that crucial 18-49 demographic, season 8’s return was the lowest-rated of any mid-season premiere in The Walking Dead history. And that’s despite it attracting more viewers than season 2’s midseason premiere back in 2011. For the record, the show’s opening season was only comprised of six episodes, and therefore didn’t have a midseason premiere.
Still, The Walking Dead remains one of the top programs currently on television and you’ll definitely want to tune in when it returns this Sunday, March 4th with “The Lost and the Plunderers.”