Rick Grimes: 10 Things AMC Would Prefer You Forget About The Walking Dead’s Hero

If you were to name one character on AMC’s The Walking Dead who has been one of the best characters in the show, most people would likely choose the main character. Rick Grimes is the central character of the show and happens to be one of my all-time favorite characters. Andrew Lincoln has done a phenomenal job in the role, portraying some of the most memorable moments in the series. However, there have been certain moments throughout the show’s run that haven’t been so great for Grimes. Let’s delve into the list. Here are the 10 things AMC would like you to forget about Rick Grimes.

10. That CGI Deer Scene

Oh boy, lets start with an obvious one here. I am going to give this a more simplified version as I went into further article in my previous article titled 10 Things AMC Wants You to Forget about The Walking Dead. However in a show often credited with Good CGI has scenes like the Deer Scenes below, it is super embarrassing.

Of course, with Rick Grimes heavily being involved as he is aiming for this “deer”, it was a super embarrassing moment for AMC. Also for Rick Grimes, and heck, even Michonne who also was involved in this deer scene as Rick wanted to kill it for her. It is definitely something that AMC would like you to please not remember.

9. Thomas Jane was originally penciled in for the role

Rick Grimes is nearly synonymous with Andrew Lincoln, and it’s widely recognized as his standout role. Lincoln’s portrayal of Rick Grimes is highly acclaimed, and it’s difficult to imagine the character being played by anyone else. However, what if I told you that Andrew Lincoln wasn’t the original choice for the role of Rick Grimes? In fact, the role was initially intended for Thomas Jane.

The original plan was for Frank Darabont to pitch the idea of The Walking Dead to HBO, and the network had Thomas Jane under contract for a future project. Darabont made significant efforts to cast Thomas Jane as Rick Grimes, especially since Jane had previously worked with several actors from The Walking Dead in the movie The Mist at Darabont’s request. These actors included Laurie Holden, Jeffrey DeMunn, Juan Gabriel Pareja, and Melissa McBride.

However, HBO eventually passed on The Walking Dead and assigned Thomas Jane to their TV series Hung. Consequently, Jane became unavailable for the role of Rick Grimes. When AMC picked up the show, they had to go with a Plan B, and Andrew Lincoln was cast as Rick Grimes.

While Thomas Jane is undoubtedly a fantastic actor, it’s fair to say that Andrew Lincoln was perfectly suited for the role of Rick Grimes. It’s challenging to envision anyone else portraying the character as effectively as Lincoln did. So, it’s probably for the best that AMC prefers you to forget that the role was initially intended for a different actor.

8. Saying the N-Word in Season 1

Well, now this is a super problematic considering how much the show has toned down its cursing and reduced racial content in the series. While normally I would prioritize addressing this, in the scene, Rick was making a point to Merle without being racist. In fact, he was conveying a positive message in the show. However, the problem is that many viewers were not fans of the way Rick phrased it, and there remains lingering discomfort with the choice of words. AMC would prefer viewers to focus on the overall storyline rather than dwelling on the use of that particular word and the associated controversy from earlier seasons.

7. The Grenade Rick Grimes found in Season 1 is a Training Grenade

Grenades in the Zombie Apocalypse are a rarity to find. In fact I can only remember a few times where a grenade was used in the Walking Dead. The most obvious one was in season 1 where Rick found a grenade in a Tank he was trapped in, kept it around and when they were in the CDC needed it to escape the building and get out of the CDC.

If you notice though that grenade has a blue lever/color. The problem here is that if grenade has a blue lever on it, that means that it is a training grenade. It is often that training grenades have those type of markings on it to make it clear which is a training grenade and which isn’t. Since the grenade used on the show is photographed above clearly shows that blue lever/cover, it is a nonlethal grenade. So, the explosion that was shown at the CDC where the glass exploded would clearly not have happened in Real Life. Obviously, AMC wants you to focus more on the explosion working and getting out of the CDC, instead of the fact that the grenade is obviously a test/nonlethal grenade.

6. Totally Abandoning Sophia

Season 2 of The Walking Dead had its fair share of both fans and critics. While I lean more towards liking it, I’m aware that there were moments in the season that left room for improvement.

One intriguing storyline revolved around the disappearance of Sophia in the first half of the season, and the group’s efforts to find her. However, one often-forgotten part of the story is when Rick essentially abandons Sophia in the woods, a decision that is never brought up again in the narrative.

What happened was that a walker chased Sophia on the highway, causing her to run into the woods in fear. Rick pursued her, and they had to hide to avoid the walkers. In an attempt to divert the walker’s attention, Rick left Sophia near a creek and went back to the highway. The issue here is that Sophia was a young girl who was frightened and traumatized, and Rick’s instructions were vague and inadequate. Why didn’t he simply instruct her to stay hidden while he went back to deal with the walker?

So, in essence, Rick abandoned Sophia. What’s strange is that this is hardly ever mentioned, and neither Rick nor any other characters express guilt or responsibility for her death. The whole situation doesn’t make much sense, and it seems like the show wanted viewers to focus more on the mystery of finding Sophia rather than the fact that Rick’s actions indirectly led to her disappearance.

5. The flashlight attached to his gun in Season 3

Well, this was incredibly silly and obvious when it was first shown. In the first episode of Season 3, the group finds the prison, and Rick is the one rushing to close the gate to stop walkers from entering the yard so that the group can clear it and be safe for the night. Rick then has to use a gun with a silencer. It was a pretty good scene, well, if you can overlook the obvious flashlight that was attached to his gun during this scene as the “silencer”.

I don’t know what they were thinking by making it so evident that they attached a flashlight to the gun instead of an actual silencer. It was extremely noticeable, and while the scene itself was enjoyable and well-made, you just can’t overlook this error because it was so distracting and obvious. AMC would probably prefer if you overlooked the fact that Rick’s gun “silencer” was essentially a flashlight attached to it.

4. His Plan with the Garbage People Makes No Sense

Let’s discuss All Out War, a part of the show that many fans consider one of the lowlights. During this time, there were several questionable writing decisions, such as the killing of Carl Grimes. Another frustrating aspect was the addition of the Garbage People group, also known as The Scavengers.

The Scavengers were this eccentric group of people who lived in a garbage landfill. Their way of speaking was peculiar and annoying, and most fans didn’t like this group. Even when Simon massacred them, it was hard to feel sympathy for them, highlighting the poor writing of this group.

Now, let’s talk about a particularly nonsensical aspect of Rick’s plan during All Out War. This plan is so illogical that it might make you feel like you’re losing brain cells, to the point where your turning into pro wrestler Marty Jannetty of The Rockers.

Rick discovered the Garbage People and thought they could strengthen his chances against the Saviors. He and Michonne embarked on a mission to secure guns for this group to join his side. However, The Scavengers betrayed Rick because Negan secretly made a better deal with them. They were willing to accept this deal, and Jadis even tried to shoot Rick in the stomach. Thankfully, The Kingdom and The Hilltop came to save Alexandria from the Saviors.

You might assume that after being betrayed, Rick would consider them enemies. However, he inexplicably decided to go alone to the Scavengers’ junkyard HQ to convince them to join him. Yes, he believed that the same group that had betrayed him and whose leader had been willing to shoot him would now willingly join his cause. He went to talk to them without a backup plan, putting far too much trust in a group that had already betrayed him.

Unsurprisingly, they took Rick prisoner and imprisoned him in a shipping container. To make matters worse, Jadis forced him to strip into his underwear and do a photoshoot for her future sculpture work. This situation is so ludicrous that it’s hard to comprehend. It gets even more ridiculous when you realize that Rick, despite having his hands tied, somehow overpowered a zombie and two of Jadis’s goons without facing any consequences. This defies all logic and is truly headache-inducing.

But wait, there’s more. Rick decides, after some time, to go back to the Scavengers again to convince them. I facepalmed when I saw this for the first time because it was so stupid for him to do after the last few times he tried. This time he brings Michonne with him and wants to talk to Jadis to persuade her to join the fight. He knows that the Scavengers were witnessed following Rick into the Sanctuary, and that the group has become targets themselves. They have been untrustworthy so many times, yet Rick keeps trying to make deals with the Scavengers. After Simon massacres the group, it’s at that point when Rick finally realizes that they are a lost cause. He leaves Jadis behind at the landfill and junkyard.

Of course, Rick’s plan with the Scavengers, or garbage people, is absolutely stupid and will go down as one of the dumbest plans in The Walking Dead history. AMC would like you to ignore the idiocy of the plan and focus on the visuals of Season 8 and the All Out War.

3. Rick Grimes survived the bridge explosion, somehow?

Now, here is the part where I was shaking my head the most during Rick Grimes’ ‘final’ episode. With Rick Grimes bleeding out and the herd getting close, he finds himself at the bridge he had worked so hard to build to connect the communities.

When the herd reaches him, almost every group learns of his predicament and tries to rescue him. Rick, realizing there are too many walkers and that there’s dynamite left on the bridge, raises his Colt Python and shoots the dynamite. He delivers the line ‘I’ve found them,’ referencing his search for his family. It’s honestly a pretty good line, and most people in the group believe he’s gone.

However, that’s not the case. Just down the river, Jadis is there, radioing the helicopter. She notices Rick Grimes’ body. Of course, Rick Grimes is still alive and Jadis saves her life by getting him on the helicopter.

Oh, come on, that is so ridiculous, and it doesn’t even make any sense. Firstly, he was so close to the explosion that it should have killed him immediately, yet he survives with no burns on him whatsoever. He was also stabbed with a metal stick near his stomach, suffering blood loss, becoming fatigued, limping almost the entire episode, and having hallucinations. Additionally, he was nearly drowned in a river full of walkers with rocks everywhere. Yet he survives.

Yeah, I’m calling absolute nonsense on this one. It makes no sense whatsoever that he lived. While the scene itself was cool, when you think about it, it makes zero sense that this man survived. I don’t care if the helicopter that took him and Jadis provided medical help; he still would not survive this in the real world.

Obviously, AMC didn’t want to kill off Rick entirely because they had bigger plans post the show. However, there was a much better way to make this scene believable. So, AMC would clearly like you to forget that when thinking about that bridge explosion, in reality, there’s no way he could have survived.

2. AMC almost killed off Rick Grimes in Season 8

No, you’re not reading that title incorrectly. There was originally a plan for Season 8 to be the moment the show was going to write off Rick Grimes permanently from the show. In fact, this has even been confirmed by Andrew Lincoln himself.

Andrew Lincoln’s contract was set to expire once Season 8 of the show was going to end, and there was a lot of speculation behind the scenes that both sides were not going to come to an agreement. So, there were many options that were talked about regarding Rick’s character, and one of those ideas was to kill off Rick Grimes entirely.

Andrew Lincoln was even quoted saying that, “In Season 8, there was a plan. The tree that I was bleeding out under, there was an ‘A,’ ‘B,’ or ‘C.’ There was a version where I died.” That tree was the one where Rick beat Negan and cut his throat. Yes, one plan was that Rick was going to be the one to die in that spot, which would have been absolutely ridiculous if it had occurred.

Luckily, it never came to be, and AMC would like you to please forget that they were so close to killing not only the main character of the show but also taking away a star they were planning for their “movie trilogy.” Speaking of which…

1. The Michonne and Rick Grimes Series was originally going to be a Movie Trilogy

Let’s get into the most recent addition to the list. Of course, when Andrew Lincoln departed the show, many wondered what was next for the actor. Well, it was revealed that there was a planned project with Rick Grimes’ survival (still makes no sense how he survived that bridge explosion) was to do a full-blown movie trilogy in cinema. There was even a teaser of the trilogy in 2019.

However, there is one moment in real life where the trilogy plans fell apart. That moment was the Covid-19 pandemic. When that happened, the trilogy plan was tougher to film for a movie, so the idea was to cancel the movies and make it into a brief 6-episode TV series titled “The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live,” which is going to air in 2024. I’m sorry, but with the hype the movie announcement got, the limited TV series is such a letdown.

While the project was not abandoned and at least something will be on TV, it just sucks that this happened. However, what AMC would like you to forget is not only that the original plan was to have that series be a trilogy with three movies regarding Rick Grimes, but also the insane amount of hype they produced about it.

So those are the 10 things that AMC would like you to forget about Rick Grimes. Do you agree with this list? Did I leave something out? Are you excited for the Rick Grimes/Michonne Series coming out? Let me know in the comment section and give the article a like as well.