After 11 seasons and 12 years on screen, The Walking Dead is set to conclude with a final run of eight episodes – though the universe will live on, with a number of new spin-offs planned.
All the same, wrapping up the flagship series was a major task for showrunner Angela Kang and her team – and Kang told RadioTimes.com that there was “a lot of debate and discussion” around how the show should end.
“Me, as the showrunner, and my writing staff, we are responsible for trying to map out the story and come up with a pitch for it, but then – with any show, but especially a show like this – there’s a lot of people that are gonna look at what you’re doing,” Kang explained.
“So we pitch it to the producers, we pitch it to the studio and the network. We talk to our actors about our plans and then we try to make our very best version of it.”
The final note on which the series would end was debated right up until the last moment, Kang revealed.
“I will say without spoiling that our intended final scene is not the final scene anymore. I won’t go into that now, so early in the process, but sometimes, even after you’ve shot things, it changes in the post-production process. It’s a living work, as we go.”
Kang wouldn’t be drawn, however, on whether the original final scene was removed entirely or shifted to earlier in the episode. “It’s… I don’t even know if I should say that much!” she laughed. “Let’s just say that things changed.”
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Kang first joined the writing staff of The Walking Dead as a story editor for season 2, rising through the ranks before eventually inheriting the showrunner mantle from season 9 onwards. Having worked on the show for over a decade, she admitted to feeling “emotional” about its imminent ending, though post-production on the final episodes still continues.
“I think because I’m still actively working on post production for the show, I’m still like, ‘Well, it’s not done yet, we’re not there.’ So I think it’s gonna hit me once we finally deliver the last episode, and everybody watches it. But it’s emotional. I think it’s been emotional for all of us. It’s surreal.
“For those of us that have been on the show for a very long time, this has been a whole stage of our lives, as it has been for the fans who’ve stuck with us this long.”
The Walking Dead’s final season is comprised of 24 episodes, airing in three parts – the first eight aired between August and October 2021, with the second batch going out between February and April 2022.
The third and final set of episodes – and the series as a whole – will wrap up on 20th November on AMC in the US and 21st November on Disney Plus in the UK.
Returning cast for the zombie thriller’s last outing include Norman Reedus as Daryl, Melissa McBride as Carol, Lauren Cohan as Maggie, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Negan.
The final season of The Walking Dead is available to stream from 3rd October on Disney Plus – sign up to Disney Plus for £7.99 a month or £79.90 for a year.
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