'The Walking Dead' Season 8 News: Fans Launch Online Petition to Axe Showrunner Scott M. Gimple
Fans of "The Walking Dead" have launched a petition to fire season 8 showrunner, Scott M. Gimple. Fans are reportedly unhappy that the showrunner had to kill off Chandler Riggs' character in the series, Carl Grimes, in the midseason finale.
"The Walking Dead" has been plagued with negative reviews on Rotten Tomatoes after the finale of the first half of the season, and this mainly has to do with Carl being dead. In Robert Kirkman's original source material, Carl is portrayed as a rising hero among the survivors, following the footsteps of his father Rick. That is basically why many were surprised when Gimple killed off Carl on the TV series.
Although Rick's son is not yet officially dead in the series, it was pretty clear in the midseason finale that death is his eventual fate. According to reports, Carl's unforeseen death did not only upset fans but Riggs and his father as well.
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Created at Change.org by "The Walking Dead" fan Tyler Sigmon, the petition has a goal of 50,000 signatures and has garnered more than 49,600 as of this writing. According to Sigmon, he was triggered to start the petition not only because of the death of Carl but for Gimple's "unfair treatment" of the character.
"Recently, Scott has decided to kill off the show's most pivotal character Carl Grimes, son of main character Rick Grimes. The entire show has been a lead up to showing Carl become the leader that his father is, maybe one day taking on the mantle himself. Actor Chandler Riggs even considered postponing his college education so he could work on the show after Gimple promised that he would be on the show for 3 more years," explained the petition.
"The Walking Dead" season 8 saw a significant drop in the show's ratings. It is set to return on Feb. 25, 2018 on AMC.
