‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Will Delve Into Rick and Negan’s ‘Ugly’ Relationship


Many fans were devastated when Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) decided to let Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) live after he was captured in the Season 8 finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead. For those who adored some of the characters Negan so brutally murdered, their reaction was akin to Maggie’s (Lauren Cohan) when she saw that Rick wasn’t going to kill the super-villain.

But, how will Rick and Negan’s relationship fare moving forward into Season 9? According to Uproxx, the next season of The Walking Dead will see this “ugly” relationship explored further.

According to Comic Book, the new showrunner for The Walking Dead, Angela Kang, recently explained how Rick and Negan’s relationship would unfold in Season 9 while Negan is being held captive in an Alexandrian jail.

“I think in a lot of ways, Rick goes down there and it’s part therapy and part gloating. They’re just trying to work their way through it. They both feel in some ways like dinosaurs after the war. As Rick is trying to figure out what’s the next step, what’s the next mission, Negan kind of needles him, but Rick needs to be able to justify, ‘This is why I kept you alive, it’s so that we can have a future.'”

As to how Negan will respond to Rick’s processing of the situation is anyone’s guess. However, Kang insists that Rick will try to show Negan just how good they have it now moving forward.

And, regardless of Rick’s plans involving Negan and the future his son, Carl (Chandler Riggs), saw for the group, Rick will still have to contend with Maggie Rhee who did not agree with Rick’s decision to keep Negan alive in spite of the previous pact that saw them all wanting to kill Negan if he was captured.

While a previous Inquisitr article discusses how there could be a potential leadership clash between Rick and Maggie in Season 9, according to Angela Kang, the transition between those who fought against each other will also be explored.

“We talked about it in the writers’ room, just this idea of, when a war ends — and then you have people who are soldiers in the war, generals — what happens when there’s no real transition? Because it’s an apocalypse.”

As a result of this, viewers will just have to tune into Season 9 of The Walking Dead to find out how this will all unfold.

Season 9 of The Walking Dead will premiere on AMC on Sunday, October 7, at 9/8c.

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