When The Walking Dead was wrapping up its final season towards the end of 2022, I was worried about what lay ahead for its small-screen universe. With a bunch of spin-offs already in the works, it appeared to be zombie shuffling towards the finish line; its conclusion lacking stakes and bursting at the seams with too many characters, many of which were guaranteed to live on past the very last episode.
While the main series had certainly upped its sense of spectacle in its later years, it had seriously lost sight of what we really wanted. Now, though, I feel unexpectedly confident about the future of the franchise.
