The big draw for last night’s episode of “The Walking Dead” was that it was the final time we’d be seeing Andrew Lincoln’s Rick Grimes in the main series, but what you may not have realized is that it was also the final episode for Lauren Cohan‘s Maggie. Granted, we had learned earlier this year that Cohan would be leaving, but last night was that (low key) swan song.
For now, at least.
Maggie was provided with some closure in “What Comes After,” realizing that Negan’s imprisonment is a fate worse than death for her husband’s killer. As we now know, the show is jumping several years into the future for the remainder of Season 9, and Maggie will definitely not be a part of the season going forward. The door is open, however, for a future return.
Showrunner Angela Kang explained to THR, “That’s the last of her for this season. We’ve been talking to Lauren and hopefully we’ll get to tell more story for her. We definitely have some things up our sleeve that we’d love to do. A lot of that is just a scheduling conversation, so hopefully that will all work out, because I think mutually we would like to continue with Maggie’s story, for sure.”
AMC programming president David Madden added, “I would hope it’s not the last you’ll see of her for the show, but she is not in any immediately forthcoming episodes. We definitely feel there is more of Maggie’s story to tell. We did not, as you have seen, kill her off in 905. We established that she is out there somewhere. And that’s something we would like to pay off by having her return, if her schedule permits.”
Cohan’s next gig? A leading role on ABC’s “Whiskey Cavalier,” premiering next year.
