Not going to lie, two weeks without The Walking Dead show has me scrambling on what to write about next. As long as there is no official release date for TWD: Dead City or Fear the Walking Dead, articles from me will be slow. I want to write about the future of The Walking Dead universe and this article from https://comicbook.com/tv-shows/news/the-walking-dead-deleted-alternate-ending-series-finale-adult-judith-rick-grimes-jr/ falls on my lap. Apparently, the ending we got on the series finale was not the original ending that was planned for the show. Instead of Rick & Michonne at the end of the series, we would have got Judith & Rick Grimes Jr.
According to Insider, “After Daryl rode off, we cut forward to the Freedom Parkway, outside Atlanta — where the iconic shot of Rick rode down from the pilot. See an ethanol-modified van, with a young woman and man in the front seats. And through the scene, we come to realize it's adult RJ and Judith. Other adult versions of the kids are in the back — Coco, Gracie, etc. They're out there, looking to escort any survivors back to their communities. Continuing the legacy of their parents. As RJ speaks over the radio, he finishes with: "If you can hear me, answer back. This is Rick Grimes." Then we end with the voice of a survivor answering back: "...Hello?" The Walking Dead’s season 11 showrunner Angela Kang also said, “I'd written a completely different final scene. But it was something that worked well in pitch and that everybody liked, but it was one of those things when we finally saw it all put together we were like, 'this doesn't quite work,' and AMC was like, 'maybe you just cut this sequence,' and I was like, 'I completely understand that.'"
If AMC ever decides to pick up The Walking Dead in the future, they can use this scene as the introduction in the pilot. The kids will continue the shows legacy for generations to come. The alternate ending has some call backs to the pilot episode, since you know Hollywood loves to full circle every story they write. The alternate ending is shot in the same highway in Atlanta that Rick Grimes was on at the end of episode one. RJ also mirrors the exact words his Dad says in the pilot, “If you can hear me, answer back. This is Rick Grimes.” I always forget that RJ’s real name is Rick, but it could have been full circle with the show’s timeline. Although I loved the ending that we got with Daryl riding away on his bike and seeing Judith and RJ as the final scene, it would have been interesting to leave the door open of this show to ever return to AMC.