Maybe Rick and the gang will find peace after all. The Walking Dead’s new Season 8 trailer, which premiered Friday at the show’s San Diego Comic-Con panel, is weirdly uplifting and ends on an unexpected note: After the title card, an older, silver-haired Rick pops up, lying amongst white sheets and seeming more relaxed than fans have seen him in years. What gives? Well, there are a couple options.
After receiving a deluge of negative reviews for bogging down fans with dismal plot line after dismal plot line, it seems the powers that be behind The Walking Dead at AMC might be listening. For the longest time, it’s felt as if Rick and the gang couldn’t catch a break and that they’d be running forever, unable to make a home for themselves. But with the trailer’s oddly positive music leading up to an image of Rick looking happy, healthy, and frankly serene, the show seems to be grabbing onto hope at last.
Rick’s age, silver hair, and the cane nearby hint that the short scene is a peek into the future, indicating that fans might be able to look forward to a time jump. And while that’s a big maybe, at least it’s something to hold on to as the characters fret over their future and battle off upcoming big bads.
Or (and let’s hope this isn’t the case), maybe Rick loses so much of himself that he ends up hallucinating a better world. But we’ll stick with the cheery version for the time being.
The Walking Dead Season 8 premieres on Sunday, October 22 at 9/8c on AMC.
