Posted in: AMC, Opinion, Preview, TV, TV, Walking Dead | Tagged: andrew lincoln, Daryl Dixon, norman reedus, Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Has Us Revisiting Our Rick Grimes Theory

Some rumblings around AMC's The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon have us revisiting our Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) theory from a few months back.

If you had a chance to check out the official trailer for AMC's Norman Reedus-starring The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon, it's understandable to see some serious connections between it and the end credits scene during the finale of The Walking Dead: World Beyond. With the origins of the virus and some other pretty horrific scientific stuff having originated in France, Daryl ending up there already raises some red flags. But much more than that, the trailer presented us with Laurent (Louis Puech Scigliuzzi) – a child who is deemed important by a religious community that tasks Daryl with delivering him… somewhere… to someone… about something. As you can tell, there weren't too many specifics shared – but between the heightened seriousness to the scenes we saw and the "revival of humanity" line, it's quite possible (THOUGH NOT CONFIRMED!) that Laurent could be immune to the virus.

Now, two things from what you just read are making it to the top of my "Always Sunny"/Pepe Silvia" red thread conspiracy board. First, there's a chance that "immunity" could be introduced into the TWDU. Second, Daryl & Laurent's journey sounds similar to Neil Druckmann & Craig Mazin's Pedro Pascal (Joel) & Bella Ramsey (Bella)-starring The Last of Us. Why are those two points important? Because they add some support to a theory that we threw out there back in May, offering the theory that Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes is actually immune to the virus – and he's known it since the first season. Here's a look back at the original speculation piece – oh, and one thing? Since it was written before "Rick & Miconne" was confirmed as the name of the spinoff, we were referring to it as "Summit"…

The Walking Dead: Did Rick Grimes Face "The Last of Us" Dilemma?

There have been some rumblings around "Summit" that CRM may learn that Rick is immune to the walker virus – a fact that Rick learns, too. The whole concept got me thinking about the season finale of The Last of Us, with  "Look for the Light" finding Joel making a serious, game-changing moral decision when confronted with the truth – a decision that's still being debated. And that got me thinking about The Walking Dead Season 1 Episode 6 "TS-19" (directed by Guy Ferland and written by Adam Fierro & Frank Darabont), the famous episode that finds the CDC's Dr. Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) whispering something to Rick before our survivors escape ahead of the building's explosion. When I have that many factors in play, I can help but feed my raging dumpster fires of random speculation – and that means asking the tough questions. Did Dr. Jenner actually tell Rick that there's a good chance he's immune – and Rick made the decision not to tell anyone?

Okay, just to be clear? I know that there are a number of factors that could call this theory into doubt – but it also has some teeth to it. I'm not intending anything malicious or pre-mediated on Rick's part. Just the opposite, actually. Having that information and not divulging it is a hard decision to make because it requires a lifetime's investment in maintaining it. Let's say that was what Dr. Jenner told Rick – how would Rick know it's true? Without proof, Rick could potentially be endangering himself, Laurie, Judith, Carl (until we learn his real parentage), and many more, based on nothing more than a whisper. And when you're talking about a society that's already fallen apart, the last thing you want is the remaining survivors side-eyeing each other as potential cures. As we've seen in other instances with other characters, we know it wouldn't be long until any one of them was under the knife, being cut apart for a cure that might not exist.

By keeping quiet, Rick was also avoiding any sense of false hope creeping out there because – again – Dr. Jenner wasn't exactly in his right state of mind at the end there. That said, having that knowledge would be just the spark of hope that Rick would need to lead and to keep inspiring others to fight on. Because by building up some kind of new functioning society, the core mechanisms would be in place to examine the validity of Dr. Jenner's claim. Plus, the burden of holding onto that truth would definitely carry with it some hefty dramatic baggage – the kind of baggage that CRM could unpack and use to their advantage in "Summit." Because just imagine the waves of emotions that Rick would have to confront if the clandestine military government proved that Dr. Jenner was right – that Rick has been a walking cure all along. That he wasn't one of the "walking dead"?  I'm getting chills just considering the storyline possibilities…

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