Now that the final ever episode of The Walking Dead has aired, viewers are taking it all in and deciding what they thought of the conclusion.
Many fans were satisfied with the ending that saw the Commonwealth storyline concluded, all the loose ends tied up, and even some hints about how we get from the original series to the various spinoffs set to drop in 2023. Plenty of walkers also died in a most spectacular manner, and only a couple of characters died.
Jules (Alex Sgambati) died very early on in the episode as the herd of walkers descended on her. Most notably, though, Rosita (Christian Serratos) also made her exit after being bitten on the shoulder by a walker while trying to save her daughter, Coco.
This death was reminiscent of Carl Grimes’ (Chandler Riggs) death as he was also bitten on a part of the body that made it impossible for an amputation to occur, and because of this, the character died back in Season 8.
Many fans were shocked at Carl’s death, as he should have been Rick’s replacement as head of the franchise after Andrew Lincoln left the show.
However, it appears the actor returned for one final scene in the Season 11 finale of The Walking Dead.
Chandler Riggs appeared in the final episode
Did you manage to see Chandler Riggs in the final episode of The Walking Dead?
It was a blink, and you missed it a moment, that’s for sure.
The actor appeared as a farmer in the background of the scene shot at Hilltop and shown at the end of the episode.
Wearing a brown polo shirt and a black hat, he blended in just nicely as Maggie (Lauren Cohan) discussed the future with Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride).
“Chandler was in the scene at Hilltop,” Cohan revealed, according to Entertainment Weekly. “He was in the background as a Hilltopper farming.”
Here’s how the cameo happened
According to The Walking Dead’s showrunner, Angela Kang, Chandler was in town during filming and asked if he could stop by to say hi to all his old work colleagues.
“Chandler Riggs was in town and he just asked to visit to say hi to friends,” Kang revealed.
“I had such a good time hanging with him on set, and it was just really nice to see him. And then they were doing these scenes and needed some extras, and Greg was like, ‘Well, you want to go for it? Get in there! Go get in the back.”
Greg Nicotero, who directed Episode 24, also spoke out about the unplanned cameo role.
“I looked at him and I went, ‘Hey, you. Take that, go stand in the back of that shot.’ It wasn’t planned. I don’t even think we put wardrobe on him. I think he was just wearing whatever he wore when he came to set. We’re just like, ‘Throw him in the background.’ I think we gave him a hat to disguise him a little bit.”
While the plan was to try and hide Chandler in the background, Norman Reedus did try to draw attention to the actor in the background, but it was hard to tell when the episode aired on Sunday night.
Chandler also gave a hint about his appearance when he retweeted a Twitter post he made back in April.
“I am in the final episode of TWD,” he wrote at the time but many thought he might be teasing when he first posted it.
All seasons of The Walking Dead are now available on AMC and AMC+.