The Walking Dead's Lennie James reveals how he would end the show, Waltons-style

Most TV shows don't have an final end-point in mind - especially when they're as popular as The Walking Dead - but should the series ever decide to pull a Game of Thrones and stop at season 8 (or 9, or 10, or more!), star Lennie James, AKA Morgan, knows exactly how he'd do it. 

Has he got the war to end all wars planned? Does he want the Walkers to overrun and kill everyone? Nope, he has a much more understated ending in mind... and it's inspired by The Waltons!

"I would end it like the end of The Waltons." He told me when we sat down to talk about the upcoming season earlier this month. "I would just have everybody go into a house, and all you see is the lights slowly going off, and the last remaining people standing just saying “Goodnight” to each other... and then the show ends. That’s how I would do it."

Awww, that's sweet. 

For anyone who doesn't remember, The Waltons was a TV show which ran for nine seasons, from 1972 to 1981, about a family in rural Virginia during the Great Depression and World War 2, and each episode always ended the same way. With the whole family saying goodnight and going to sleep:

So, what do you think? Would you be satisfied with this ending or do you want a bloody finale to The Walking Dead? Let us know in the comments below. 

As for the end of season 8? "I don’t know, to be absolutely honest, and that is the god’s honest truth." James says. "I really don’t know because we haven’t got there yet, we’re still filming… I know there’s winners and losers along the way, I don’t know ultimately what the winning and losing is going to look like. 

"I’m so glad I got to answer a question “in all honesty” rather than having to hedge my bets and figure out what I can and can’t say!"

Oh well, I guess we'll just have tune in. 

The Walking Dead returns October 22 at 9pm on AMC in the US and October 23 at 9pm on FOX in the UK. 

Lauren O'Callaghan

Lauren O'Callaghan is the former Entertainment Editor of 12DOVE. You'd typically find Lauren writing features and reviews about the latest and greatest in pop culture and entertainment, and assisting the teams at Total Film and SFX to bring their excellent content onto 12DOVE. Lauren is now the digital marketing manager at the National Trust.

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