Rick sparing Negan in the book worked pretty well, I thought. Rick wants to build a better, more civilized society and he needs to prove it by not murdering his worst enemy.
In the show, though? There's way too much bad blood between Rick and Negan. The audience has come to hate Negan so much that anything other than a gruesome death for him would feel like a huge betrayal to viewers. As already mentioned, Rick has vowed to kill him twice already and people want to see some payoff from that -- just like when Rick vowed to kill the leader of Terminus.
I don't think Gimple will be able to resist the twist though. During the last 15 minutes of the S8 finale, there will be the final showdown between Rick and Negan in front of Hilltop. Rick slashes Negan's throat. There's a huge commotion, Dwight calls off the Saviors, Negan is bleeding out on the ground. Then, the time skip. We're briefly introduced to the new tri-community and see how well it is thriving. At day's end Rick retires to his house, and slinks down the the basement. He speaks a few cryptic words to a shadowy figure in a prison cell....."Death was too good for you...I'm trying to prove a point, but I can kill you anytime I like....the next time I have a rough day, I may just come here and strangle you with my bare hands" Camera pans across the room to reveal Negan's face, defiantly staring back. Credits roll, season ends on an interesting development that's not quite a cliffhanger but is intriguing enough to make people come back for more. I suppose it would also work for a midseason finale.
They've been trying to draw parallels between the Alexandrians and the Saviors for 2 seasons now. The Alexandrians stole all the weapons from Oceanside and then shot them the middle finger on the way out. This almost mirrors how Negan stole the weapons from Alexandria, and later flipped the bird to the Alexandrians while leaving. I could see TV Rick sparing Negan just to prove that they're better than the Saviors, and that they aren't headed down the same path. Denying the audience the catharsis they want from Negan's death will be dangerous.
I suspect that the direction they head in will come down to something as mundane as whether or not they can get Jeffery Dean Morgan locked down for another 2-3 seasons.
In the show, though? There's way too much bad blood between Rick and Negan. The audience has come to hate Negan so much that anything other than a gruesome death for him would feel like a huge betrayal to viewers. As already mentioned, Rick has vowed to kill him twice already and people want to see some payoff from that -- just like when Rick vowed to kill the leader of Terminus.
I don't think Gimple will be able to resist the twist though. During the last 15 minutes of the S8 finale, there will be the final showdown between Rick and Negan in front of Hilltop. Rick slashes Negan's throat. There's a huge commotion, Dwight calls off the Saviors, Negan is bleeding out on the ground. Then, the time skip. We're briefly introduced to the new tri-community and see how well it is thriving. At day's end Rick retires to his house, and slinks down the the basement. He speaks a few cryptic words to a shadowy figure in a prison cell....."Death was too good for you...I'm trying to prove a point, but I can kill you anytime I like....the next time I have a rough day, I may just come here and strangle you with my bare hands" Camera pans across the room to reveal Negan's face, defiantly staring back. Credits roll, season ends on an interesting development that's not quite a cliffhanger but is intriguing enough to make people come back for more. I suppose it would also work for a midseason finale.
They've been trying to draw parallels between the Alexandrians and the Saviors for 2 seasons now. The Alexandrians stole all the weapons from Oceanside and then shot them the middle finger on the way out. This almost mirrors how Negan stole the weapons from Alexandria, and later flipped the bird to the Alexandrians while leaving. I could see TV Rick sparing Negan just to prove that they're better than the Saviors, and that they aren't headed down the same path. Denying the audience the catharsis they want from Negan's death will be dangerous.
I suspect that the direction they head in will come down to something as mundane as whether or not they can get Jeffery Dean Morgan locked down for another 2-3 seasons.
