What would The Walking Dead be like without Maggie? Well, we may very well find out! Let’s talk about what’s going on with Lauren Cohan.
Over the past day, it’s come to light that Lauren Cohan, who plays TWD alum, Maggie Rhee, has been tapped as the lead in a ABC pilot slated for next year. The pilot titled, Whiskey Cavalier starring Scott Foley may or may not go to series {Via THR}, but Cohan has been tapped as its female lead which begs the question…
What will happen to Maggie and what’s going on at AMC?
Up until a couple of months ago, original cast members, Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes) and Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) still hadn’t finalized their ninth season contracts. Eventually, they came to an agreement to continue through next season. It will come as no shock to fans that Cohan was up for a contract renewal, too, and went into negotiations looking for a pay raise.
She probably knew she wouldn’t get as much as her male co-stars, Lincoln and Reedus, because they have a season on her and they’re extremely big draws for the AMC hit. Still, Cohan has been a headliner since season two and has a large fan base. AMC and Cohan’s reps haven’t reached an agreement yet, and it looks like negotiations have stalled completely.
With the death of her onscreen husband, Glenn (Steven Yeun), in the season seven premiere, Cohan’s Maggie took on a huge role in leading Hilltop. Oh, and she’s pregnant, so we’ll need her to have that Gleggie baby before she dies or gets written off the show.
Of course, Cohan might just limit her time on The Walking Dead and turn her season regular role into a part-time thing. That wouldn’t necessarily fit with Rick saying he’d be following her when this war with Negan is over, but we all thought Carl would take over for his dad eventually and that ship has sailed…
What do you think about Cohan’s potential exit from the series? Could this situation force the writers to look at end games for their original and long-time cast members who are feeling the wear of the zombie drama?
The midseason premiere kicks off Sunday with the promise of an extremely emotional episode featuring Carl Grimes’ death, so we’ll have that to distract us for a bit. Let’s stay tuned for the rest of eighth season and see how it all shakes out.
Hopefully, it doesn’t end with Maggie on the receiving end of Lucille or dying due to her pregnancy a la Lori.
The Walking Dead returns February 25th at 9/8c on AMC.