Warning: The following contains spoilers for the midseason finale of AMC’s The Walking Dead.
The midseason finale of The Walking Dead ended with the revelation that teenage zombie killer Carl Grimes would die, and fan reaction has not been positive. Since Carl is currently alive in the comics, many fans assumed the show would continue to reflect that situation. When it turned out not to be the case, an online petition was launched, calling for series showrunner Scott Gimple to be fired.
At time of this writing, the petition has 25,727 signatures.
The petition’s summary highlights how Gimple promised actor Chandler Riggs his character would be on the show for another three years. Riggs is on record saying he’d postpone college to continue acting on the series. According to the post, Riggs was fired from the show just two weeks prior to his 18th birthday, with Gimple’s explanation being that the death simply served the show’s story.
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Gimple first took over showrunner duties for the series in Season 4, having been by Glen Mazzara for Seasons 2 and 3, and Frank Darabont for the initial season. Prior to becoming showrunner, Gimple was an executive producer for the show and wrote several episodes for the second and third season. He’s currently the series’ longest running showrunner.
Premiering Sunday nights on AMC, The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln, Danai Guira, Norman Reedus, Lauren Cohan, Lennie James, Melissa McBride, Seth Gilliam, Christian Serratos, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan.