ABC has reportedly picked up action dramedy Whiskey Cavalier starring Scott Foley and Lauren Cohan. Great news for Foley and Cohan, but news that may be a disastrous foreshadowing of things to come on The Walking Dead, where Cohan plays series regular Maggie Rhee.
Created by writer-producer Dave Hemingson, Whiskey Cavalier stars Foley as FBI Agent Will Chase (codename Whiskey Cavalier) who get assigned to work with Cohan’s agent Francesca “Frankie” Trowbridge. He’s tender, she’s tough and along with their agency of spies the two of them save the world and get into the usual romantic intrigues and office politics.
So what does this mean for Cohan’s character, Maggie, in The Walking Dead? The show is, after all, quite guilty of sudden and unexpected deaths. The recent finale to Season 8 sees Maggie in a continued place of power among those remaining after the ongoing conflict between the various communities of survivors in rural Georgia and Negan’s Saviors who endeavor to rule over them. After the showdown in the finale, Maggie implies she intends to take some rather decisive action and may lead others in an internal civil war of sorts in the coming season.
The Walking Dead is renewed for a ninth season but Cohan’s latest job announcement makes one wonder just how long into Season 9 Maggie will last. Adding to the sadness implied by losing such a strong character is the fact that Maggie is very much pregnant with Glenn Rhee’s (Steven Yeun) child, her husband who was killed by Negan two seasons ago. Glenn’s death was perhaps the most poignant of the show’s many, many deaths and Maggie has taken up his mantle, protecting the Hilltop community and asserting her wisdom in leadership.
It is possible the writers will find a way to write out Maggie without killing her (and her unborn child). After a few seasons of fan complaints that the writers have made the show bleak and that they indulge in irreverent amounts of character deaths, they may try for once to give an honorable character a safe exit out of the show. It helps that Angela Kang has taken over as showrunner and may be able to freshen up a show that, to some fans, has grown stagnant.
As for Cohan, she spoke as recently as April at CinemaCabout her belief that there “was a lot more Maggie story to tell.” She seemed eager to want to see that story play out.
Whiskey Cavalier hasn’t been given an airdate.