The Walking Dead midseason premiere made Greg Nicotero cry

When The Walking Dead returns for the second half of season 8 in February, you may want to have plenty of tissues handy.

When it was revealed in the that Carl had been bitten, during The Walking Dead season 8 midseason finale, fans knew the character’s days were numbered. There is no cure for a walker bite unless one can quickly sever the limb one has been bitten on, but Carl was bitten on his torso.

So, when the show returns in February, the midseason premiere episode will deal with telling Carl goodbye. Director/ executive producer Greg Nicotero revealed to Entertainment Weekly that when he was editing the episode, he began to cry.

"I think it’s one of our most powerful episodes that we’ve ever produced. When I watched the first cut of this episode, tears were coming out of my eyes 20 minutes into it."

Chanler Riggs, who portrays Carl Grimes, is one of three original cast members remaining on the show, and once his character shuffles off this mortal coil, only Andrew Lincoln (Rick) and Melissa McBride (Carol) will remain from that first season cast.

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Fans have been in an uproar since learning of Carl’s fate, but Nicotero believes they will be able to make their peace with his death. He compared it to the season 5 midseason premiere when Tyreese (Chad Coleman) was bitten and took an entire episode to die.

"I would compare this episode very much to the episode with Chad Coleman in terms of really having some space to breathe with these characters as they process what happened."

While The Walking Dead will have to deal with a massive divergence from the comics (Carl is still alive and well there), it does appear as if Nicotero and his fellow showrunners will give the fans time to process what is shaping up to be a very emotional farewell to a much-beloved character.

Next: Scott Gimple out as showrunner of The Walking Dead

The Walking Dead season 8 returns on Sunday, February 25.

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