Whiskey Cavalier was canceled by ABC over the weekend in a move that wasn’t too surprising given the ratings trajectory of the series since debuting after the Oscars earlier this year. Ratings for the series could be described as middling, at best, and while that also may be true of another of ABC’s bubble shows, The Rookie, the latter was renewed because of marginally higher ratings and because it was less expensive.
It’s not completely over for Cavalier, as Deadline is reporting that they are shopping it around to other networks and streaming services, in part because of the cost that the WB has already sunk into the show. However, producers are likely to run into the same problem they’ve had with ABC, namely that the expense of the series is not worth it in terms of the ratings it brings in. More likely than not, it’s the end of the road for Whiskey Cavalier.
What does that mean for Lauren Cohan and The Walking Dead? Unless Cohan quickly jumps on another offer, she is again free to return to The Walking Dead, which is something she has promised to do several times. Angela Kang also went into season ten with the idea of having Maggie back in her arsenal and it’s possible that Kang even writes her in as the voice on the radio in the season finale.
However, news of the cancelation comes as shooting on season 10 is already underway, and so far, no one has publicly spotted Cohan on the set of The Walking Dead. More likely than not, even if Cohan wanted to come back, she’s probably not going to be in the mix at least in the front half of the season or for the majority of The Whisperers War. However, should Cohan decide to re-sign with The Walking Dead as a series regular, she could probably ease back into the series in the back half of season ten as a jolt of energy for The Hilltop in their ongoing war with the Whisperers. More likely than not, however, she’d be worked into the next arc dealing with The Commonwealth, which is what The Walking Dead has been teasing for some time.
One should not, however, rule out the possibility that Maggie somehow gets recruited into The Walking Dead‘s Rick Grimes movies. Michonne is leaving in season 10, and the rumor is that she’ll be joining the Rick Grimes movies. I can envision a scenario in which Maggie returns only long enough to inform Michonne that she knows where Rick is, and the two of them decide to leave together in search of him. At this point, after all, we’ve gotten no real details on the Rick Grimes film, and there has been no evidence that it’s even started filming, so it may still be in the writing stage. If Lauren Cohan wanted to return to The Walking Dead universe without devoting herself full time to the series, jumping into the feature film side of things would be an ideal solution for the actress. One other possibility? That she joins the second The Walking Dead spin-off as a spin-off character to help launch that series.
We’ll know more in the coming weeks. In the meantime, Fear the Walking Dead is scheduled to return on June 2nd.
