THE WALKING DEAD’s Bringing Jon Bernthal Back to Watch Rick Cry One Last Time

According to TV Line, noted MVP and legendary badass Jon Bernthal has signed on to reprise his role of Shane Walsh on the next season of AMC's The Walking Dead. TV Line says this is just a one-episode deal, which makes a lot of sense when you remember that Shane Walsh died at the end of The Walking Dead's second season.

Indeed, there's some speculation as to how Bernthal's beloved character might return to The Walking Dead. The general consensus holds that Shane will appear in flashback, or possibly in one of Rick's stress-induced hallucinations, but we suppose there's nothing stopping him from turning up as a zombie. Seems like that'd be a waste of good Bernthal, but then again, wasting good Bernthal is not something this series has shied away from in the past. 

For those keeping score at home, The Walking Dead is entering its ninth season, which - in addition to Shane's abbreviated turn - will also allegedly feature the departure of lead character Rick, the perpetually-sobbing (and increasingly unhinged) police officer played by Andrew Lincoln. Nothing's official on that front yet, but that's the word on the street. 

We don't cover The Walking Dead much here at BMD because, real talk, we all stopped watching it years ago. But the promise of Bernthal returning to the Walking Dead fold has us intrigued, and we can't wait to hear how the series handles it (read: it's definitely going to be a flashback).