WARNING: The following contains spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 11, Episode 16, “Acts of God,” which aired Sunday, April 10 on AMC.
Many characters have gone missing in The Walking Dead, especially in recent seasons which have included shrugged-off explanations that don’t make entirely much sense. One character who was introduced in Season 9 has been among these poor folks who get the short end of the stick. Luke (played by Dan Fogler) doesn’t have the proper story to explain his lack of screen time.
It used to be standard in The Walking Dead universe that when an actor wanted out of the show or was busy doing other projects, their character was cut for good with a gory death. A prominent example of this is Sonequa Martin-Green, who left for a leading role in Star Trek: Discovery, and her character Sasha was killed off in the Season 7 finale. But since bigger cast members have departed the show and The Walking Dead universe is expanding with various spin-offs, the show’s approach to an actor signing onto another project has left things a little more open-ended.
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Some people might assume that the biggest mystery in the Commonwealth storyline right now is Pamela’s involvement in Sebastian’s money heist, or who the leader of the Resistance is, but they’re wrong. More people are worried about the ignored disappearance of Luke, who hasn’t appeared at all in Season 11. The last fans saw of the jolly music-lover was Season 10, Episode 16, “A Certain Doom,” when he formulated the plan that ultimately destroyed Alpha’s horde of walkers. Since then, there’s been no mention of him — even by his best friends Magna, Yumiko, Connie and Kelly.
Fans of Luke can rejoice in knowing that the character was not secretly killed off like some of his predecessors — at least, not yet. During a recent panel appearance at Fandemic Tour Atlanta, Fogler said Luke is living at Oceanside with his girlfriend Jules. During the filming of The Walking Dead‘s final season, Fogler was away filming Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, reprising his role as the muggle Jacob Kowalski. He also has another role about to hit TV screens, as The Godfather filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola in the Paramount+ miniseries The Offer.
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Oceanside is also a continuous mystery in The Walking Dead, discussed as part of the core communities, yet it rarely ever makes appearances. The writers are probably patting themselves on the back after finding this easy loophole to explain Luke’s absence. But if Fogler isn’t returning in Season 11C, they may find themselves in a sticky situation. The Season 11B finale ends with the villainous Lance Hornsby (who is awfully resembling Two-Face lately), taking Oceanside residents hostage. Luke isn’t seen in when he does, which begs the question of what his story will be moving forward.
There’s no word on whether Fogler will return to reprise his role in the final episodes of the series, so Luke might suffer an off-screen death that will be knocked out in just a couple of sentences. In fairness, the character was long past the life span of his comic book counterpart, who died at Alpha’s infamous pike border. But the TV version of Luke has kind of just faded into the background. He had a brief romantic subplot with Jules, but that’s about all he’s done. Fogler may be better off letting The Walking Dead take care of his character’s prolonged disappearance since at least Luke is still alive on the small screen, but fans will never forgive the show if it didn’t give Luke the respect he deserves.
To determine if Luke will ever return, watch the first two parts of The Walking Dead Season 11, now streaming on AMC+. The Walking Dead Season 11C is expected to air in 2022.
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