Not since “As” and “Bs” have letters been so mysterious on The Walking Dead. Back in 2016, the Season 7 episode “Swear” sent Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Heath (Corey Hawkins) on a two-week run scavenging supplies to provide for Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) and the Saviors. Tara was separated from Heath and stumbled across the all-female community Oceanside, only to find Heath’s glasses, tire marks from their now-missing RV, and a keycard with the letters “PPP.” Heath was never heard from — or even mentioned — again, adding to the list of Walking Dead loose ends.
It was eventually confirmed that Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) of the Scavengers snatched Heath and traded him to the Civic Republic Military: the same helicopter group that flew away with Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). A similar (or the same?) “PPP” card appeared with little fanfare on the Maine-set episode of the anthology series Tales of the Walking Dead in the possession of a survivor named Devon (Jessie T. Usher).
“It’s like with the CRM — there’s a huge mythology to it,” former Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple told ComicBook in an interview for new spinoff The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. “But the thing is, and I do want to [tell it], but if things change and you haven’t released that much, you can pivot. But I will say we have… it’s just sitting on a shelf right now, this really great mythology that might apply to something very, very soon.”
“But I’d say it’s sat on a shelf for two years now, that mythology,” Gimple added, “and ideas around it and stories and characters and things. But we will sell no wine before its time.”
Answers may come if or when Hawkins –who left the zombie drama after just six episodes to headline 24: Legacy — ever returns to the TWD Universe. In 2017, Gimple assured fans that “we definitely have not seen the last of Heath, period,” adding: “He will be within The Walking Dead again.” The flagship ended in 2022 without answers about Heath’s whereabouts, but it remains to be seen whether The Ones Who Live — which sees Rick trapped in the Civic Republic of Philadelphia with Jadis — or future episodes of Tales solve the mystery.
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premieres Sunday, February 25, on AMC and AMC+. Stay tuned to ComicBook/TWD and follow on Facebook for more TWD Universe coverage.