The Walking Dead season 5 finale: Could Rick actually become the brutal villain Negan?

The last few episodes of The Walking Dead season 5 have been somewhat strange with a strong undercurrent of tension. Sure, Rick's group is trying to adjust to a life of normalcy in the Alexandria Safe-Zone but that's not all there is to it.

Since before The Walking Dead season 5 premiere, the cast and crew have been teasing how the new episodes will affect and change the show's characters. As the season progressed, it became more and more evident that the element of danger might not necessarily come from the outside, but from within - and fans got a glimpse of that during last Sunday's episode with Rick's outburst.

Could Rick and his group really turn out to be the bad guys? At Comic-Con last year (2014), The Walking Dead's executive producer Scott Gimple hinted at this outcome:

"When they lost the prison, once they lost Hershel, all bets were of. I think they found out that you can't come back from the things you've done. You have to live with them. But the things you've done make you incredibly formidable. Everyone who is alive has done unspeakable things. Who do they become? What are they going to be? This season will define what they become."

A Vanity Fair report speculates: "It was that kind of 'black or white' mentality driving Rick in mid-frenzy as he took on Pete. (Did you notice how the struggle was filmed like a Walker attack? Were those cloudy contacts in Andrew Lincoln's eyes?) Just before Michonne put him out of his misery, Rick shouted, 'If you don't fight, you die.' And while that may be literally true in the midst of a zombie attack, it's less applicable when you're beating the life out of a man because you want to sleep with his wife."

Have we been watching one long super-villain origin story?

Well, the finale this Sunday is sure to answer a lot of questions. Meanwhile, here's a somewhat outrageous fan-theory on how things could play out with Rick and his group - Maybe, Rick could eventually turn into the show's version of the dangerous and brutal villain Negan.

According to The Walking Dead comic books, soon after the survivors arrive in Alexandria, they encounter a group known as the Saviors - led by a sociopath known as Negan who carries a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire and calls it Lucille.

What if the show's makers were to tweak the comic book storyline and incorporate Negan's character into Rick's.

Rick's group of "ruthless survivors" are already being looked upon with distrust by other members of the ASZ. Father Gabriel also gives a rather strange warning about how they "can't be trusted" and them being "dangerous" - he practically called Rick and his group the Devil's minions.

Wouldn't it be quite insane if the last scene of the finale episode had a post-battle bloody Rick picking up his weapon of choice and calling it "Lucille"?

The Walking Dead season 5 finale episode titled Conquer airs this Sunday, 29 March on AMC.