The AMC flagship returns to viewership levels on par with its season average in its final 2018 episode.

Ratings for The Walking Dead bounced back some for the show's fall finale after hitting a series low the previous week.

The AMC series ended the first half of season nine with 5.1 million viewers, a 6 percent improvement on the series-low 4.79 million for the Nov. 18 episode. Sunday's eventful episode, which featured a character death (to the relief of the actor playing the part), was slightly below the season average of 5.25 million viewers.

Just under half of that audience (2.5 million viewers) fell into the 18-49 demographic. That equates to a 2.0 rating, on par with the numbers for the Nov. 11 episode — the one immediately after longtime star Andrew Lincoln's departure. The 2.0 is an 8 percent improvement on the prior week and even with The Walking Dead's same-day average for season nine so far.

After-show Talking Dead also turned in solid ratings Sunday, recording its second-best numbers of the season in viewers (2.3 million), adults 18-49 (1 million/0.8 rating) and adults 25-54 (1.2 million/1.0 rating), trailing the installment that aired following Lincoln's exit.

The series ends its first half way down, falling 40 percent in adults 18-49 and 32 percent in viewers compared with season eight's same-day ratings.

Despite the steep declines, however, The Walking Dead remains the No. 3 show in the 18-49 demo (live plus same-day) on all of broadcast or cable this season. Only The Big Bang Theory and This Is Us bring in more adults under 50. The AMC show averages more than twice as many viewers in the demo as its closest cable competitor, Love & Hip Hop Hollywood.