SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sundays The Obliged episode ofThe Walking Dead.
Is this the end of Rick Grimes?
So is this the end for our steely hero?
Gene Page/AMC
We asked showrunner Angela Kang exactly that, and you may be surprised by her answer.
Continue on for intel!
Maggie is on her way to Alexandria to kill Negan and Daryl keeps Rick from going to stop her.
Gene Page/AMC
You could just really see in his performance how disturbed the character was by watching this.
We were like, thats great.
It really plays into this other scene.
That came a lot out of Normans performance in that moment.
It felt right, that he was disturbed, because Maggie is his friend too.
This is his true brother in the apocalypse.
When that comes to blows, they eventually come to a point of words.
It was really a gratifying scene for us to work on.
Then, Andy and Norman, they went to town just rehearsing and rehearsing and rehearsing this scene.
We also had conversations.
That came out of conversation with Norman and Andy.
Is this really the thing to do?
Are you chasing a ghost?
Are you chasing something that cant be achieved?
Look at the reality.
We love the idea of that in the scene.
I just love what the actors did with it.
They did an amazing job.
You wouldnt have found Lori.
You wouldnt have found Carl.
Or did you forget?
I really feel like these characters that have died live on inside these characters heads.
They live in their hearts and it drives so much of their decision making.
It becomes a part of the conversation.
He felt like it was his fault.
He said as much to Maggie.
Everybody was a victim.
I think hes really processing emotionally what it means in real terms that these people are gone.
Thats the thing that Daryls trying to tell him.
Lets move over to the big Michonne and Negan reunion.
Shes also risen to more of a position of more leadership.
And yet, she struggles with that decision too.
That just seemed like an interesting, complicated thing.
Part of the story were telling in this episode is that Michonne has two lives going on.
One is dealing with the bureaucracy of Alexandria and, at times, that can be dull.
Its important work, and yet shes still going out there and killing zombies.
Were just really interested in the stories of what happens to soldiers after a war.
Theres this trauma that they carry.
Also, sometimes theres this need that they cant quite fulfill and they dont know why.
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Michonne says, Youre desperately trying to connect with me.
Why is he trying to connect with her?
In a very simple sense, he thinks that maybe shell give him back Lucille.
Its something that hes fixated on.
Ricks like, No.
Why would I do that?
He thinks, okay, maybe I can get Michonne to sympathize with me a little bit.
Youre not going to give me the answer right now?
[Laughs] Not yet.
Lets talk about Anne and Gabriel.
Theyre at the Heaps.
At first, it looks like Annes going to drop this zombie down on him.
She believes that Rick is an A.
She thought that Gabriel was a B, but her opinion changed.
Those are the clues.
Theres just a strange set of mysteries having to do with her and the helicopter people.
If you want to go far, go together.
I need to go fast.
Where has she gone fast?
I assume shes not on the helicopter if she didnt have her ticket in Gabriel.She has just run off.
Well find out a little bit more about that in the next episode.
The story that we were trying to tell with Anne this season is somebody who lives a seedy life.
We called it the life of crime like a small-time person whos running stuff for the mob or whatever.
They take a stab at go straight and it doesnt work out.
She doesnt quite fit in and she gets pulled back in.
That character is so specifically kind of neither good nor bad.
In Dungeons & Dragons terms, we thought of her as a chaotic neutral.
When he locked out his parishioners and let them die, thats something that he carries with him.
Hes somebody who was not trusted and who has sometimes made strange decisions or has been a coward.
She sees somebody else who really has been on a path of redemption.
She does feel a human connection with him that makes her hesitate.
You are such a nerd, Angela.
Dropping D&D lingo here on me?
Is like, okay so-and-so is this person on the chart.
That started under Scott Gimple.
Its a useful shorthand for certain characters.
He really wanted everybody to work together in the spirit of cooperation.
Carol and Daryl particularly really were trying to tell him, I dont know if theyre ready.
I dont know if this is going to work.
That maybe some people werent ready.
I think it goes some interesting places.
Ummm, not a good look for him nor it is looking goodforhim.
What can you say about that?
How that plays out, I hope people will watch.
We wanted to pay tribute to the fact that Rick Grimes is a character who he is asurvivor.
He will fight as hard as he can for the people that he loves.
Thats been one of his defining characteristics and that is a part of the story.
Well see his grit and his heroism.
Well see what happens.
Ill say that Andrew Lincoln… just amazing, amazing stuff this season.
I love the work hes done and Im excited for people to see his last episode on the show.
For moreWalking Deadintel, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
