THE DREADED END
AS THE FINAL SEASON OF CULT-HIT THE WALKING DEAD GOES TO AIR, THE SHOW’S STARS FEEL THE PRESSURE MOUNT
Eleanor Matsuura spends her days surrounded by hordes of gruesome undead but there’s something far scarier lurking in the back of her mind — how the millions of The Walking Dead fans will react if they don’t like its finale.
After 11 years, piles of dead characters and mountains of dead zombies, TWD began its 11th and final season a few weeks ago on Binge.
As shows like The Sopranos, Lost and, of course, Game of Thrones proved, ending a smash hit and pleasing all the fans is not easy to achieve.
“I am actually (feeling the pressure of fan expectation),” Matsuura says.
“I worry a lot about that. About whether they will be satisfied or whether things will get too weird for them. But then what can you do? It’s The Walking Dead. There are so many fans, trying to please everybody ... it’s pointless.
“It’s not about trying to please everybody, it’s about trying to stick to the true heart of the show, the integrity of the show. Nobody loves the show more than (us). Everybody wants it to be the perfect and satisfactory ending. But it would show great character to take risks and not just play it safe.
“When you’re holding those two things up, it’s tricky. But yeah, I worry about it all the time.”
A TWD season is usually split into two eight-episode halves, which screen either side of Christmas. But season 11 adds a third block of eight episodes and will therefore not finish until about this time next year.
The comics upon which it is based have finished but they contain no clue to its ending. The three main characters featured at the ending of the comic — Hershel, Sophia and Carl — have already been killed off in the TV show.
While Matsuura (pictured right) feels the pressure of so many fans wanting a pay-off for what will be 12 years of following a show, co-star Seth Gilliam — who plays Father Gabriel — is more laid back.
“I’m not worried at all,” he says. “They’ve done a great job and I trust (showrunner) Angela Kang’s judgment. I trust that she and her writing team are going to put together something that’s terrifying and exciting and satisfactory. ”
The good news is that season 11 looks fantastic. The first two episodes find TWD returning to its pre-Covid glory, with piles of zombies.
There’s enough brain-splattering action to keep fans on the edge of their seats, while the emotional play between the characters is also strong, particularly the looming showdown between lead character Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and the man who killed her husband — Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan).
Matsuura’s character Yumiko, who has more of a minor role since she joined in season nine, really steps up this time.
With Danai Gurira (who played Michonne) leaving the show to focus on her role as Okoye in the Marvel universe, Yumiko has taken on that major plot line.
After 18 months in which the world, but America in particular, has seen anti-Asian feeling turn into multiple racist attacks, how important is it for people to see a super-smart Asian warrior woman playing a heroic role?
“It’s everything to me,” says Matsuura who was born in Japan and raised in England.
“I’m honestly not trying to be overdramatic when I say it feels like the most honourable reason for doing this.
“I didn’t grow up seeing a lot of people who looked like me on TV. And if I did I always saw them in roles that were always more diminutive, or reductive.
“I love that she’s a fully fleshed-out character. Sometimes people introduce characters as a bit of a box-ticking exercise — here’s the gay character, or here’s the Asian character but they don’t see beyond that sometimes. But on this show it’s but one of the many characteristics about the character and I’m deeply proud of that.”
Yumiko is also an LGBT character, although her relationship with Magna (Nadia Hilker) broke down last season.
While TWD has been applauded for the way it has featured LGBT characters, social media has noted they or their partners do tend to be killed off. Does she hope Yumiko can break that trend and find love?
“I hope so,” she says.
“After the apocalypse and everything Yumiko has been through, a bit of love would be nice. You know, a bit of companionship, new horizons, fingers crossed.”
TWD is also notorious for killing off characters, with only two of the original cast (Norman Reedus as Daryl and Melissa McBride as Carol) having made it all the way to season 11.
The expectation is there will be more shocking deaths to come in the final season.
So, assuming both Matsuura and Gilliam’s characters both make it to the end — no guarantee in TWD — what will filming the final episode feel like?
“It’s so weird talking about this now,” Matsuura says.
“I can’t feel anything emotional about it yet. It’s hard to talk about (hitting the ground) when you’re still falling.
“My wish would be not to get too hung up on the sadness of it and the melancholy of it. I hope it would be some sort of celebration and we could all be together, without having to distance or wear masks and actually celebrate the achievement of actually ending this show.”
“I have no idea how I’m going to respond,” Gilliam says. “I’m not one who’s good with endings to begin with. It’s been a long, incredible ride and something I’m going to cherish after it’s done but I don’t know how I’m going to feel in the moment.”
The Walking Dead season 11A is now screening on Binge. All 10 seasons are also available on Binge now.