DEAD RISING
CALL IT A RESURRECTION, IF you like… Just a year ago, The Walking Dead was looking increasingly lifeless. The long-running zombie show was about to lose its star, Andrew lincoln, and ratings were on a severe decline. Despite the vast hype surrounding the arrival of Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) a couple of seasons previously and the explosive All out War arc, the critical tide was turning on a series that once seemed unstoppable. Eight seasons is a lot of TV. Perhaps it was finally time to give this walker a shot to the head.
But what a difference 12 months can make... Season nine brought a new showrunner, in the form of Dead veteran Angela Kang. It moved the series forward in time by six years, introduced a genuinely intimidating new foe in the Whisperers, and even began the slow process of credibly rehabilitating Negan. It was the most riveting the show had been in
years. Now, as The Walking Dead enters its tenth season, it faces another key departure, but the mood among the cast and crew is positively buoyant.
WHISPERS OF WAR
“It’s no spoiler [to say] that some of the themes being explored this season are PTSD and paranoia,” says Melissa McBride, who plays hardened survivor and certified badass carol – one of three fan favourite characters who have been promoted to centre stage since the departure of Andrew lincoln’s Rick Grimes. “So much has been dumped on the survivors by the Whisperers and Alpha (Samantha Morton) that it’s just really frightening.”
That’s not surprising. last time we visited the apocalypse, things were not looking too great for our heroes. The Kingdom had fallen, the Hilltop community was reeling from the devastating losses inflicted by their new foes (which, in case you’ve forgotten, included no less than 10 regulars being decapitated and repurposed as gruesome garden ornaments) and the survivors at Alexandria were preparing for another fight. But while Kang describes Season ten as “a really intense period of conflict”, she’s quick to point out that this won’t simply be a restaging of the war with Negan and the Saviours, with the survivors forced to go behind enemy lines. The mood, she says, has more of “a cold War type of feeling… a lot of paranoia, propaganda and tension”.
Executive Producer Greg Nicotero agrees. “Somebody is always watching, somebody is always listening…” he says. “conversations that are happening between characters, there’s always another character eavesdropping. Maybe they’re doing it for the betterment of the group, maybe they’re not. It’s not the same type of battles that we’ve had [before]. It’s much more subversive.” Joining the ranks of the enemy this year is Ghost World and American Beauty star Thora Birch as Gamma, a devoted acolyte of Alpha created entirely for the show. Executive Producer Gale Ann Hurd says that the series will get under the skin of what makes these feral killers tick: “I love the fact that we continue to question their moralities. You’re never the villain in your own story. Alpha thinks that Alpha’s way is right, and that’s the only way to survive. We’ve seen so many characters who’ve struggled with ‘If my life, or my child’s life is on the line – how far will I go?’ I think that resonates throughout the world today. We can be very much convinced that we’re right, but if we took a step back and looked at things a little bit differently, maybe we’d find more common ground.” Avi Nash – gentle doctor Siddiq in the show – agrees, pointing out that even the most heroic characters, like Rick or Daryl, have committed acts of horrific violence in order to survive.
“You’re years into the apocalypse now… everyone’s done things they’re ashamed of,” he says. “Everyone has grown and lived and lost. The grey is everywhere. No one’s really right or wrong anymore.”
TOGETHER WE SURVIVE
It’s not just the Whisperers that are causing consternation, of course. Negan, the leader of the Saviours and former public enemy number one, has been languishing in Alexandria’s cells the last few years and remains a catalyst for conflict among the survivors. But while we’re going to see more of him than the fleeting glimpses we got in Season nine, don’t expect a return to his bad old days of bashing people’s brains out with a barbed-wire baseball bat. Negan is, if not redeemed, a man who is evolving into someone very different – perhaps even an ally through necessity.
“I was worried that after being on the show for two years that I was always going to be doing the same kind of speech, that it was always going to be kind of a reiteration of that initial scene,” Morgan admits. “But we’re beginning to see a different side of Negan, and that’s why I’m still on the show and excited to be here.” These changes have also provided opportunities for the former despot to come face-to-face with characters he hasn’t previously had much interaction with. “Getting to do a scene with Daryl and Negan together… that’s awesome! We waited four years for that!”
Morgan has also relished working with cailey fleming, who plays “lil’ Ass Kicker” Judith Grimes, the character who has filled the gap left by the surprise death of Rick’s son, carl. As we saw in season nine, there’s a bond between the two characters that will be explored in more depth this season.
“I think that anybody would have chemistry with cailey,” Morgan says of the surprise bond between the two characters. “She is such a professional. I mean, this is her all of the time: a smile on her face. She knows her lines and my lines, and will correct me when I screw it up. I love working with her. There’s a certain honesty to them that you don’t get with actors all the time. She looks me in the eye, a little bit judgey, and it really works for the Negan and Judith of it all.”
Alas, this will be the final year for Danai Gurira’s sword-wielding Michonne. The actress – currently enjoying a much-raised profile thanks to her appearances in Black
Panther and Avengers: Endgame – announced at this year’s San Diego comic con that she will only be appearing in a handful of episodes in season ten.
“You know, it’s about crafting a great story,” she says, when asked why now was the time to move on. “It’s a living thing, a living story that you’re constantly telling. Even as you’re building your character’s exit, you’re thinking through all the experiences that they’ve had.”
Saying goodbye to the series that made her name is an undoubtedly bittersweet moment, especially given the famously tight bond between the show’s large cast in Atlanta. “You’re with people that you know you’re not going to be with as much [anymore]. That was a lot to process.” Reflecting on joining the show in its third season, she says that she “could see that the spirit of the thing was just so right”.
Still, as Norman Reedus notes, characters coming and going has long been a hallmark of
The Walking Dead: “That’s the show! I mean, that’s what it’s about. It’s about holding on to who’s close to you, and losing who’s close to you, and having to go [on].”
JOURNEY’S END?
Despite ratings having fallen significantly from their season seven heyday, the future of the franchise seems healthy once more. Spin-off Fear The Walking Dead has been renewed for a sixth season, while a third ongoing show has been announced, this time centred around a group of young survivors coming of age in the apocalypse. Then there’s the little matter of Rick Grimes and the planned trilogy of Walking Dead films (see page 56). Still, with the comic having come to a shock conclusion in July (minor spoilers ahead), the question has to be asked just how much longer the main show can run for. We’re surely closer to the end than the beginning, by now? or perhaps not, says Gale Ann Hurd. “It’s far away,” she reassures. “I mean, I loved the ending [of the comic]. There’s still bad people in the world and there are people you hope will grow up to be good people, but for it to end, basically saying, ‘All was not lost’... to me there was no better ending.” Angela Kang agrees: “I thought it was beautiful and I loved that Robert did it at a time when nobody expected it.”
Kang is clear, however, that the comic’s ending may not be one that the show sticks to – indeed, with Rick and carl no longer in the series, major differences are inevitable. But the opportunity to continue exploring this world is still there. “What Robert said to me [about the final issue] was, ‘look at all the threads that are in there. You can continue it.”
The Walking Dead season ten airs October 7, 9pm on Fox.
It’s about holding on to who’s close to you, losing who’s close to you, and having to go on