The Walking Dead You’d Better Not Be Dead Yet: The Carol Thread

[Sawyer]

The only upside of that finale ending is knowing that Carol was not on the receiving end of Lucille.

 

[Teelie]

That is true but it doesn't mean she's safe yet either.

 

[scarlet-witch]

I hate that they keep separating Carol from her family. She's hands down my favorite character on this show, and her arc this past season was awful. I hated seeing her in constant misery. I hope she can actually heal with her family next season, and no, that doesn't mean Morgan and his creepy stalking/forced Eastman **** he's going to do.

 

[Elevator Man]

Melissa McBride says the Walking Dead season premiere will 'rock the walls''The wait is worth it,' proclaims the actress

First off, let’s hear it for Melissa McBride’s mom. That’s because with all the confusion over who from Negan’s line-up of death was killed in The Walking Dead’s season 6 cliffhanger, McBride’s mother worried for a moment that Carol was the one who was murdered…even though Carol wasn’t even there!

McBride shared that particular story with us when we asked her about all the people asking her to tell them who was offed in the finale. She also had high praise for what’s to come in the season 7 premiere on Oct. 23.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Melissa, how often in the past few months have people been coming up to you asking who died in the finale and trying to get you to spill the beans?
MELISSA McBRIDE: They ask, but they don’t try to get me to spill the beans. They ask and it’s a lot of me saying, “If I could tell you, would you really want me to tell you?” And then they’re like, “No. I want to know, but I want to wait. I don’t want to know. I don’t know if I want to know. It’s driving me nuts!”

It’s like that itch that you want to scratch, but at the same time, you know you shouldn’t.
That’s my mother. She’s so funny. She’s like, “I want to know who died!” And then I was talking to her just days ago and she was like, “Did you die?” I’m like, “Mom, I wasn’t in that scene.” She goes, “I just don’t know. Somebody died.”

There was a very strong reaction both ways to that finale. I’ve talked to a lot of people that absolutely loved it and I’ve talked to a lot of people that were really angry about having to wait those six months. And I’m sure you heard both of that too.
Oh, I’ve heard it. I’ve heard it all. But, you know, it’s entertaining. It’s compelling and some people like cliffhangers, some people hate them, and that’s just part of the experience. But I hope those people that feel jilted will tune in because the premiere is just going to be… oh God, it’s going to rock the walls. The wait is worth it. Whether you’re angry with it or whether you liked the cliffhanger or whether you’re pissed off about it, the wait is worth it.

 

[Teelie]

Yep, worth the wait because the producers so badly screwed the finale last season they have to do anything they can to promote how awesome and great and better this new season of rehashed content is going to be.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Melissa McBride on the future of Carol and Morgan

Carol and Morgan began season 6 of The Walking Dead on complete opposite sides of the philosophical spectrum when it came towards lethal violence. But they each ended the season in a very different place from where they started.

For Carol, her grief over all the people she had killed — 18 by her count before she started mowing down Saviors in the middle of the road — put her in a fragile emotional state where it looked like she was ready and almost wanting to die. “I would agree that I don’t think it would have mattered in that moment to her if that Savior had just taken her out,” says Melissa McBride. “And this is just the despair that she’s feeling, this internal despair that she’s feeling, and it’s going to be interesting in season 7 to see how this plays out in this new world.

But while Carol seemed prepared to lose her own life in order to not have to kill others to protect those she loves, in a twist overshadowed by that massive cliffhanger, it was Morgan that saved her by abandoning his no-kill policy to pump not one, but six bullets into the Savior hovering over Carol.

So does that mean Carol and Morgan have now found a middle ground together and they’re ready to walk off into the sunset — or, you know, the Kingdom — together completely in sync. Not necessarily, says McBride. “There may still be philosophical differences,” says the actress. “Now that Morgan had that moment where he chose to take another life to defend someone he cared about, that puts a hole in his philosophy, or his ability to maintain that philosophy. So what does that do to their relationship? We’ll have to see. Are they any closer to living in some common agreement or not?”

As McBride tells it, Carol’s philosophical issue about having to kill others to protect her own may not have been solved just because she watched the previous kill-phobic Morgan do it for her. “Just because Morgan carried out that action, I don’t know if that’s going to change Carol’s mind about how she feels herself in this world,” says McBride. “I mean, it’s an inevitability. How can she live with what’s inevitable, is the problem. There’s really no getting around it and she knows that, and now Morgan realizes that, but that doesn’t change Carol’s mind about herself in this world. Or does it?”

We’ll have to wait until the show picks back up on Oct. 23 and we see what Carol and Morgan make of King Ezekiel and the Kingdom to find out.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead showrunner on what's in store for Carol and Morgan

Someone’s dead. But that someone is not Carol or Morgan… yet. Not only are the former polar opposites still alive, but they have some spiffy new digs as well, as the duo will be entering a brand new community known as the Kingdom in season 7. We spoke to Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple to get the scoop on what’s in store for Carol and Morgan and their wacky new host, King Ezekiel.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: You and I have already talked a lot about the big cliffhanger, but let’s discuss Morgan and Carol and where they left off. She doesn’t want to keep killing people yet then Morgan kills someone to save her in the finale. What I found interesting is not only did Morgan shoot that savior once, he unloaded his whole gun. He shot him six times.
SCOTT M. GIMPLE: He wanted to save her life and he wasn’t taking any chances. That character, Roman, was raising his gun. So Morgan was like, “This is it. There’s no way to stop him.” The big thing with that as far as Carol’s side of it was that it wasn’t only that she didn’t want to kill, but she really wanted to get away from people and people that she’s close to, which is something we saw all the way back in episode 502.

That really is a driving motivation with her. And yet, in that moment — though she didn’t really think of it this way — she did need someone. But she’s in a tricky place. She doesn’t want community and she doesn’t want people close to her. She wants to be on her own and she certainly has the skills at this point to do so, but how do you achieve that when there’s people around who care about you?

What about the Morgan half of that equation?
That’s a little more binary in that you absolutely hit that. I mean he has been struggling with adopting a philosophy that saved him in so many ways, and yet that philosophy isn’t workable in the world that he inhabits. Obviously, in that moment, it wasn’t. Towards the midseason, we saw how much Morgan was struggling with it and how he wanted to walk that path, but he knew that it was challenged and it was possibly unworkable.

And then, yes, in that moment, are you going to kill someone and save your friend’s life in some ways that you feel responsible that they’re out there in the first place, or do you let them die? Because somebody’s going to die in that moment. He made a choice, but that will only further that conflict if it doesn’t end his association with that philosophy altogether.

Morgan was never certain, and now his going through the world without killing anyone, is that just wishful thinking at this point? That’s a big part of his story this season. I will say obviously we’re not going to be seeing him wringing his hands and bemoaning this the whole time. In fact, what we saw, it’s more that he will see that he has no choice but to move away from the philosophy, but it’s not going to be easy for him.

Let’s talk about where they’re going to be since they’re visiting the Kingdom and this is a huge location from the comic. What is this community all about?
I’ll say that the Kingdom is a place that works and it’s a place that has a very different vibe because it works. They’ve figured out how to feed themselves. They’ve figured out how to have a place that in many ways celebrates life. They get to be alive. They want to live. It isn’t merely about survival.

There is a community there and the man in charge is somebody who embraces in some ways some of the more nonsensical parts of life. You know, he walks around with a classical royal air and yet there’s something very affirming about that. It’s theater. He’s a bigger than life character and they’re living in a way that is very affirmative of life and it’s very different from any of the communities that we’ve seen before.

What about his tiger, Shiva? When you knew you wanted to bring Ezekiel in, you knew you had to bring the tiger in. Take me through the discussions you guys had in terms of how the hell you were going to do this.
There were people that were like, “We’re not going to do this. There’s no way we can do this.” You know, we have Greg [Nicotero] and we have a remarkable effects team. I’ll just say, as with everything on the show, it’s something we thought about a long, long time. The show is a very difficult show to make. However much you plan or whatever, the ground sort of crumbles out beneath your feet as you just rush ahead with each and every episode. I’m very lucky that we’d been thinking and planning for a long time. We’re pulling it off just in the nick of time.

 

[Elevator Man]

“I don’t know what the hell’s going on in the most wonderful way.”

#TWD returns October 23 for Season 7.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead: Melissa McBride previews Carol at the Kingdom

The good news for Carol when The Walking Dead picks up for season 7 on Oct. 23? She’s alive! The bad news? It looks like she’ll be separated from the group for at least a little while as she and Morgan will be venturing to a brand new community known as the Kingdom.

Run by a dude with a scepter and pet tiger who calls himself King Ezekiel, the Kingdom will play a big part in Alexandria’s impending conflict with Negan. What will Carol make of the place and the seemingly wacky guy who presides over it? We spoke to Melissa McBride to get some teases on what to expect.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Why don’t we start off with what sort of state Carol’s in, because obviously at the end of season 6 she’s a mess, both emotionally and physically, just sitting there on the ground and really wanting to be put out of her misery. So what is her physical and emotional state here in season 7?
MELISSA McBRIDE: Well, at the end of season 6, we see these armored horsemen. Carol’s obviously been wounded. She and Morgan both were helped out by members of what we’ll come to know as the Kingdom, which many of your comic book readers will already know what that is.

We’ve seen her at what might be her lowest point. So I guess the question is: Where does she go from here emotionally?
Where this all started, it was such a culmination of events, and just a string of taking people’s lives. She’s having difficulty coming to terms with those actions in her mind and the “what ifs” — what we should have done, what we could of done. Would it make a difference? And I think it’s just very hard for her to be on the fence and unable to decide one way or another. It’s best for her just to go if she doesn’t feel like she’s emotionally or mentally equipped to make a decision to take another life to protect a loved one, and she just can’t be around them.

And now she’s been rescued by these people from the Kingdom, so she is now in another community, and what’s her perspective going to be now? Is she right back where she started? And that’s to be determined, so I think that’s where we left off and that’s where we’re going into. How will she accept the Kingdom? How will the Kingdom accept her? Is she going to stick around? Is she going to leave? Is she capable of leaving? You know, what kind of condition is she in? All of these questions will be answered eventually.

What does Carol make of Ezekiel? This guy is very theatrical, he calls himself a king, he’s got this big pet tiger. What is Carol going to make of this whole scene, because that sounds a little bizarre?
Well, I imagine it’s very bizarre, and particularly with a character like Carol who doesn’t stand for a whole lot of bulls—, there’s just no time. So it’ll be interesting to see how she thinks of Ezekiel and his Kingdom. You know, she’s been here before. It’s too good to be true. It’s very beautiful. I can tell you that. It’s a bit unreal.

And here she is separated from the main group again in that sense too. That’s something that she’s used to as well.
Yeah, and then her mindset too, she’s also very vulnerable. I mean, she’s grappling with her feelings, but she’s very self-aware. That’s something that I really like about Carol is that she knows what’s up with her and she’s in a vulnerable position with herself, and so here she is in another community and these people are helping her. Is she going to feel obligated? Is she going to feel an obligation? Is she going to form relationships with the people at the Kingdom and then be stuck in that same problem? I can’t love these people because I just don’t have it in me to kill for them. She’s got to have some respite to figure it out.

 

[Elevator Man]

The Walking Dead director looks back at the show's most shocking moment ever

Ahead of the release of The Walking Dead’s seventh season, EW takes an inside look at the horror franchise. Entertainment Weekly’s Ultimate Guide to the Walking Dead is on sale now and can be found with a collectible cover on newsstands after October 14, 2016. As part of the book, we spoke to key Walking Dead figures to look back at one of the biggest moments from each season. Some may be major, others a bit more subtle. In the fourth second installment of the series, we chatted with director Mike Satrazemis about a key moment from season 4.


SEASON 4 KEY MOMENT
THE INTERVIEW: DIRECTOR MIKE SATRAZEMIS
THE EPISODE: “THE GROVE”
THE MOMENT: CAROL SHOOTS LIZZIE


It’s the most controversial moment in Walking Dead history — when Carol (Melissa McBride) tells Lizzie (Brighton Sharbino) to “look at the flowers” before putting a bullet in the young girl’s brain. While that decision came as a result of a confused Lizzie earlier stabbing her sister Mika (Kyla Kenedy) in the mistaken belief that she would come back to life as her old self, Carol’s solution is still shocking. The landmark episode was the directorial debut for the show’s longtime camera operator and director of photography, Michael E. Satrazemis, who looks back on that pivotal scene.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was your reaction when you first read the script for “The Grove”?
MIKE SATRAZEMIS: At first, it’s shocking and horrifying. So I knew it was pretty heavy and pretty intense, and a little scary. But directing the two girls and having worked with them a little bit, I knew who they were, and that made me feel better. But you know, it’s very heavy content for two nine-year-old girls at the time.

Let’s get into the scene where Carol tells Lizzie to “look at the flowers” and then puts her down. As a director, how did you want to approach this big, pivotal moment?
We got to this scene and the actual moment, and I never wanted to even shoot Lizzie falling down. It was crazy. Brighton was like, “Look, I want to die. I’m okay with it. I’m totally fine.” I was like, “That’s cool, but I don’t even want to see you drop on the ground. I’m not really okay with it.” I tried one shot [where you see her fall] but I did it only one time, and it was through Tyreese, a million, million miles away where they’re just two little dots and she fell. That was the only time I ever had her fall over. It was one take, and it was just so heartbreaking.

As far as Melissa, I don’t know another actress that has an access to so many emotions and to such a depth of the entire human experience. She’s one of the greatest actors I’ve ever worked with and/or seen. So with them, we just let it go. I tried to really pick the cut in advance so we didn’t overshoot it, because it’s a lot to ask of everybody, and then we brought them out there. This was such emotional content, so we all talked about creating the atmosphere that’s best, so everybody was quiet. So when it was time to roll, the cameras were barely there and we just shot it.

That shot you mentioned of Lizzie falling after being shot was not broadcast, but it does appear in the DVD/Blu-ray version. Which version do you prefer, the one where you see her fall, or the one where you don’t?
You know, the broadcast version I’m kind of fine with. I don’t need to see her fall. But like I said, I did one take, and that was it. That was enough for me. It was too much. She dropped like a potato sack.

How much did you guys talk about what you could and could not show in terms of this? Because you have that scene, and you also have the Lizzie and Mika scene where you see Lizzie with the bloody knife and you see Mika’s head, but you don’t really see much of the stab wound or anything else.
I had to get on the phone for an hour with standards and practices and go through what they thought could be aired and not. Even when you see Mika on the ground, that’s not actually really the actress on the ground. That’s a double, so at least I didn’t have to dump blood on Kyla while she was pretending to play dead. It was just another girl who was like, “Oh, yeah. Cool,” and then laid down and we put blood on her. I just wanted to do a couple of things to protect them so they didn’t have to go through more than they needed to. But as far as what could air and what could not, I was told absolutely no way we would ever be able to see her wound in the same shot.

You must have known that this was an episode that was going to get a lot of attention due to the subject matter. Were you worried that people were going to say The Walking Dead had gone too far?
Well, the world was talking. I was hearing so much stuff, even a couple comments at some point about how we may never be able to air this — that they may pull it. But I was always under the belief that if it was told properly, you’d understand it wasn’t horror for horror’s sake and death for death’s sake. We weren’t doing it to be flashy, and I tried to really not emphasize any of the gore. It was a story told through Carol’s perspective, and you could feel her pain, and then it flipped through Tyreese’s eyes.

 

[Elevator Man]

I enjoyed the Carol/Daryl reunion. Wasn't expecting Daryl to lie or deny the truth to her about what happened between them and the Saviors after she abandoned them. I understand why Daryl refused to tell her the truth b/c of what she's going through currently. However, Carol's going to have find out about the deaths of Glenn and Abe, that there is a ton of Saviors still out there, and that Rick and co. are taking a stand against them sooner or later. He's putting her life in danger by making her believe that Rick and Co. killed all the Saviors. This was just an excuse for the writers to prolong Carol's involvement in the march to war against the Saviors at least until the end of the season. This is a tactic the writers constantly use as a crutch particularly when it comes to Carol since Season 3, in fact. It didn't bother me that Carol was being benched for most of 7a b/c of what she's been dealing with mentally and morally. She deserves a break for all the violence, killing, and losses she dealt with until she can figure out how to cope with it. However, I was hoping 7b would allow her to be more involved in the main story/plot. The previous two episodes Carol's either keeping to herself or telling members of The Kingdom to leave her alone whenever they offer her food. There's 6 episodes left so hopefully the writers will give her more to do before the season is over.

 

[scarlet-witch]

My hope is that she gets more to do in S8. TPTB have really neglected both Carol and Maggie this year.

 

[Warhorse]

My hope is that she gets more to do in S8. TPTB have really neglected both Carol and Maggie this year.

This season has dragged for me. No badass Rick, Michonne, Daryl or Carol except for a few things here and there. It's mostly been about Negan, who I am so ready to be killed of by now. Only episode I really liked so far has been the Tara centered one.

 

[Elevator Man]

Why Carol From The Walking Dead Looks So Familiar

Spoiler

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