The Walking Dead: Cudlitz talks premiere awesomeness
By Susie Graham
The midseason premiere of season 6 of The Walking Dead picked up with Abraham, Sasha and Daryl in peril and never let go. Michael Cudlitz shares some of his thoughts about the episode.
The name Negan was a big deal when we heard it in November and again at the start of the episode last Sunday. Michael makes an excellent point to Entertainment Weekly about how they used the name in such a way that even if the comics didn’t exist, you know this is a big deal.
Related Story: Cudlitz on Sasha and Rosita
You know that it’s a big mystery. There’s some important person named Negan and he takes things from people. He might be this guy or he might be one of the guys in the gang or he might be someone else, but he’s a bad dude.
The audience also knows that we have a little weapon somewhere that Abraham happened to procure from that walker he screamed at before he had his cigar and made his little fondness proclamation back at the insurance office.
So we’re in a really great place watching the exchanges between the ginger and Mr. Hell’s Bells. “It’s not looking good for us, right?” ~Cudlitz
"They have to use the perfect sort of moment when you hear the name Negan. Even if you don’t read the comics, it has to have a tremendous amount of weight to it, and if you do read the comics, you want it to have a tremendous amount of weight to it. You want it to sort of have that tease be epic. Even if it’s subtle, it still has to be like, “Oh, man, Negan’s coming. What does this mean?” And people who don’t read the comics, we just blew up these guys. So they’re like, “Well, maybe they’ve taken care of Negan.” So that’s the implication, and if you know the comics and if you sort of pay attention to the stuff online, you know that this is just the beginning."
It’s great that even though Abraham wasn’t really part of the Alexandria storyline because he was trapped away from town, he got to come back just in time to save Glenn. (And side by side with Sasha) And Michael, the actor, was excited about the town and the underdog aspect (my favorite thing!) of the stand taken at the end of the episode.
"“Not only a town united, but a Rick who believes that there’s a future for these people. He sees what they did, and he was the one who doubted the most and was ready to let them die. You know, if they can’t defend themselves, they’re going to die, and he said that multiple times prior, and guess what? When put in the right circumstances, most people will rise to the occasion and will defend themselves at whatever level they’re able to. I think Alexandrians more than step up. I find it to be a very exciting sequence seeing the underdog rise up. It’s what the show always hinges back on, there’s hope.”"
That final sequence was exhilarating. It was great to see all of the Alexandria included: Olivia, Eric, Tobin, Heath, Francine, Spencer, and Aaron. Father Gabriel got a little speech! Eugene got a little speech! The episode was just stunning.
Abraham had a few little quips. Daryl is back. Michonne is Michonne. Carol and Morgan have just begun. Denise, Rosita and Tara have their groove back. Rick and Carl are strong.