The Walking Dead 6 extra episodes – what might we see?

What might the six bonus season 10 episodes deliver?

When The Walking Dead announced that there would be 6 bonus episodes for season 10 coming our way, during Comic Con at Home, it caused a flurry of intrigue and speculation amongst fans and media alike.

Given that the episodes are being attached to season 10, rather than the start of season 11,  it suggests these are stories which are going to sit outside the usual story. And in our own recent podcast with Skybound social media guru Johnny O’Dell, he seemed to confirm this when he said that reportedly the contents of the episodes will have no impact on the season 11 storyline.

It seems that the thinking behind the episodes is that COVID still hampers the idea of shooting season 11 in a traditional fashion. However, these season 10 bonus episodes can be shot, suggesting they are done so in a way that makes social distancing, quarantine and safety concerns easier to accommodate.

This means the episodes will likely involve smaller cast and crew, with episodes focusing on one or two characters in limited locations.

All of that screams “bottle episodes” – a genre that TWD does especially well. Episodes such as “Clear”, “Here’s Not Here”, and “The Grove” have all followed the bottle format and been a hit with viewers and critics.

The breadth and variety of these bottle episodes that TWD has already done show just how flexible this medium is, and how much they could do across those 6 episodes.

Backstory

The most obvious way to fill these bottle episodes, without affecting the ongoing storylines, would be to fill in the backstory of some of the established characters.

The benefit of backstory would be that even dead characters can be brought back to life to tell us their tale. In fact, the idea of Steven Yeun reprising his role as Glenn has already been much mooted.

However, as we followed Glenn’s story from almost the start of the apocalypse, giving us some backstory for Glenn would be tricky.

It also seems likely that major backstory reveals such as Princess’ origin story or filling in what Maggie has been up to in her absence, would be stories reserved for the main plot of season 11.

It seems more likely that we’d see the apocalyptic lives of those characters who we only met later in the game. The most obvious candidate for this is, of course, Negan.

Despite the revelations we’ve had about who Negan is, the man still remains largely a mystery. Some backstory on how he became to be leader of the Saviours would certainly be a riveting story that could add much to the character’s nuances, much in the way Alpha’s backstory in “Omega” and “Walk With Us” shed light on how she became the Alpha we know.

There is much to be explored about his move to power, his grief, and how he developed the persona he has used to get him this far. It would be fascinating to see any of that given a whole episode to expand upon.

In a similar vein, could the hints we’ve seen so far of Beta’s life before the world turned upside be expanded on into a full episode? A massive music star dealing with the end of the world – finding their money, influence and fans are as useless as good WiFi in the apocalypse is something that not many zombie genre shows have dealt with. And it may be a fitting goodbye if Beta makes his final curtain call in the finale.

There are plenty of other candidates whose past lives in the apocalypse could be illuminated in season 10c, particularly the members of Magna’s group.

We’ve already had some insights into the history of Yumiko and Magna. Further exploration of their relationship and how it blossomed may not affect the story going forwards, but it could give us insight into why their relationship has fallen apart now.

Luke is another character ripe for more backstory, and not least because he’s one of the characters most speculated to be meeting his end soon – given the actor’s continuation with the Fantastic Beasts movie franchise.

This also rings true for Connie – whose fate is currently unknown. Should either of these characters depart this world in the finale, a bottle episode giving us one last look into their life before, would be a fitting curtain call.

An episode devoted entirely to the story of Kelly and Connie would certainly be welcomed by viewers given how much the fans have taken these sisters to their hearts.

Filling in the Gaps

Another use of the bottle episodes could be to fill in the gaps in the many time jumps the show has covered, both for characters still on screen and those we’ve lost.

The 6 year gap after Rick’s “death” is fertile ground for filler stories about what happened in the communities during that time.

We’ve already had a taste of this with season 9’s “Scars”, which largely focused on Alexandria. Stories that focused on the Kingdom or Hilltop during that time would not only give us an idea of how those communities coped during the division, but also give us the chance to revisit beloved characters who lost their lives in the battle with the Whisperers.

Fan favorites such as Siddiq, Jesus, Tara and Enid would be welcomed back on the screen with open arms by viewers if we got to see just a bite more of their story before Alpha and her crew saw them off.

Although several of the actors have gone on to subsequent successive roles, it’s very telling that all have remained close to the show, and have expressed in the past how happy they would be to make a reappearance.

Of course, with all this talk of the past, there’s one story we know we can’t see more of, and that’s the backstory of the Greene family. Due to the very sad loss of Scott Wilson, it’s a heartbreaking knowledge that we will never revisit Greene’s farm and gain more of Hershel’s wisdom.

This, in itself, may make it all the more important to take the opportunity to spend some time with characters we have loved and lost.

Exploration

But what of the characters who are here to stay? We don’t need backstory or much gap-filling with characters like Carol and Daryl that we’ve followed from day one.

For these lead characters an “elevator” bottle episode may be on the cards – one where characters are forced to spend prolonged time together due to some outside force, and use that time to talk on levels they may have avoided before.

It would be a wonderful nod to the 10 years years they’ve been on screen to see Daryl and Carol trapped someplace – their own “lockdown” so to speak – and spend their time reminiscing about all they have gone through together.

Seeing characters reference the past is always enjoyed by viewers, and no more so than when done by fan favorites whose scenes always spill over with chemistry.

It would also be an ideal opportunity to provide a spiritual sequel to season 5s “Consumed”, and be a truly engrossing watch to see the pair finally air all their dirty emotional laundry with each other, sharing all the things that have happened to them that they’ve kept inside.

Similar storylines could be explored between Rosita and Gabriel, or Rosita and Eugene.

As exciting as the big battles and walker kills are, it would be a welcome respite to give characters the time and space to talk about the things they’ve seen and done – something the ever pressing plot often denies them.

Whether we see long-lost characters brought to life, snatches of the past from characters we’re just beginning to know, or monologues from our faves, it seems like the bonus episodes heading our way could satisfy fans in ways we haven’t seen before.