The Walking Dead: Showrunner says this character is dangerous

The Walking Dead has always had its share of dangerous characters out for revenge or who have always been evil, and the apocalypse allowed them to show their true colors. Most of the time, our survivors end the person threatening them, but sometimes they get away and come back to haunt them.

This is the case with Leah Shaw, played by Lynn Collins. Leah was introduced in the season 10c episode “Find Me.” This was a Daryl Dixon-centric (Norman Reedus) episode that looked back at how he spent his time during the years he was searching for his missing brother, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). He came upon a dog he followed to a cabin inhabited by Leah, and the pair formed a relationship.

The last time we saw Leah was in season 11’s episode “No Other Way,” when her group, known as the Reapers, were taken out by Maggie (Lauren Cohan). This group had terrorized, killed, and taken over Maggie’s community of Meridian and she killed all but Leah, who was wounded but Daryl, in a last act of mercy, let her go.

Viewers knew this was a mistake, and in this week’s episode, “The Rotten Core,” Leah was back with a vengeance as she took out a group of Commonwealth troopers and stole a shipment of guns.

The Walking Dead Leah

After the first time Leah went missing, Norman Reedus was asked in an interview if Leah would return. He said, have you ever heard of the saying, “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned?” Implying that would be how she would make her return.

When she returned as a member of the Reapers, it wasn’t that big of a surprise because the trailers showed Dog befriending one of the members of this group, and who else would he cozy up to? But no one could have thought she would aid in his torture, kill the leader of the group and then put the blame on Daryl.

In the very last scene of this week’s episode, viewers finally learn who slaughtered the CW troopers and took the guns that Lance Hornsby (Josh Hamilton) is frantically looking for. She deftly slit the last trooper’s neck, and she let them turn, which is how Maggie, Lydia and Elijah would eventually find them.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Showrunner Angela Kang was asked about Leah’s return and she had this to say:

"Leah is somebody that lost everybody that was the most important to her, because family came first, her found family. In that way, she’s very similar to Daryl, but obviously it takes different forms for each of them. But with having lost that family, she’s got nothing else to lose at this point, so she’s a very dangerous character that’s coming back into our world. Things will ensue."

When someone has nothing to lose and revenge on the brain, that is a dangerous combination. She will be gunning for Maggie for sure, and she can’t be fair from Hilltop.

Will we see one final battle between these two powerhouse women?

It seems that AMC was a bit premature in announcing the Isle of the Dead spinoff series. With Negan’s close call with Hershel last week and a possible altercation between Leah and Maggie, viewers can guess Negan and Maggie will survive. That doesn’t mean Leah will die either, but we will have to wait and find out.

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