The Walking Dead’s Negan Smith, now and then
By Renee Hansen
Six years ago, on April 3, 2016, AMC aired The Walking Dead episode “Last Day on Earth,” which would give viewers the first look at Negan Smith (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). One year ago, on April 4, the Negan-centric episode “Here’s Negan” aired, which, in contrast, gave a very different view of this character.
The first introduction viewers had of Negan was the leather-clad, Lucille welding, trash mouth talking leader of the Saviors. He had Rick and his group in a lineup in the woods where they knew he would take revenge on them for the murder of his people.
Fast forward to “Here’s Negan,” which was his story before the outbreak, and we see a much different man. He was a horrible husband who was having an affair with his wife’s best friend; he was out of work but wouldn’t find a job and sat and played video games all day. He finally stepped up when his wife was diagnosed with cancer, and we saw a very tender, loving side to this character.
The Walking Dead – Negan
Negan has made an enormous transformation throughout his time on the series. Many feel he is seeking redemption for his past, but perhaps he has just learned from his mistakes and grown into a different person. Many things he has done are unredeemable in many people’s eyes.
If you look at the Negan from season 6 and the Negan we most recently saw in the season 11 episode “The Rotton Core,” this is a changed man. Should his past actions be forgotten? No. But, as his wife Annie stated, everyone has blood on their hands in this world. This is an apocalypse where every day is a fight for survival.
This has been discussed several times, but if viewers were introduced to Negan first and followed his story, would Rick and his group be the bad guys? They slaughter several of the Saviors, in their sleep, at the outpost. Viewers would be cheering on Negan and wishing for Rick’s death.
With the announcement of Negan’s marriage to Annie and that they are expecting a child, it will be interesting to see where the remaining nine episodes take them.
Negan and Maggie are set to head to Manhattan in their spinoff series, Isle of the Dead. Will Annie join them?
Love Negan or hate him, Jeffrey Dean Morgan has done a fabulous job in portraying this character, and it will be great to see him continue in the spinoff series.
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