Remember when it was announced that Beth from The Walking Dead would be back somehow in Dead City? Well, that time has finally arrived, and Emily Kinney is opening up about why it made perfect sense to her.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the actress behind Beth spoke about how, even though it’s been more than a decade since she was on the set of this universe, it felt like no time had passed between her and the crew, as well as Lauren Cohan (Maggie), since so many familiar faces were there.
“It just felt really natural. There are even some of the same people working on Dead City that worked on Walking Dead. Of course, Lauren, but also people on the crew. Vincent, who was the key hair person, worked on the regular Walking Dead. There were a lot of familiar faces. My experience with Walking Dead is maybe just stuck with me, and so then coming back to it was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I fit in here.’ Especially working with Lauren, we’ve always just had a really natural, easy way of working together that I don’t think I’ve encountered anywhere else. Anytime we have to do anything emotional, it’s always very easy.”
Since Beth had been on the show for four seasons, I can only imagine how close Cohan and Kinney became during those moments that they filmed. It makes total sense that every moment Kinney was on the Dead City set felt natural.
The episode, airing this upcoming Sunday, is an alternate-reality episode where Beth is alive and pursuing her dream of becoming a musician. The idea of Beth becoming a big singer makes a lot of sense, since she did sing relatively often in the series. One of Beth’s best scenes was her singing with Cohan, so who knows? We might get to see these two share a duet again in this episode.
Kinney even spoke about the idea of Beth chasing that fantasy and how, to her, it was exactly what she always envisioned for the character if the walkers never took over:
“I’m really proud of Beth. I feel like in this other timeline if the zombie apocalypse hadn’t happened, the fact that she was able to move on from her life on the farm and follow her dreams is great. And so as an outside observer, I’m proud of her. And I resonate with it. I’m from Nebraska, and I moved to New York City when I was 19 or 20 to do music and acting, so it made sense to me.”
The pictures published online from filming show her and Maggie dressed in perfect winter gear, sipping a hot drink, smiling, and laughing—and making me feel all kinds of nostalgia. It’s a stark contrast to the episode in which Beth dies, season 5, episode 8, “Coda,” where she is shot in the head reflexively when she is just about to be reunited with her sister after their separation in season 4.
But now, we get to see them again, and I must admit, it makes me happy, even if it is just an alternate timeline.
It feels like for years I’ve been trying to stand up for certain characters in this show who were given horrible deaths. I still stand by the fact that her death permanently ruined the story in a certain way. And it’s not just her. Plenty of other deaths throughout the show changed everything. Beth’s death was just one of the few that shaped how future seasons would play out.
But you know what? If I get to see her enjoy her life and play the guitar a little longer, then I can’t really complain. Her death was soul-crushing, and anyone who doesn’t remember it should just never rewatch it. I’d rather see her in this alternate universe, alive and happy.
That does make me wonder, though. Will Kinney be the only person in this alternate reality episode? Could we see another character who might have died in the original timeline brought back to life somehow? One can only hope.
The Walking Dead: Dead City will premiere its alternate reality episode this weekend on AMC+.
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