-Hello, and welcome to "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
So, in the interest of keeping everyone safe
at "Walking Dead" and "Talking Dead,"
we decided to go remote for a few episodes,
but we hope to back in the studio very soon.
Tonight was the action-packed premiere
of part two of the final season of "The Walking Dead."
We're in it now.
We witnessed the thrilling conclusion
of the explosive Reaper battle,
we saw how Alexandria just barely survived being flooded,
and we learned that poor Alden sadly did not survive
being hidden away in that church.
So will Daryl regret sparing Leah?
And what will Negan do?
Where will he go now that he's left the group?
What's up with that future face-off at Hilltop,
and why is Daryl in a stormtrooper getup?
Well, we have a lot of interviews with the cast,
some inside info about this episode
that you can't get anywhere else,
and an exclusive sneak peek of next week's episode
of "The Walking Dead."
My guests tonight -- executive producer
and showrunner Angela Kang,
Maggie herself, Lauren Cohan is here,
and Lynn Collins... -Whoo-hoo!
-...who plays the Reaper Leah.
I am Chris Hardwick, and this is "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
♪
The conversation's just beginning.
We want to hear from you. Tweet us or hit us up
on Instagram, @AMCTalkingDead,
or go to "Talking Dead's" Facebook page.
Please say hello to my guests,
Angela Kang, Lauren Cohan, and Lynn Collins.
Um, Lynn, this premiere was pretty much like an action film.
Uh, w-when you watch it back,
what was it that you were the most surprised by
or impressed with? -Uh, just the production value
of the show in general this season,
I think, is so incredible.
But it was to -- really, it made --
I mean, as far as I'm concerned, it made it so easy to do my job
because, literally, you know,
it was the hwacha, like, on fire, getting after it.
I mean, you don't even --
I mean, it was kind of terrifying, actually.
[Laughing] I was terrified.
-I mean, there was -- there was so much action in this episode,
and, Lauren, you had quite --
uh, quite an action-star episode,
uh, in the premiere.
A lot of stunt work, Lauren.
What was the -- what --
what were you feeling this episode?
-Yeah, I can only second that, what Lynn said.
I mean, the production value and the hwacha was --
hwacha was so real.
And I was really grateful to Monty,
who gave me the biggest, toughest, uh, stunt people
to fight against 'cause there was very little acting required.
It was so fun.
I mean, Maggie has had episodes and -- and episodes
of a lot of internal struggle,
and, in so many ways, just all the physical difficulty of this
was -- was kind of cathartic to get into, both for me
and, I would imagine, for her.
Well, let's not speak for her.
I don't think -- I don't think it felt too good.
But, yeah, just on an action -- on an -- on an -- on an --
on an episodic level, I think that, uh --
I was just so happy how -- how thrilling
and how film-like these episodes have felt.
We just sort of had...
It's always fun in the show when you get to see
your heroes overcoming these massive physical obstacles,
and -- and -- and everybody just brought it to such a high level.
It was -- it was fun.
Yeah, we call this "The Bruising --"
"The Bruising Dead."
-[Laughs]
Well, Angela, so --
so Maggie just keeps coming back and coming back and coming back.
Like, what is her --
what is her motivation at this point
and the source of her resilience?
-I mean, I think Hershel -- her son, Hershel,
is such a source of strength.
Maggie's just one of our characters
that has been through so much, and we've seen it play out.
You know, some of our characters came in to the apocalypse,
and they had already lost the people they loved.
And what we saw was Maggie had a whole family,
and found somebody that she loved,
and then we watched them, one by one, fall,
and, um, she's just become this incredible leader,
somebody who's got so much strength
and is holding on to the strength
on behalf of the people that she leads,
on behalf of the people she loves,
and so I think she feels like she can't really let down.
You know, like, she's got to stay strong
because it's not just about her.
-Lynn, let's talk about the, uh --
the -- the standoff scene and -- and shooting that,
and, uh, what do you remember most about that --
that whole setup?
Do you remember, Lauren, how, like, there were the hawks?
there were, like, four adolescent hawks
that were, like, going, basically,
from the corner of, like, the tallest building
to, like, these set of trees that were, like, opposite us.
So, as we're shooting, you know,
they're squawking and carrying on,
and they just keep getting closer.
So, at one point, like, uh, it was so close.
I mean, there was, like, one that had just basically
flowing into the shot and was just staring at us.
It was so -- the closest I've, really, ever been to a hawk.
So I thought that was phenomenal because, actually, that morning,
um, the actor who plays Carver, Alex, it was his last day,
and he had given me a hawk feather as a gift,
and then here were these hawks around.
So I thought it was magical.
I loved shooting that.
I mean, it was hot as Hades. We were --
-Or --Or the hawks were like, "She's got Joey's feather!
Get it back!" You know?
Like, they were -- they were coming back to reclaim the --
-"Get the feather back. What do you mean?"
-I know, it was so funny.
I remember thinking at the time, like,
were the hawks trying to tell us something?
Were they trying to get us to be friends
and encourage us to find some common ground?
-Now we know. -Or what the deal was.
It was, uh -- it was funny.
They were definitely very much a part of the scene. [Chuckles]
-Is it possible that the hawks
were just trying to get their S.A.G. cards?
Is that possible? And did they?
-I mean, I got super close. He was close, you know?
-[Chuckles]
So, you know, there's this huge battle with the Reapers,
all this stuff happens,
then Maggie goes off alone to find Alden.
Lauren, why does she do that?
-Oh, gosh, it was such a -- just such an emotional moment.
I don't know if it was planned, if it was a reaction to
the sort of heartbreaking realization
that she has with Daryl in that moment,
or if it's just kind of this residual hangover
from everything that had happened.
But nonetheless, I think, um, there's got to be a part of her
that knows there may be bad news when she goes and finds Alden.
Um, but also, it's just that thing of where you just --
you -- you need to go off on your own and do something.
And I think there's -- there's going to be a combination
of knowing, partly, that this had to be done,
um, to honor Elijah and to protect her family,
and, um - -and the regret that they've gone so far.
You know, it's always this question, um,
are our good guys doing things that are very similar
to what bad guys do in other situations?
And, um, I don't know.
I just know, personally, this is --
for me, when I read this script,
and -- and I saw that this happened,
I knew this was a pretty heartbreaking...situation
that Maggie was in, and so it felt natural
that she'd go off by herself after that,
um, to process everything that had happened, but, um --
but, yeah, and lo and behold, it's -- it's --
it's not good news that we find with sweet Callan.
-Um, Angela, can you -- just really quickly
before we go to break, what happened to poor Alden?
Can you talk about what happened to him?
-Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, the Reapers,
who all have military training, special forces training,
like, you know, military contractor training,
like, they know how to track people.
They were on the trail of our folks
or they picked it up at some point,
and a guy was sent out to -- to pick up the loose ends,
and they found him, and the two of them fought to the death.
And I think, like, for Maggie, like,
there's just sort of this horrible reminder
that, you know, for one thing,
here's this person that she really was --
cared about deeply, was a good friend,
and the whole thing was just this zero-sum game.
Like, both sides, like, could have just fought
to the death and all died.
And, like, she's seeing that kind of play out
right in front of her and it just -- it breaks her heart.
But she had to fulfill her promise to come back for him.
-Well, I want to have a round of applause for Callan McAuliffe...
-Yes. We love Callan. -...who just played beautifully
on the series and then -- and went out in this episode.
But coming up, we have interviews with the cast,
plus an exclusive sneak peek of next week's episode
of "The Walking Dead." But first, before you wonder
if Daryl's still wearing his vest under that trooper suit,
let's slow things down and say a final farewell
to all those we've lost tonight.
♪
-[Grunts]
♪
-[Grunts]
-[Grunting]
♪
-[Grunts]
♪
-[Grunts]
♪
[Grunts]
♪
-[Grunts]
♪
-Welcome back to "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
We're back with Angela Kang, Lauren Cohan, and Lynn Collins.
Um, Lynn, what is going on in Leah's mind when she's hiding
and Daryl just lets her go?
-Well, that was such an interesting scene.
We actually didn't have that much time to film it.
So when I was, like, thinking in my head --
you know, like, I always think the night before, like,
"How am I going to do this? How am I --"
It was very different from how I imagined
because we -- we just didn't have time,
so we had to, like, really condense.
For an actor, like, "What am I thinking?"
Well, as the -- everything had to be super condensed.
So in that moment,
I think it was just like, "Is he going to kill me?
Is he going to kill me? Is he going to kill me?"
And he doesn't. And I think that, you know,
you see her able to have that reaction afterwards
that he doesn't kill her,
which, you know, they keep saving each other's lives,
they keep giving each other
this, you know, baton, so to speak.
So now she's on her own.
You know, there's this --
and now she's, like, the most dangerous, really.
I-I think a person could be
because she's lost everything, now has nothing to lose,
and probably wants revenge, you know?
Everything she loves has been taken.
-But would she have spared Daryl if it were reversed?
-I think, yes.
I think yes, she would, because we already see her do that
right after she kills Pope, remember?
Right -- you know, right before the whole hwacha thing
starts being lit and, you know,
it's Armageddon, basically.
So I think there --
it would be -- c-constantly letting him go,
even though he betrayed her.
I mean, they were in love, right?
I mean, that's what, I think,
is so heartbreaking about this is that it's not
that there wasn't love there,
it's just, you know, it's the zombie apocalypse.
You have to choose your people that you're protecting.
I mean, I would have loved for them all to have come together
and worked together, but that's a different show.
[Laughter]
That's a totally different world.
That's my fantasy world.
-Angela, what does it mean that Daryl lets her go?
-I think Daryl has a memory of somebody
that he met a long time ago who seemed really sweet,
who was grieving, who loved her child, who showed him mercy,
and he's wondering if that person is still in there.
Like, if you go back and watch the episode
where they were kind of out
and, um, they come across this family in Episode 7, I think,
um, and she gets the order,
like, "Kill them all," basically,
from her commander,
and he's, like, watching to see, like,
"Is she going to do it?" And she doesn't,
and she looks emotional about it.
And so that's kind of giving him signals that, like, you know --
like, she has a problem with some of the aspects
of what the Reapers are doing, too.
Like, she's not just in lockstep. She has her own mind.
Like, "I-I do still see a person who is not too far gone.
And so Negan's been redeemed.
Like, maybe -- maybe, like, we all canwork together.
Like, I don't know.
Like, I don't know unless, like,
we try to give each other a chance."
And so I think, like, that's really
what's at the heart of it is he wants to believe
that maybe they can reach each other still, you know?
Whatever the future may bathroom-bring, at least,
maybe they can leave each other alone.
Maybe she can start over. Maybe he can start over.
-Okay, so let's just -- let's just, uh, move topics
really quickly, 'cause there's a very specific moment
where you can see something clicks in Maggie's head
and she decides she's going to gun down the Reapers.
Angela, can you just talk really quickly
about what her mind-set is in that moment
and what causes that switch to flip?
-Yeah, I mean, I think for Maggie,
like, she's been on this mission and it's always been about,
"Let's -- Let's protect who we have."
But also, you know, they did come in
and kill the people that she was with,
killed Elijah's family, and she made him a promise,
and I think it breaks her heart to see this --
this young man who is so loyal to her,
so brokenhearted and beaten down by this group.
And, you know, I think the words of Negan ring in her ear
when he said to her, like, "I-I should have killed you all."
Like, it's such a cruel thing to say, in many ways, from Negan,
but at the same time, like, he's right.
She knows that, when you have a group that's strong,
they're not going to, like, give up.
Just like she and Rick and Daryl and Carol,
like, they didn't give up when --
when the Saviors kind of marched through
and there's a danger there.
And, like, again, like, Maggie, she made a promise to Elijah,
and I think it's hard for her to, like, in that moment,
just see him in pain and go, like,
"They deserve to walk away from this, you know?"
-Lauren, what w-- what was your reaction to that?
-Yeah, it's so funny because Angela, now -- Angela, you --
Angela, you and I never really talked about that,
but that was really resonant for me
that a few episodes before,
regardless of the fact that she heard it from Negan,
this idea for Maggie that, to really protect your family,
you may need to do, um -- to take extreme measures
to kind of eliminate a threat.
I think, you know, sort of her duty to Elijah
and to her family and to somehow make something right
out of so many things that had gone wrong,
this felt like the right decision in that moment.
And I love that. I love the way that you peppered in these --
these sort of ideas of leadership and the --
and the challenge and the struggle of leadership,
um, you know, in earlier parts of the season
for it to come to fruition in such a heartbreaking way here,
and that's the -- that's the compelling part
about what all these characters are going through,
that line between, is it -- is when a good character --
when a good character is doing it,
does it become bad, or do we sort of continue
to believe that the good guys, um, are good?
So I don't know.
It's -- It's -- It's been a good,
great, fun challenge for us this year -- for me.
-Angela, what is your reaction to seeing Okea Eme-Akwari
bring such depth to Elijah on this episode?
-I mean, I think Okea's just an amazing actor.
He did such a lovely audition for us.
And, originally, the role was going to be
maybe a little smaller,
but we all just kind of fell in love with him as an actor.
And I think, like, there's just such a humanity
to the way he plays this role.
Originally, like, the role was maybe going to be a character
that was so traumatized he could barely speak,
which is kind of how we started him.
But we had him audition with just silent grief
as well as with, you know, some dialogue,
and he did both things so beautifully.
So I knew that he could play, like, grieving and broken
'cause it's, like, the first thing I ever saw him do,
but it just still was really, really wonderful
to see the footage come back,
and I was so moved by his performance.
So just -- just a shout-out to our wonderful actor.
Like, he's just -- he's fantastic
and just a lovely, lovely person.
-Lauren, how would you describe the relationship
between Maggie and Elijah?
-It's definitely a very strong family bond,
and it's -- it's so easy to play that with, Okea.
I mean, he's -- he's such a warm person
and he's just so easy to feel for
and to feel protected both for and by.
I mean, he -- he has this kind of, um --
you know, he's very close with his family.
We connected a lot about that.
We -- We both sort of have that vibe,
and it's -- it's -- it's just wonderful.
I'm so glad that he's had the opportunity to --
to have a bigger role in the show
than -- than maybe was originally intended.
And -- And then, for the character, it's -- it's --
it's great because we've had the opportunity --
it's a funny thing, but, you know,
Maggie loses a lot of her family early on in this series,
and with characters like Okea and with -- and with Callan,
it's the same thing, where you sort of get to see
this -- this sibling bond
brought to the screen with people
that I genuinely just love and connect with so much.
And that's a real shout-out to the casting
and to finding these amazing actors
because it was the same with Callan.
Like, when he left, I was like,
"This is someone that genuinely has made me laugh
and has brought me so much joy on this show."
And, you know, we get to do this amazing stuff together
and then sometimes people leave, and that's --
that's part of the --
part of the truth of the -- of the job.
But, yeah, it's been -- it's been a pretty special season.
-Well, before we go to break, I want to remind you
that, if you want early access
to episodes of "The Walking Dead,"
you want to see other shows that you'll enjoy,
you can sign up for AMC+ at amcplus.com.
Coming up, we have interviews the cast.
Later, we have an exclusive sneak peek
of next week's episode of "The Walking Dead."
We'll be right back on "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
♪
-This was a big hero's return for Eugene.
When he came back to Alexandria,
he had all the wagons, troopers,
the supplies, the resources,
and he's going to introduce
the community members there to Hornsby.
"What I risked everything for was for you,
and, look, it's paying off,"
and it's a really great moment for Eugene,
for him to come back and to have that heroes return
because with him just sending people, like,
"Yeah, that's where our community is.
Go find them," that wouldn't work.
He gets to -- to actually show people,
and he gets to see that they're pleased.
There's a moment that he has.
As he's kind of giving this speech
and introducing Hornsby, he locks eyes with Rosita,
and it's such an important moment
where she's so proud of him.
It was probably the most important part other than,
"Hey, here's this guy that's going to save us."
♪
-Welcome back to "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
that was Josh McDermitt on Eugene's role
in introducing Alexandria to the Commonwealth.
We're back with Angela, Lauren, and Lynn.
Lynn, was Leah surprised that this group
defeated her incredibly well-trained Reapers?
-I think definitely.
I mean, this is like -- it couldn't get worse, you know?
And I...
It was also, you know, you have to think about it.
Like, Pope was basically casting everybody out
to -- to be killed.
I mean, there was -- yes, it was that, you know,
Maggie and her team are strong,
but it's also, like -- it was, like, infighting within,
you know, it was difficult to protect the guys
even before there was this standoff.
So it was -- it must have been, you know, for this character,
just like watching everything fall apart
and especially, like, the Reapers
because it was so psychological,
you know, the way that they were structured
and so manipulative in so many ways.
I can't even imagine, like, how...
I mean, how truly horrific it must have been for her,
it was, like, everybody was just being picked off, and, you know,
there's that moment where she says goodbye to Carver,
and...I fully --
I-I believe that she knows that he's about to die,
and yet she's going to try to save as many as she can,
which means she kind of sacrifices him.
I don't know. It was just truly a standoff
because there was no way around it
but to flee, but to run, which is the opposite of her
you know -- and core, I feel like.
-Angela, I have a weird question,
which is, whenever I see the --
whenever I see the Commonwealth,
the stormtrooper suits, I can't help but wonder, like,
do they make a lot of noise when they're filming?
They just look so, like -- is there --
is there a special way that you have to shoot
when you have these groups of people in the suits?
Suits are super quiet. -Oh, they are?
-So, you know, they were designed -- like, Greg Nicotero
on the KNB Group, like, worked on those suits
based off of the amazing drawings in the comic,
but they're made out of, like, a kind of a -- I want to say
it's, like, a hard foam or something.
Excuse me, Greg, if I have this wrong,
but they're actually really quiet.
But when I watch it on screen, I'm like, "That should be loud."
So we add clank on the back end in post, and we sit in mix,
and I go, like, "More armor clank.
Less armor clank." Like, me and the editor.
So -- but it -- it -- like, it feels better
when they have, like, a loud presence,
you know, because they're so the opposite of the Whisperers,
who operated in silence. They don't care
if everybody hears them moving around the world
'cause they're going to mow them down anyway.
-Would you say that, when the troopers need a snack,
they get a little clanky?
-If the suits what?
-You know, when they need a snack, do they get clanky?
-Hey, hey! Nice! -Sorry.
[Laughter]
-Oh, my God.
-Nicely done.
Lauren, it -- it had to be done.
You have to. Yes.
Absolutely necessary. -Has to be done?
-Absolutely necessary.
Points, I say. Points.
I want to talk a little bit about about the Commonwealth,
and I love Lance Hornsby.
I love Lance Hornsby.
And Lance getting up at the end
and addressing everyone after what they've just been through,
it just reminded me of, like, someone
coming to give a talk at a high school, like,
"Hey, kids, you don't need -- you don't need rock music.
You don't need to drink to have a good ti--"
'cause everyone's just kind of like,
"Who is this guy? What is happening?"
What do you think Maggie's first impression of Lance Hornsby is?
-She's clearly not impressed with Hornsby.
He's like a snake-oil salesman that turns up at their door
with things they just don't need.
Um, and then, lo and behold,
we see that he's somehow gotten Daryl
to be a stormtrooper,
which has got to be just massively suspicious,
I'm sure for everybody that's been watching.
"How can this possibly happen?" So, no, we don't like Hornsby.
-Um, Lynn, can you talk a little bit about shooting
the scene where Maggie shoots Leah?
-Lauren's pretty terrifying, I'm just going to say.
Like, when Lauren commits, you got to stay out of her way.
She's the honey badger, right? So --
-Or she'll shoot you in the shoulder.
-[Laughs]
-Or still commit to shooting you in the shoulder.
[Laughs] -Yes.
I mean, look, I-I have loved working with Lauren
to such a degree that I'm --
I mean, I really I hope, sister, we get to play again together
'cause it's been just so incredible.
Her level of commitment,
it holds the sort of whole membrane of -- of the shoot
because, you know, we have her and Norman
and they're are leaders. I think with Lauren, though,
it's always -- it's always in the back of my mind
when we've been working together of, like --
okay, I-I can't imagine playing a character for like 11 years
and to serve that story, like...
If Leah is a villain for Maggie, like,
then how do I fill that
so that it's as heightened as possible for her?
So, yeah, running away from her shooting was --
I mean, it was thrilling.
-Well, I want to talk about Gabriel.
He's basically just not having it at all anymore from anybody.
He is -- this is such a different Gabriel
than what we -- when we think back all those years ago.
Angela, can you talk about the moment --
how did you come up with the the Gabriel sniper moment,
the, "Call me Gabriel"?
-Um, you know, we talked about the fact that our people
would have a really good plan
'cause they have to because the Reapers are just so formidable.
So we think, like, when they came in,
they knew they were going to send Gabriel up to shoot
because he's a really good sniper.
So when Maggie and Gabriel are kind of talking
as they're sneaking in in a previous episode,
like, they were always sending him up,
and that's when he got into the confrontation with the priest.
But we wanted to make sure there was enough space
that hopefully people would kind of forget
that that was his mission.
But, you know, the idea that the writers came up with, it --
it's almost like the guy who was struggling with his faith,
he kind of appears like their guardian angel Gabriel,
like, at just the right moment.
So that's why he's kind of perched up high
and he's like this voice that comes out of the void.
So that was kind of the idea we were going with,
and, you know, Gabriel just -- you're --
like, he just doesn't [bleep] around anymore.
So he's -- he's the right guy to do that job.
-Coming up, we have that exclusive sneak peek
of next week's episode of "The Walking Dead,"
but first, are you ready to go "Inside the Dead"?
Here's some inside info from tonight's episode
that you can't get anywhere else.
Please enjoy.
♪
-Whenever we shot all of the stuff in the basement
where all the water was rushing in,
that took a long time.
It was very cool,
but it was also very cold [chuckles]
because it was rain-- it was supposed to be rainwater,
and rainwater is, obviously, cold.
Then when Ross comes in,
he has that moment with the walker in the water,
which was really terrifying for Gracie.
I mean, it was scary to watch.
But we kind of swam over to the window,
we get on Ross' shoulders, and we climb out of the window,
but whenever we were shooting that,
the water was, like, rushing in.
That was definitely something new,
something we'd never done before.
It was an amazing experience.
I would 100% do it again,
especially with our cast and our crew.
They made it 10 times more fun.
♪
-Welcome back to "Talking Dead: Home Edition,"
that was Cailey Fleming on what it was like
filming the scenes where Alexandria floods.
We're back with Angela, Lauren, and Lynn.
Um, Angela, what inspired the scene
where Negan joins Maggie at Alden's grave?
-Ah. Well, um, it's actually a nod to the comics,
and there's a scene where Maggie comes up to Negan.
He's at the grave of the bat, Lucille,
and he's just buried it, and she's standing over him,
deciding if she's going to kill him.
But we already did the scene where she's deciding
if she's going to kill him in Season 9, Episode 5, 4,
somewhere in there. Maybe it was 5.
And, um -- and she does it with the jail cell.
But we thought like, "Oh, it'd be cool to flip it
and have Maggie sitting at a grave,
and now Negan's standing over her with a weapon.
And she's wondering, 'Is he going to kill me?'
Like, 'What's going to happen?'" And so, every once in a while,
we have something we've passed by
from the comic in a certain way.
We like to, like, steal from that in the show
and just give it a twist, so that's what we did here.
-Lauren, was Maggie prepared to kill Negan in that moment?
Seems like she was. [Chuckles]
-Yeah, I mean, I think she's always prepared to kill Negan.
[Laughter] -But it was --
it was interesting that day because I remember
we had originally blocked the scene
where he wasn't going to be so out of my sight
when he approached, and -- and during the the part before it,
I sort of turned to pack the dirt on Alden's grave,
and then it ends up that he sneaks up behind me.
And, additionally, from the way we had blocked it,
you had this cool -- it was fun because Pierre,
one of our camera operators was -- was here,
and we sort of found this moment where, um --
where you could see the handle of my knife in the shot,
and it just added this element for us to be able to, um --
to introduce like, "What -- What is this going to be?
Is this going to be another sort of shootout, as it were,
or another first man to the death?"
And, um -- and so it was fun
because I-I got to sort of embody that, like --
the -- the -- the feeling of the vulnerability,
"What is he doing here?"
and then just -- just -- just grab --
just grab -- reach for the handle of my knife,
and it gave that scene another layer that I didn't --
that I didn't think of when first reading it.
So it's fun when those things come up.
-Angela, I have a question for you from
Catherine L. on Facebook, who says,
"Are there any cool team-ups
we can expect to see in this batch of episodes?"
-That's a really good question.
I think there's --
I mean, Ithink there's some cool team-ups.
I don't know if I should name any of them,
but there's some interesting pairings.
Like, there's -- there's some couplings
that, uh -- that we've seen before,
some that we haven't seen in a while, some new ones.
It's a mix.
-Okay, so, along the same lines of
probably not being able to get an exact answer,
understandably so... -Yeah.
-...what can you tell us about Daryl in the stormtrooper suit
in the flash-forward? Six months goes by.
What -- What can you tell us?
-I can't tell you anything without spoiling it
other than we will get to see the story of how
and why we got there, and, hopefully, it'll be cool.
-Is the -- i-is the flash-forwards --
are we going to see more flash-forwards
throughout this chunk of the season?
-Um, there are some time passages, but it's -- it --
you know, they range from, like, very small to, like,
you know, like, maybe, like, a month passes
or, you know, things like that.
There is, like, one larger jump, but, um --
we -- it's, you know, on the show,
sometimes we're very much, like, the episode ends,
and the next episode starts on the exact same moment...
-Got it, got it. -...and then sometimes
we're doing, like, jumps.
And so it's a bit of a mix throughout.
-Okay. This question is from Facebook, From Rose L. for Lynn.
"If Leah saw little Hershel,
would that affect her animosity toward Maggie at all?"
-I think absolutely.
You know, we see her in the episode where, you know,
she's been told to kill this family
and she basically, like, loses it, can't do it.
And it's because of, you know, her relationship with the boy
that she was raising as her own
that we see in, you know, Season 10.
So I think, yes, it would --
it would probably make a huge difference.
-Great. Well, before we go to break,
you can keep the conversation going
by following FearHQ on Twitch.
They're live four days a week discussing all things horror
and "The Walking Dead," so please check it out.
Coming up, a real, live fan,
just like you will get to ask a question of our guests.
We'll have that exclusive sneak peek of next week's episode.
We'll be right back on "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
♪
-Welcome back to "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
Uh, just want to take a moment to say that our show
would not exist, literally, without you, the fans.
So if you want to ask a question live
during "Talking Dead," you can send a video
to fansubmission@talkingdead.tv,
and you can share how "The Walking Dead"
has impacted your life for a chance to join us.
Now, it is my pleasure to introduce
this week's featured fan.
Please welcome B.J. from Oakley, California.
B.J.'s... -Yay.
-...coming on to "Talking Dead,"
virtual "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
-Hi. -Thank you so much
for being here, B.J.
Who do you have a question for?
-Hey, thanks for having me, everybody.
Uh, my question is for Lauren.
Uh, I wanted to ask you,
do you think Maggie intentionally shot Leah
in the shoulder for Daryl's sake,
or did she miss an intended kill shot?
-That's a great question.
-Oh, well, first of all, welcome.
So glad that you're here, and thank you for your question
and for being here.
And I'm not going to answer it.
[Laughter]
Um, no, I'm just kidding. Well, kind of kidding.
I sort of, um -- I would love
to leave that up to you and to the fans to kind of draw
what you guys feel from the moment, um,
but I don't know.
Lynn, what did you think?
-You know what? I --
uh, actually, she didn't shoot me
because I was so fast and, like, savvy in my running.
-That is -- that is one interpretation.
-You know what I mean? -B.J., what do you think?
-It was 'cause I was, like, ducking and weaving.
-I wa-- want to hear what B.J. thinks.
-Um, I -- well, I feel like she was spot-on with the other two.
So it kind of begs the question, like, why didn'tshe kill Leah?
Um, you know, I think that --
I think that maybe it was intentional for Daryl's sake.
That's just me, but we'll see.
-We'll see. -Excellent.
-Uh, Angela, can you confirm or deny this?
Can you say anything?
-You know, I-I do have an answer in the writers' mind,
but I I like Lauren's, uh, way of handling this, which is like,
leave it open for interpretation
'cause it causes more conversation.
So up to you guys to decide.
-I think I agree with B.J., though.
I do -- I do like B.J.'s answer.
And I think I agree, too,
is that she knew she had to do something,
but I -- but I think -- I-I'm -- I'm -- I'm --
I'm on the same page as you, B.J.
I think it was for that reason, as well.
Um, and I-I want to thank you for being here,
not just with words, but also with gifts.
This is sweatshirt featuring key art
for part two of "The Walking Dead" final season.
You can pick one up for yourself, as well,
at twdushop.com.
And for asking such a fantastic question, B.J.,
we're going to give you one of these.
This is -- this is -- this is actual,
wearable proof... -Nice.
-...that you were on "Talking Dead,"
uh, and asked a great question.
Thank you so much for being here, and please take care.
Let's have a big hand for B.J. everyone.
-Thank you so much. -Yay.
-Thanks, guys.
-Um, before the premiere, we asked the fans to tell us
what they hope happens before the series wraps up,
which we still have a lot of time for.
I'm still kicking that down the field.
And here is just a sampling of what we received.
@JodieAdcock95 on Instagram says,
"Michonne needs to come home to her babies."
@FanArtLindy on Instagram says, "Give me #Mercess,"
Mercer and Princess. -Ooh.
-Um, uh, @0x.ruby.X0 on Instagram --
"I hope Daryl and Dog stay together forever."
Major Stewart says, "I hope Maggie heals mentally.
All she sees is war. Homegirl needs some rest."
Uh, @PatriceAldany3 says, "Rick needs to come back
and team up with his brother Daryl."
And Cindy B. on Facebook says,
"Whatever happens, I hope the kids survive."
Angela, uh, I know you can't speak to all these,
but what can you tease about Negan?
-Negan.
-Um, we see that he goes off into the world.
This is not, like, a cliffhanger, like,
"Are we ever going to see Negan again?"
We will, but, um, we're going to pick him up
in a really different context, and, uh, hopefully get to see
kind of a cool story there with him.
So next time we see him, um,
a lot of things will have changed for everyone.
-It's a whole separate -- it's a comedy.
He opens a "Cheers"-style bar somewhere else
in the apocalypse, and it's a whole separate --
-God, you're -- you're spoiling it all.
It's all spoilers. -[Laughs]
I'm so sorry. Uh, Lynn, really quickly.
We have about a minute before we have to go to commercial.
How do you think Leah would have reacted to Connie
and Daryl's reunion?
-[Imitates gagging]
[Laughter]
She would've hated it.
[Laughter continues]
No, I mean, I think -- you know, like a woman scorned
and then, like, his, like, "kind of ex," like, comes back.
I mean, disaster. I mean, it'd have been a disaster.
[Laughs]
-Coming up, we have an exclusive sneak peek
of next week's episode.
Uh, we'll be right back on "Talking Dead: Home Edition."
♪
-Welcome back to "Talking Dead."
Now it is time for our exclusive sneak peek
of next week's episode of "The Walking Dead."
Check it out.
-[Walkers growling]
♪
-Man, that's -- that's enough.
-[Growls faintly, stops]
Yeah, man. No problem, man.
[Chuckles]
[Carnival music playing]
♪
-Did great in there, buddy.
-You were very brave.
-H-Hey!
♪
Don't worry, li'l dude. You're home, see?
Safe and sound.
Apples?
[Chuckles]
Come on. Let's go take a look.
[Indistinct conversations, laughter]
♪
-Angela, what did we just -- what --
what can you tell us about the sneak?
What did we just watch?
-Well, now that our group has folded into the Commonwealth,
um, we're going to learn more about this place,
how it operates.
Everybody's going to be,
you know, experiencing it in different ways, um,
and enjoying it to different extents.
Um, that sneak comes from an episode that was written
by my long-time assistant, Magali Lozano,
who now became a-a writer for, uh, the final season,
and she did an amazing job on it.
So I'm excited for people to watch it.
-Fantastic. And just really quickly,
will we be seeing faster walkers on "Walking Dead"?
Like, we saw this concept introduced on "World Beyond."
-Um, I -- you know, all I can say is, uh, we know already
that there's at least a couple of categories of walkers,
which are called roamers and lurkers.
Lurkers are the ones that sometimes go dormant,
and the roamers are the ones that are always walking.
That's our standard walker.
So you never know what is out there in the world.
-That's a perfect place to wrap up this first episode back, uh,
as we enter this final journey on "The Walking Dead" this year.
Still got a long way to go.
I want to thank my amazing guests,
Angela Kang, Lynn Collins, and Lauren Cohan.
Um, make sure to tune in next week.
We're going to be joined by our friends
Mercer, Michael James Shaw himself,
Teo Rapp-Olsson, who plays Sebastian Milton,
from the Commonwealth,
and Yvette Nicole Brown will be here, as well.
Uh, I also want to say, since the last time
we were on the air, we had a baby.
My wife and I just want to announce, a few weeks ago,
the birth of Dimity Hearst-Hardwick.
Uh, we have a daughter. She's amazing.
Mom and baby are doing great, and we are so excited.
It's wonderful, and it's so wonderful to be back here.
Thank you so much for joining us.
Stay safe and take care of each other out there.
I'm Chris Hardwick. -Bye.
-See you next time on "Talking Dead." Bye-bye.
♪
-Whoo-hoo!