Walking Dead: ‘I fought as hard as I could to try to save him’…Andrew Lincoln couldn’t bear to see this character go

The death of one of the community’s favourites

For fans of The Walking Dead, Glenn’s death during the first episode of Season 7 The day will come when you will be gone (original version The day will come when you won’t be) remains a memorable shock. Season 6 ends with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the leader of the Saviors, deciding to kill one of Rick’s group (Andrew Lincoln) to assert his authority. We only discover the identity of his victim in the first episode of season 7: it is Abraham (Michael Cudlitz).

But Negan doesn’t stop there. He uses Lucille, his precious bat, to also beat Glenn (Steven Yeun) to death, crushing his skull in front of his loved ones, including a devastated Maggie (Lauren Cohan). A traumatic sequence because of its sadism and gore (Glenn’s skull ends up deformed, with one eye protruding from its socket), but also because it involves one of the community’s favorite characters. Brave and resourceful, Glenn always knew how to help those in need. The pairing with Maggie was also praised for the humanity it brought to the series.

Andrew Lincoln opposed this departure

in a documentary film Walking Dead: The ReturnAvailable on Paramount+, Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurirai (aka Michonne) explore their memories by returning to the locations where key moments between their characters were filmed. Ricky’s interpreter takes the opportunity to return to Glenn’s death, which he disapproved of at the time: “I fought as hard as I could to save him, because he was a great friend, he was a pillar, a star.”

In order to make the pills land better, a ritual was performed behind the scenes, as he explains: “We very quickly established the tradition of the dinner of the dead, I believe so.” Sarah Wayne Callies who suggested. It was a great idea. It made it easier for the person who left to accept it, but it also helped us all recover from the change in dynamics.”

To pay homage to Stephen Yeon and his character, Danai Gurira had an idea: “He was a pure showman. He danced, he sang better than anybody. He was always singing Justin Timberlake or boy band songs. So did we. I want it that way“. So Yun’s playing partners dressed in white to lip-sync to the Backstreet Boys during this Supper of the Dead.

Gratuitous violence

already during the interview given in 2018 New York TimesLincoln stated that he regretted this departure: “Steven Yeun was part of the rhythm of my life for those years. If I had to compare it, it’s probably a bit like being in a boy band – you only have other people as a point of reference. And then they take you away.”

In the rest of the interview, he didn’t mince words about the sequence’s violence, believing they had gone too far: “For a hundred years we’ve been able to scare people in movies without batting an eyeball. When that happens, it detracts from what we’re trying to create, which I think is a family drama set in hell. It’s not a hemoglobin-filled B-horror movie.”

After the end of The Walking Dead, the public had something to console themselves with thanks to the many spin-offs that took over. In addition to the mini-series that revolves around Rick and Michonne, there’s Dead City, where Maggie and Negan explore post-apocalyptic Manhattan, The Walking Dead Anthology, and Daryl Dixon. The producer of the franchise, Scott M. Gimple said last March that it was considering another spin-off series that would explore new territory.