“She was an optimist and wants to do the right thing.
But that also makes it progressively harder to get through each and every day.”
Warning: This article contains spoilers from Sunday’s “Archeron Part II” episode ofThe Walking Dead.
Lauren Cohan, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Seth Gilliam on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
“I lost something.”
But what exactly did she lose?
And how has it changed the former Hilltop leader?
Josh McDermitt on ‘The Walking Dead’.Josh Stringer/AMC
Has Maggie made a slight turn to the dark side?
That’s a real thing.
We thought that would be interesting for Daryl, who came from nothing, to come across.
There were people who had been down there forever.
There were people who were [suddenly] without a home, without resources.
And all of it came and mixed together in the subway tunnels.
I think from Negan’s point of view, I agree.
So might as well walk away."
What if their positions had indeed been reversed?
What does Maggie do?
Does she help him?
Does she push him?
Or does she just leave?
I kind of think she might’ve just left too.
I don’t think she would’ve necessarily pushed him.
I don’t think she would’ve necessarily helped him.
I think she would have [made] the same move.
So that’s the interesting thing: They are more mirrored than they want to admit.
They have to sit there and watch him get devoured.
That decision probably falls more in the antihero category.
It’s certainly not truly heroic.
But at the same time, she’s just [thinking], “What are the risks?
What are the rewards of letting him in?”
And she’s like, “I mean, that guy ran off with all our s—.
But what do we do here?”
It doesn’t mean she delights in it at all.
I think that’s really the line.
That’s always been the big throughline in this show: How far will you go?
It’s the theme these characters are constantly having to look at and address.
And you see a new shade of it here.
What does she mean?
Because she’s a highly feeling person.
She was an optimist and wants to do the right thing.
But that also makes it progressively harder to get through each and every day.
And she’s got a child to protect.
So it has something to do with that.
Because it’s getting worse, not better harder, not easier as time goes by.
Whether that is objectively good I think is a question for the audience.
Tell me about how Eugene conjures up this half-truth story and sells it.
And who Eugene used to be was a coward and a liar.
It took Eugene a minute to gain the skills those two had.
So we wanted to get back to those roots for him.
And so that’s really the evolution.
Josh is so great in every scene.
He just is so much fun to watch, and nails every bizarrely long monologue we give him.
But you know, he’s great doing all of it.
Like, does he believe him?
What’s your take?
But it was cut for time, so it is no longer part of show continuity.
So the question still remains, is that true or not?
I kind of think maybe yes?
But it could also be no.
Honestly, we like leaving that as an open question.
I asked Josh about it.
He thinks because that scene never made it into the show that Eugene is a virgin.
I do think that that’s true.
Because I think he was a very, very late bloomer.
Then he’s been in an apocalypse for the last 12 years or so.
And he wasn’t getting any action with anybody now that that scene is cut.
I think [Walking Deadchief content officer Scott M. Gimple] suggested that.
The scene is pretty much as it was written in our initial draft.
And it’s like, “Yes!”
We end with one group being admitted to the Commonwealth and the other being attacked by the Reapers.
So what can you say about those two things as we move forward into episode 3 and beyond?
These are two of the major stories going on in this initial block of episodes.
What does it mean to integrate into this new community?
What do they like?
What’s the deal?
And various challenges and opportunities will arise.
And I think we always enjoy writing these high-stakes mission stories.
