Any time you see someone wet on The Walking Dead, it's almost always because they're sweating their asses off in the plethora of sunny exterior scenes the show offers. Never is anyone given the chance to take a dip in an ocean, since the setting and lack of dependable transportation limits coastal vacations. But it looks like Season 7 will change that up in some way, as production of The Walking Dead will take place in part along a beach on Jekyll Island in Georgia. What the what?
No, this isn't a beach-themed restaurant that Negan is using as headquarters for his Saviors, it's an actual beach in Georgia's Golden Isles. Interestingly, news of this new location came about not through the show's cast or crew, nor any spoiler-friendly websites, but rather the reveal that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources gave official permission to Walking Dead production company Stalwart Films to shoot scenes on Jekyll Island. And according to Jacksonville.com, one of the scenes that will be filmed includes a human corpse, or at least part of one, that's partially buried in a tidal pool. (Possible spoilers below for those who aren't caught up on the comic books and/or aren't into hearing comic-related speculation about the beach.)
So what could all this mean for The Walking Dead, a show not known for water-based horizons? There are a couple of good reasons why the drama would make the trek to the coast, and one has to do with all the new things coming to Season 7. It could be that King Ezekiel's introduction comes with a story about how he lived near the beach before disaster struck. Or maybe even Negan will get to shed some light on his past in a beach-set story that would probably include making that corpse happen.
Or, and I can't tell if this is the more likely or the less likely option, The Walking Dead might be jumping the gun on introducing other new locations from the comic to go along with everything else viewers are confirmed to see in Season 7. Comic readers know that there's a point when the Oceanside community gets brought in, as introduced to the characters by Siddiq, a survivor who traveled up the coast from Miami. There's no need to go into specifics here, but it's worth noting that Oceanside doesn't come in until much later in the story, so that would be a wild and unconventional decision for Scott Gimple and Robert Kirkman to make, if that's indeed the case. Maybe we'll just get Siddiq for the moment.
We already got to watch this universe bring the ocean into the story for the first half of Fear the Walking Dead Season 2, though that was more about the boat than the beach. It's hard to say just how this will all turn out at this point, but I can't wait to see what the ocean brings to this series. So long as it's not just a bunch of barnacles.
The Walking Dead will return to AMC for its heavily anticipated Season 7 premiere on Sunday, October 23, at 9 p.m. ET. To get more info about it, check out everything we know so far, and for all the other shows coming to your TVs later this year, head to our fall premiere schedule.
