When I mentally picture Norman Reedus for one reason or another – only normal reasons, I swear – I inevitably picture him atop a motorcycle. Such is the effect of watching him for years on both AMC's The Walking Dead and Ride with Norman Reedus. The same thing used to happen for Sons of Anarchy vet Ryan Hurst, at least before he started permanently wearing zombie skin masks as TWD's villainous Beta. But now, I think I'll choose to picture them burning rubber in fancy go-karts.
There's a decent chance you'll have that feeling as well after watching the exclusive Ride with Norman Reedus clip below, from the upcoming episode with Ryan Hurst – OPIE! – as Reedus' guest. In it, the two Walking Dead co-stars hit the streets of Japan behind the wheels of the extremely popular Street Karts that resemble Mario Kart vehicles. And yeah, Reedus is wearing a zebra coat.
If you thought Ryan Hurst only made the trip to Japan with Norman Reedus specifically to smoosh his large frame into one of those rather small-scale karts for a ride around the city, that is a pretty ridiculous assumption. The opening seconds of the clip make it amusingly clear that Hurst did not expect these circumstances when he got invited to be on Ride. But hey, you only live once, right?
Also amusing is the way Norman Reedus appears like he’s going to bump into people as he chuckles over Ryan Hurst’s befuddlement. I have to imagine the two earned a lot of stares, even though their behavior and dress wasn’t exactly out of place. “Rollin’ Down the Road as a Zebra” should become Ride’s theme/anthem.
The question now, of course, is whether Norman Reedus and Ryan Hurst will be able to make it through the rest of their Japan journey without getting hit by Bob-ombs and green shells, or getting squashed by big buses.
Check out the episode’s official synopsis below.
In the new episode, ‘Japan with Ryan Hurst,’ Norman Reedus and Ryan Hurst tour modern Japan and explore its technological history, ultimately arriving at the iconic and serene Mt. Fuji.
Despite how some of his characters have acted on the big and small screen, Norman Reedus doesn’t exactly come across as someone who exudes serenity. But then maybe all it took to get him there was a trip to Mt. Fuji with the actor who plays his TV nemesis in the now-commenced Whisperers War on The Walking Dead. We can all relate, right?
For its Season 4 premiere, Ride with Norman Reedus welcomed the star’s former Walking Dead brother, Michael Rooker, who was just as over-the-top and Rooker-y as one would have hoped. Future episodes will see Reedus hanging out and ditching traffic with This Is Us’ Milo Ventimiglia, musician Dom Rocket (real name Dominick L DeFelippo), motorcycling freelancer Becky Goebel, and Veronica Mars’ Clifton Collins Jr.
Ride with Norman Reedus airs new Season 4 episodes every Sunday night on AMC after The Walking Dead and Talking Dead, and tends to air at 12:00 a.m. ET. The episode with Ryan Hurst is airing on March 15, but fans who want to catch all six Season 4 episodes can do so by signing up for the AMC Premiere streaming service.
