Spoilers for The Walking Dead are below.
The Season 6 finale of The Walking Dead featured a mega-cliffhanger that has some fans excited, some fans horrified, and some fans just plain mad. It was slightly easier to deal with the reality of six or so months passing before seeing who got the face full of Lucille when star Andrew Lincoln said that the entire cast was as much in the dark about the victim as we are. Now, however, Norman Reedus revealed a tease that means somebody behind the scenes is definitely lying.
I know what happens, and it’s gut-wrenching.
Reedus dropped his little bombshell during an appearance on Today to promote his new movie. Normally, one small side comment wouldn’t be enough to cast doubt on a big bold statement, but taken in conjunction with other inconsistencies from the Walking Dead crew regarding the cliffhanger, Reedus may have blown the lid off of the claim that nobody knows who died.
Despite later saying that the entire cast made a pact to not learn the identity of the person who died, Andrew Lincoln previously confessed that the script for the finale upset him so much that he was sick to his stomach and unable to sleep. Lauren Cohan added her own tragic two cents by admitting that she didn’t even want to come to work and that it took the cast a long time to feel okay again. Melissa McBride said that she was left speechless by how dark the script was, and Carol wasn’t even involved in the cliffhanger. Chandler Riggs tweeted that he still doesn’t know who bit the dust, but given his age and the fact that he clearly wasn’t going to have his character killed off, perhaps he was just left out of the loop.
The plot doth thicken further behind the scenes. Comic creator Robert Kirkman was a guest on the Talking Dead show immediately after the finale and teased that there were clues in the final scene of who died, but showrunner Scott Gimple – who had also been on The Talking Dead - sang a different song the next day when he said that there’s no way for fans to follow clues to figure the cliffhanger out. Executive producer Greg Nicotero asserted that the person whose character is dying may not know that he or she is about to be out of a job. Nicotero also described the cast as showing energy and excitement during filming, but Negan actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan reported that they were tense and agitated.
On the whole, all of the tidbits from the crew at The Walking Dead don’t match up enough to really prove or disprove Norman Reedus’ claim that he knows what’s going to happen. The possibilities are now more endless than ever. Is the entire cast in the dark on the big death? Does Norman Reedus really know? Is Daryl going to die and that’s why Norman Reedus knows?
I’m inclined to believe that at least some of the actors are in the know at this point. The biggest inconsistencies are between the performers and the producers, and it’s probably safe to assume that actors are less adept at spin than their bosses. Unfortunately, we likely won’t have any confirmation until the Season 7 premiere, or until the leaks start dropping. To see what is confirmed, check out the breakdown of what we know so far about the seventh season of The Walking Dead.
