If you’re a fan of both The Walking Dead TV show and the comic book series, there’s a damned good chance you’ve spent a fair amount of time pondering the changes that were made from the page to the screen. And one of the biggest alterations involves the character Andrea, someone who is still very much alive and thriving in the books, while Laurie Holden’s onscreen character has been dead since Season 3 ended. Thankfully, showrunner Scott Gimple recently assured everyone that parts of Andrea’s comic story will still be brought to the series, albeit with some expected changes.
Here’s what Gimple had to say about it in the bonus segment from last weekend’s episode of Talking Dead, when a fan asked if Sasha was going to stand in as a surrogate character for Andrea.
Yes and no. Andrea in the comic was a very, very big character, and she still is, in the comic. Though Sasha is a really good sniper now, I’d say aspects of Andrea’s personality have been spread among the other survivors. And not necessarily even all women. But there are stories that concern the Andrea character in the comic that are gonna be in the show with different characters, and not just Sasha.
I don’t know about you guys, but the first thing I think of when Andrea comes up is her sharpshooting skills, something that wasn’t brought up that much when the TV character was still alive. Sasha’s skills with a rifle towards the end of Season 5, as she went off the deep end while mourning the loss of Tyreese, seemed like an obvious nod to comic Andrea, and I’m hoping that continues on. Alexandria definitely needs someone up in a watchtower – a place that also ties in heavily to part of Andrea’s story – and I’m all for Sasha reaffirming her love of life and setting up shop in a high place.
Now, what other aspects of Andrea’s story could we maybe see from other characters as The Walking Dead goes on? Well, her co-leadership position with Rick has seemingly been filled by Michonne and possibly Daryl. What about her and Rick’s future sexual relations? Rick also had a soft spot (or a hard one) for Jessie in the comics, and assuming things go in a different direction from the source material, perhaps her character will be fleshed out a bit more to allow for more romantic overtones. Andrea also had a mini-fling with Douglas’ son Spencer (who is Deanna’s son in the show), so maybe we’ll see him creeping on someone else in Season 6. There are other events in the future that I also wonder about, but that would get too spoilery for those unfamiliar with the comics.
Season 6 will also introduce new characters like Ethan Embry’s Carter, so maybe he and others will take on some of Andrea’s attributes and arcs as well. We’ll find out when The Walking Dead premieres on Sunday, October 11.
