Ki-Theory 2017-07-10 Heavy, Who Sang ‘Stand By Me’ at the end of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’?

http://heavy.com/entertainment/2017/07/who-sang-stand-by-me-fear-the-walking-dead-ki-theory-video-listen/

Who Sang ‘Stand By Me’ at the End of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’? [VIDEO]

 

AMC

Fear the Walking Dead

By Stephanie Dube Dwilson

Published Jul 9, 2017 at 11:43pm

Updated Jul 10, 2017 at 12:23am

At the end of Fear the Walking Dead‘s midseason finale, fans heard an unfamiliar cover for the familiar song, “Stand By Me.” The cover fit perfectly with the ending and made for a tense, emotional monologue at the end.

The cover is by Ki: Theory (aka Joe Burleson), a recording artist who specializes in alternative rock.

Here’s the full song:



There’s also an official music video for the song, which you can watch here:



Fans are saying that they absolutely loved the song. In fact, most fans loved everything about the midseason finale of Fear the Walking Dead. It was intense and had some big twists and turns (did anyone predict what happened with Ofelia?) The scene with Strand was also moving. And although we didn’t get to see Daniel Salazar, it’s going to be interesting to see how he reacts to learning about what Ofelia did, if he ever meets up with her again.

Do you think Ofelia will group up again with Madison, Nick and Alicia? Or is this the end of Ofelia’s role on the show? And what do you think will happen next? Will Madison take over the camp, or will they live in peace at the ranch with Walker and the other Native Americans? It’s hard to imagine how Troy especially is going to deal with what happened to his dad.

The Walking Dead 2015-10-11 Tech Insider, Why 'The Walking Dead' decided to use black and white scenes in the season 6 premiere

http://www.techinsider.io/walking-dead-season-6-premiere-black-and-white-2015-10

Why 'The Walking Dead' decided to use black and white scenes in the season 6 premiere

Kirsten Acuna

Oct. 11, 2015, 10:10 PM

Gene Page/AMC
Warning: There are spoilers if you haven't watched the season six premiere of "The Walking Dead."

Season six of "The Walking Dead" kicked off Sunday night with a huge episode.

Not only were fans greeted to the biggest zombie horde we've seen yet on the show, but the episode also played out in black and white as well as color as the episode flashed between the past and present on screen.

Tech Insider caught up with series executive producer Greg Nicotero, who directed the season six premiere, to learn more about the artistic choice for the episode, and it turns out black and white wasn't always what they had in mind.

"We took sort of a rather bold move because we wanted to play with our non-linear timeline," said Nicotero. "We wanted to sort of make sure it wasn't confusing for the audience, so we had initially explored the idea of doing a desaturated flashback versus an oversaturated present-day."

AMC

AMC

That didn't exactly work, though.

"The present-day oversaturated makes the trees look very green and the zombies look very beautiful and 'Wizard of Oz,'" he explains. "It's so pretty, and you're like, 'Wow, that's sort of weird.' Adding color to zombies is not something that you immediately gravitate to. So we went with the idea of just taking all the color out instead of just desaturating the flashback ... just so you could easily follow the timeline."

Gene Page/AMC
Zombies are even more decomposed during season six of "The Walking Dead."

The black and white sequences also helped add another level of intrigue and mystery to the season six opener.

"The episode's a puzzle and what we're doing is we're giving you the final piece of the puzzle at the beginning and we love the idea that as the episode progresses, the audience is putting the pieces together, so by the time we get to the end of the episode, it's like, 'Ohhhhh, now I get what we're looking at and now I see how this is all working," Nicotero continued.

Nicotero says they were never really interested in doing the season six opener in a linear progression.

"I think the discussion had come up once or twice about recutting it, but I felt that it would have taken away a lot of impact of the story to just tell it in a linear fashion," he explains. "I know both [showrunner] Scott [Gimple] and I were very sold on just keeping the story structure and just finding a way to tell it visually that was appealing to the audience, and still got us through the story clearly."

"It really is a bold filmmaking storytelling style, but something that we all feel the show warrants after six years," Nicotero added. "We didn't want to do something that we had done before so we took a big swing and it was very exciting to be able to do that."

This isn't the first time "The Walking Dead" has played with time in its episodes, and it won't be the last.

At San Diego Comic-Con, showrunner Scott Gimple revealed we'll see more flashbacks in the first half of the season. Gimple also mentioned there's an entire episode in the works that will be a flashback.

Maybe we'll see more black and white sequences worked into the season.

Let us know what you thought of the season six premiere below.

Fear The Walking Dead 2015-10-04 Tech Insider, 'The Walking Dead' is finally going to answer a question fans have had for a long time

http://www.techinsider.io/fear-the-walking-dead-season-2-will-introduce-a-boat-2015-10

'The Walking Dead' is finally going to answer a question fans have had for a long time

Kirsten Acuna

Oct. 4, 2015, 11:32 PM

Warning: If you're not caught up with the season finale of "Fear the Walking Dead," there are spoilers ahead!

Between "The Walking Dead" comic series, the popular AMC show, and the video games, fans have always had one question about the zombie apocalypse: Why doesn't anyone find a boat and set sail on the ocean?

Surely, the zombies can't get you out on the water, right?

Well, it looks like we're finally going to find out!

During the season one finale of "Fear the Walking Dead," the companion series to "The Walking Dead," we see the group head to the Pacific coast.

AMC

While it looks like the eight are going to spend a lot of time at the mysterious Strand's (Colman Domingo) humble abode, he has a different idea.

Strand's prepping to take everyone onto his yacht, Abigail, and sail away!

AMC

AMC 
Say hello to your (potential) home away from home, Abigail!

It seems like a brilliant idea.

Maybe.

This is something we've never seen.

Do walkers swim? How do they deal with water? Will there be a bunch of walkers awaiting them on other ships they may run into? These are all things we don't really have answers to.

"It was important we ended up on the Pacific," said showrunner Dave Erickson on a special episode of "Talking Dead," "The Walking Dead" after show. "It opens some interesting options to us."

Justin Lubin/AMC
"Fear the Walking Dead" executive producer and showrunner Dave Erickson with actress Alycia Debnam Care on set of "Fear."

Erickson hinted that they're probably not the only ones with the bright idea to head to a boat.

If you've been reading the comics, characters have set sail out on the water but we haven't seen any zombies on the ocean or have been taken out to sea — yet! Creator Robert Kirkman hinted in "The Walking Dead" comic series we'll be "seeing some sea travel sooner" than we think.

Image/Skybound
A scene from issue #139 of "The Walking Dead."

However, the bigger issue is whether Strand is someone who should be trusted. This is a guy who abandoned a bunch of people to rot in some makeshift government holding cells to save his own skin.

"No es bueno," said Cliff Curtis, who plays Travis on "Fear the Walking Dead," when asked about his first reaction to Strand. "I don't like the guy. He's great for the show, but he's the antithesis of Travis. He's just got no morality ... I'd take Salazar any day over that guy."

"I like the suit, though," said Curtis, commenting on Strand's very overdressed apocalypse attire.

Justina Mintz/AMC
Strand seems like a man the group should keep a close watch on moving forward.

"We will learn much more about Strand in season two," added Erickson. "What was interesting to us was to have a character you don't see very often on 'The Walking Dead' — somebody of means, somebody who has money, a person of affluence. And we see that is his house, that is his boat. He definitely has a con man's charm, which is part of how he accrued his wealth and his fortune, but he's not somebody without his own plans and designs."

Do you think it's a good idea for our survivors to sail away from Los Angeles with Strand on his boat?

"Fear the Walking Dead" will return in 2016.

The Walking Dead 2015-10-01 Tech Insider, 'The Walking Dead' season 6 premiere is one of the show's most ambitious episodes

http://www.techinsider.io/the-walking-dead-season-6-review-2015-10

'The Walking Dead' season 6 premiere is one of the show's most ambitious episodes

Kirsten Acuna

Oct. 1, 2015, 11:49 AM

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC
Morgan (Lennie James) and Rick (Andrew Lincoln) have been reunited, but is that a good thing for season six?

Thirty seconds into season six of “The Walking Dead” you’ll be asking yourself, “What is going on?”

Within a minute, you’re sure to be grinning.

This is what fans have been waiting for.

Tech Insider has seen the first new episode of “The Walking Dead,” returning to AMC Oct. 11, and season six wastes no time launching into a huge action sequence which plays across the entirety of the premiere.

I can't say much, but back in March, at the end of season 5, “The Walking Dead” showrunner Scott Gimple told fans, “for a good while now, humans have been the bigger threat. At the start of our next season, that will change.”

Gimple delivers on that promise.

If you’re up to speed with Robert Kirkman’s comic series, you know what’s coming, and the season six premiere sets things in motion perfectly. (To be honest, it’s moving things along quicker than anticipated.)

Executive producer Greg Nicotero, who’s also responsible for the ever-decaying look of the zombies on the show, returns to the director’s chair for the premiere, so you know you’re in for a good ride. He’s delivered some of the series' best episodes. Season 3's "This Sorrowful Life" and season 5’s premiere “No Sanctuary” stand out.

Gene Page/AMC
A walker from season six of "The Walking Dead."

This is Nicotero’s 12th episode directing. He and Gimple have worked together on the previous two season openers, which have both been positively received.

While the season six premiere doesn't top the anxiety-ridden drama of the season five opener (seriously, how do you compete with an escape from murderous cannibals?), it certainly goes bigger.

I can’t divulge too much more about the episode without giving much away.

So what can we tell you?

The Ricktatorship is back!

Gene Page/AMC

You don’t want to mess with Rick. The fan-given moniker alluding to the way Rick governs over his group — generally it’s Rick’s way or the highway — lives up to its name in episode one. There's a scene with him where he gives a speech which may make fans of the series shiver in glee.

If you've seen the lengthy San Diego Comic-Con trailer, you've seen a hint:

And while you're excited and rooting for Rick, there's a part of you that may start wondering whether you're still rooting for the right side. It's slightly reminiscent of how fans binge-watching AMC's other hit, "Breaking Bad," began to struggle with justifying Walter White's decisions toward the end of the series.

However, unlike Walt, Rick has a few voices of reason on his side.

Morgan!

That first awkward moment when Rick and Morgan were reunited at the end of season five.

What a sight it was to see Morgan (Lennie James) reunite with Rick during the season five finale … at quite possibly the worst moment he could reunite with Rick: Rick had just killed a guy, RIGHT after Morgan gave an entire speech about all life being precious. Talk about awkward.

Creator Robert Kirkman has already said Rick and Morgan’s interactions will be integral to the story this season and that’s extremely evident in the premiere.

The return of Morgan from seasons one and three adds a somber voice of reason to the group which may have started to disappear the longer Rick and his crew were on the road, living off of instinct. His scenes with Rick (Andrew Lincoln) have always been some of the series’ best. Fans have a lot to look forward to from his interactions with the rest of the gang, particularly Michonne (Danai Gurira).

For viewers, the return helps show the group from an outsider’s perspective. Morgan is someone who has survived the apocalypse, and on his own nonetheless. The guy has a zen-like vibe. Now, that he’s in contact with the two very different groups — the laid-back, inexperienced Alexandrians and Rick’s ragtag supergroup of trained zombie warriors — he’s perhaps the most reliable narrator on the show.

Eugene is so awkward, it's hilarious.

Gene Page/AMC

There’s really not much else to say about Josh McDermitt's character. His scenes really stick out in the premiere.

A few new characters are also added to the bunch.

Be on the lookout for Heath (Corey Hawkins, “Straight Outta Compton”), another big character from the comics whose casting was announced back in June.

Yes, Daryl will be there.

Gene Page/AMC 
The fan favorite, played by Norman Reedus, doesn’t say much, but he doesn’t need to. His actions speak louder than words.

“The Walking Dead” has a habit of focusing more intently on select characters in single episodes due to the large ensemble. That’s not the case here. You’ll get a nice amount of screen time with most of the characters.

To be clear, the season six premiere is not the series’ finest. It gets a bit predictable.

There's a particular style in which the episode is done which adds intrigue and mystery to the set up of the premiere. (Again, spoilers, so I can’t say more.) It's brilliant for the episode’s first half, but once viewers figure out what exactly is going on, the allure starts to fade after the 30-minute mark.

Despite that, the episode, titled “"First Time Again," has some great moments and will get you excited for where the season is heading over the course of the first eight episodes.

We’ll leave you with this: Fans, this is a good time to go back and get reacquainted with the "No Way Out" volume — issues 79-84. In fact, be on the lookout for a verbal wink to it in the season premiere.

“The Walking Dead” returns to AMC Sunday, October 11 at 9 p.m.

Fear The Walking Dead, 2015-08-24 - Variety, ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Sets All-Time Cable Ratings Premiere Record

http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/fear-the-walking-dead-premiere-sets-all-time-cable-ratings-record-1201575876/

‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Sets All-Time Cable Ratings Premiere Record

Courtesy of AMC

August 24, 2015 | 01:49PM PT

Rick Kissell

Senior Editor@ratesrick

AMC’s “Fear the Walking Dead,” the much-anticipated companion series to megahit zombie drama “The Walking Dead,” opened to monster — and record-setting — ratings of its own own Sunday night.

Nielsen estimates that the 90-minute debut of “Fear the Walking Dead” became the No. 1-rated cable series launch on record with 10.1 million viewers, including 6.3 million adults 18-49. In total viewers, “Fear” surpasses TNT’s “Raising the Bar” (7.7 million in 2008) as top dog among cable premieres.

The previous record in the 18-49 demo was AMC’s “Better Call Saul” (4.4 million) earlier this year. In fact, AMC now has three of the top five cable launches of all time, with “Walking Dead” ranking fifth.

In both 18-49 and total viewers, Sunday’s premiere out-rated all 22 episodes from the first two seasons of “The Walking Dead.” The original’s third-season premiere did a 5.8 demo rating and 10.87 million total viewers.

Leading into the “Fear” premiere Sunday, a special “Talking Dead” season-6 preview episode did a 1.9 rating in 18-49 and 4.2 million viewers overall.

AMC is expected to release Live+3 ratings for “Fear the Walking Dead” and “Talking Dead” on Friday.

“Fear the Walking Dead,” created by Robert Kirkman and Dave Erickson, differentiates itself from the original by being set both in a different place (Los Angeles) and time (at the very beginning of the apocalyptic outbreak). Its cast includes Kim Dickens, Cliff Curtis, Frank Dillane and Ruben Blades.

Helping serve as a seat-warmer for the mothership’s return on Oct. 11, “Fear” will air six episodes in its first season. It was handed a straight-to-series, two-season order by AMC in March. Season two is slated for 2016.

The Walking Dead, 2014-12-12 - National Report, AMC’s The Walking Dead Agrees To Bring Beth Greene Back To Life

http://nationalreport.net/amcs-walking-dead-agrees-bring-beth-greene-back-life/

AMC’s The Walking Dead Agrees To Bring Beth Greene Back To Life

Posted December 12, 2014 at 10:41 am

(Image Source: AP Images)

Fans of AMC’s The Walking Dead were in uproar after the mid-season finale “Coda”, when long-standing survivor Beth Greene (Emily Kinney) was “accidentally” shot and killed by Dawn Lerner (Christine Woods). Fans are so upset about the death of Beth, they’ve started a petition to deliver to TWD Producers, which has already received over 50,000 signatures, demanding they resurrect the teenage girl. It appears the production team is listening, and has agreed to bring Beth Greene back to life.

Viewers have cried in outrage about Beth’s death, saying that Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) could have, and should have, saved her. Yes, he shot Dawn in retaliation for killing Beth, but the fans say that is not enough. Not only have the petitioners gained impressive steam on the petition, but they have also been sending plastic spoons with their favorite “Beth Quotes” written on them, to the show’s production offices, to drive the point.

Joshua Warren, spokesperson for FOX Networks, says he agrees with fans that Beth’s storyline still has major potential, and that her death only occurred to further Daryl’s path on the show. Warren is in support of the petition to bring her back, saying that he’s already signed it himself, and is happy that producers are at least taking a second look at their decision to terminate the character.

The Beth Greene Deserved Better Facebook Page calls the petition a “movement”, and has also began spearheading other campaigns, such as assembling a coalition of fans to send Thank You cards to Emily Kinney. Social media is ablaze with support for Beth, as Twitter and Instagram accounts are also being created in throws to aid in the resurrection of Beth.

Sources report that TWD executive producer Robert Kirkman has been putting in overtime with AMC and FOX networks to figure out how he can re-write Beth into the series. Rumors state that Kirkman is scheming to have Beth’s death be all in the dreams of Carol Peletier (Melissa McBride). It’s the only strategy that will likely work, as Carol is in love with Daryl, and knows that Beth is a threat to that. It is beyond logical for Carol to have dreamed of Beth’s demise.

While it is difficult to receive comment from Kirkman himself, sources say he’s openly admitted he’s “working on it” when asked about bringing Beth back to life on the show. It seems that The Walking Dead fans are winning the Beth Greene battle.

The Walking Dead, 2014-12-01 - EW, Emily Kinney gives the inside scoop on that 'Walking Dead' shocker

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/12/01/walking-dead-emily-kinney-beth-coda-midseason-finale/

Emily Kinney gives the inside scoop on that 'Walking Dead' shocker

By Dalton Ross on Dec 1, 2014 at 4:10PM @DaltonRoss

Image Credit: AMC

[SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sunday’s midseason finale of The Walking Dead.]

The Walking Dead midseason finale ended with a bang on Sunday night. Unfortunately, that bang was the sound of Officer Dawn Lerner’s gun blasting into Beth’s head after Beth stabbed with her some scissors to protest the Grady Memorial Hospital leader insisting on forcing Noah to stay in exchange for Beth. In the past we may not have seen Beth be so bold, but this was Beth Greene 2.0, who showed herself to be a much more outspoken and daring version of her former self. Of course, that daring is what ultimately led to her demise. We spoke to a still very emotional Emily Kinney — who will now turn her attention to her music career with a new single and video titled “Rock Star” due Dec. 9 and a new album in 2015 — to get her thoughts on Beth’s evolution and end game. She also tells us about Norman Reedus getting a bit handsy, talks what she will miss most about working on the show, and reveals that she has yet to even watch her final episode. (Also make sure to check out our deep dive with Andrew Lincoln, midseason finale Q&A with Norman Reedus, and burning questions with showrunner Scott M. Gimple.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me how and when you got the bad news.
EMILY KINNEY: The season finale was episode 508 and I found out during 507. So I found out a few hours before they released the script to everyone.

Showrunner Scott Gimple gave you the call?
I actually talked to him in person.

So did you go then tell your castmates or did they find out on their own?
All I know is how I found out, which is that day a few hours before the script came out. So different people from the cast reached out to me after that and that was really nice.

Tell me about that. What was it like when the reactions from cast started coming in?
They seemed surprised too. It’s always really hard. We’ve worked together for years now. So, it’s really sad.

I remember Scott Wilson told me he tried to talk them out of it at first for a minute when Gimple told him he was being killed off. Was there any of that on your end trying to plead your case?
No, I didn’t really think of that. I was more having a million things running through my head. I was like, oh, I have this apartment here. It was like a million things. I don’t know if I was worried about trying to…I don’t know. I was just really upset. I don’t know what I was thinking. I wasn’t trying to pitch anything to the writers at that point.

It’s interesting what you’re saying because that’s not something we think about a lot — all the simple logistics involved in uprooting or changing your life. I remember talking to you a few months ago and you talking about being on this show and always wondering about things like “Should I buy this table for my Atlanta apartment or will I not be around to enjoy it?”
Yeah, I think as actors we are a little conditioned to think like, okay, you do a job and the job ends — it’s like freelance. You go to the next job. But I have been working on this show now for years and it definitely has been an anchor in my life. I schedule other things around the shooting schedule and all these people have become really good friends and so of course I am sad to leave the character behind and then there’s another part of me that is excited that I can play some new characters, and that’s exciting. But there’s also the life stuff, like, Oh, I have to get rid of my apartment. I have to figure out what to do with my cable! What does this mean for me and my schedule? And oh, but there are all these people and I want to see them because it’s my last chance. And then also it’s my last chance to give a really kick-ass performance so I really want to work on my scenes. I really want to dig in. So there’s a lot going on in your head any time that you lose a job but are also trying to give a great performance.

Tell me about your last day of filming.
We didn’t shoot it in order so some of those scenes with everyone where Beth gets shot in the hall and then going outside — those was shot before some of the more intimate scenes or more 1-on-1 scenes with me and Dawn. That was later. But those scenes with the big group, those are long days because you’re getting coverage of so many different people. And of course, there is fight choreography with the gunshots and stuff. So they are long days. I was happy to have those days with my friends. I’m glad I didn’t die in episode 4 and have it be Beth isolated. So it was fun to have those days back shooting with the whole group and being able to hang out with everyone on set even though it was so sad. And then honestly, I was thankful to kind of end that journey working on really good scene work. I loved working with Christine Woods [who played Dawn]. Sometimes the big moments like that last scene where I get shot — as exciting as those moments are, I really love just coming to set and working on a scene and having a conversation with someone and making it feel real. I was thankful I was able to not end on days where I was just laying around bloody. I got to work, you know?

Beth was a character whose strength was always being questioned, so as hard as it is to be ripped away from the show, you have to feel pretty good, I imagine, about this final arc you got for her in which we really did get to see the fighter within her.
Yeah, totally. I really do love the writing on this show and I do think it’s really smart and cool and I love how Scott incorporates things and little sparks of things in other seasons and then you see them come back, like the “I don’t cry anymore” thing coming back in this episode. It’s really special, and I was really thankful that this season that you did get to see so much of Beth and you did get to see her without her group and what kind of person she could be and how she could change in different circumstances. It’s fun to work on and I was really thankful. Although I’m sad it ended so soon and wasn’t expecting it to end so soon, I was happy that you really got to know her before she left.

I spoke to Norman Reedus, and that scene where he’s carrying your body — he said he thinks he may had inadvertently grabbed your boob on one of those takes. Can you confirm or deny that?
Inadvertently?!

Yeah, exactly — in quotes. But what was it like playing dead in take after take there? Could you feel his arms giving out a little bit?
Yeah, I feel bad because at first before they were even rolling tape we would be all sad and he’d be holding on to me. And then after take after take after take it was getting more and more difficult to keep holding me. Because I’m just dead weight too! At least when he had to carry me last season it was piggyback and I was holding on to him and could jump up and help out at least — but this I was completely dead and limp, and then he’s trying to walk and cry and all of this and hold onto me. And there were a couple of times where I felt like I was definitely slipping towards the ground. [Laughs]

What was it like watching the episode?
I didn’t really watch it. I didn’t completely avoid it because there were moments like when I was waiting to go on Talking Dead where they were showing it and I wasn’t like “Oh, guard my eyes!” But I didn’t really watch it. Something happened this season — it started happening last season too, where I feel like I had a certain experience filming it, and while it’s nice to see the final product come out, it’s not so enjoyable. It’s not as though I’ve been like “Oh, I’m never watching it.” But I actually have not watched the episode. I haven’t sat down and watched it. I feel it’s sort of out of my hands at a certain point and I’m very proud of the work I’ve done with The Walking Dead. I don’t feel like it would be fun to watch myself. It feels a little painful.

What will you miss most about working on this show?
Probably the people. Because I feel like we’ve all become such good friends and they’ve made me a better actor. Not just the other actors, but all the people I’ve gotten to work with. They’re all really passionate people and really inspire me. I feel like Scott Gimple and Robert Kirkman and Gale Anne Hurd and all these people are really great artists and being around them doesn’t just infuse my work on The Walking Dead, but as a songwriter as well. Being around them makes me excited.

Gotcha with Emily Kinney

The Walking Dead, 2014-12-01 - EW, 'The Walking Dead' star Norman Reedus on that 'devastating' midseason finale and Daryl's sexual orientation

http://insidetv.ew.com/2014/12/01/the-walking-dead-norman-reedus-coda-midseason-finale/

'The Walking Dead' star Norman Reedus on that 'devastating' midseason finale and Daryl's sexual orientation

By Dalton Ross on Dec 1, 2014 at 12:10PM @DaltonRoss

Image Credit: Gene Page/AMC

[SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sunday’s midseason finale of The Walking Dead.]

It was an emotional midseason finale episode of The Walking Dead on Sunday night, especially for star Norman Reedus who woke up “sad” and “depressed” this morning after watching the episode last night and reliving the death of Emily Kinney’s Beth all over again. Reedus called into Entertainment Weekly Radio (SiriusXM, channel 105) this morning to talk all about Daryl Dixon and the big installment, copping an inadvertent feel on Kinney, what to expect coming up, and his reaction to Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman’s clarification on last night’s Talking Dead as to Daryl’s sexual orientation. (Also make sure to check out our deep dive with Andrew Lincoln, midseason finale Q&A with Emily Kinney, and burning questions with showrunner Scott M. Gimple.)

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I know how super emotional it is for you guys when you have to say goodbye to a cast member. What was it like having to film these last scenes with Emily Kinney, who played Beth?
NORMAN REEDUS: It was rough. I won’t lie, it was rough. She’s such an amazing girl and such a great actress and what her character meant to our characters was a big deal, so to lose that was a very emotional day for everyone. It felt like you actually lost a friend.

And I know you do take things very hard and you had some trouble before filming this scene, didn’t you?
I think all the characters are sort of hanging on a thread, not in terms of being killed off the show but their emotional state. All of us are walking that fine line between completely savage and broken and I really wanted to play out that scene as devastated. And it means as much to Daryl as it meant to all of us. I really wanted to be completely devastated by that and taken off guard by that. Daryl’s one of those guys — he’s tough but he doesn’t puff out his chest and have to be tough. He’s just tough. And you can’t really have one without the other. You can’t just be one-note tough. You have to show reasons as to why he fights and you have to show the world that we’re living in. So he had to be devastated by that.

We’ve talked before how Daryl is such a tough guy, but he has some very tender and childlike qualities as well, especially when confronted with tragedy. We saw it when Merle was a zombie and we saw it again here when he watches Beth get shot. All that tough stuff just evaporates.
Yeah, he’s never been a showboat, and I think as an adult he’s taken a lot of the trauma that he had growing up and he’s taken it with him and you don’t fully became one or the other. I think in a tragic situation it’s fight or flight, and he’s always been a fighter, but at the end of the fight, I don’t think he ever feels proud of himself, you know what I mean?

He does not hesitate. He puts a bullet right through Dawn’s skull. Is that just a natural gut reaction?
I think so. That’s just animal instinct kicking in, and he’s kind of a wild animal in a lot of ways. He wouldn’t flinch at that. He would just do that.

So did Emily Kinney’s lifeless body get a little heavy after multiple takes of carrying her out of the hospital?
[Laughs] You know, she’s not a heavy girl. I wouldn’t say that. But it’s this defeated posture. I couldn’t walk her out like a fireman saving a baby. It couldn’t be like that. Everything had to hang. It wasn’t the most comfortable position to carry someone. You kind of have to be sobbing and hang as you carry her. It can’t be a heroic thing, it has to be a devastating thing. I think I grabbed her boob once by accident. After like, six takes and you’re walking really slow and sobbing, I thought maybe I would drop her at least once, but I didn’t.

What does the loss of Beth do to Daryl and to the group moving forward?
She was such a beacon of hope, that girl. She sang and she had a positive outlook and she was hopeful. All these little slivers of hope are being taken from this group one by one. It just gets worse and worse and worse. Humanity and the goodness in people is slowly being evaporated from their world. I think she was a big beacon of hope for us, and to watch her go is just devastating.

How is Daryl feeling about Rick’s decision making? We saw last week he actually sided with Tyreese’s plan instead of Rick just wanting to go into the hospital guns blazing. Is part of his job to keep Rick 2.0 in check a little from time to time?
One of the joys of watching the show is you see these little gifts that we give each other. And Rick’s done it to me quite a bit of times, and if you watch the episode with Carol, we see the little kids behind the glass and Daryl says “You don’t have to do it,” and then Daryl is going to go burn those bodies while she’s asleep. It’s just these little things where we have each other’s backs and that moment with Tyreese, Tyreese is really shaken-up and he’s had a hard time killing people, and Daryl is looking at Tyreese and thinking, you can’t fail. You have to be at 10. You can’t be at 3 and go in there. So while Rick is down there on the ground and drawing a map, he’s not really looking at Tyreese. Daryl is looking at Tyreese, and he realizes that he may screw this up, so Daryl sides with Tyreese and Rick doesn’t really know why because Rick didn’t see Tyreese flinching like that. So it’s little gift that Daryl gave Tyreese. But Rick listens to Daryl now. So that was between me and Tyreese, and Rick’s done that for Daryl numerous times, and Carol has done that for Daryl, and Glenn has done that for him. It’s these little gifts you give each other to show solidarity and friendship and that you have each other’s backs and that’s what that was. The same thing when I beat the guy over the head with the skull and Rick is ready to shoot him — Daryl wants to play the smart move. Four aces is better than three aces. He just wants to get the girls back, which is why it is so devastating for him in the end. He’s just playing good poker there.

We’ve had some seasons with tons of action and others with tons of character development, but this is I would argue the best one at really marrying both of those things. We got through both the Terminus threat and the hospital threat in only 8 episodes yet we also had a lot of character study in there. Would you agree that this season has excelled in that way?
Oh, man, you ain’t seen nothing yet. It just gets more so. It’s very well thought out this season, and a really strong combination of both of those things — character and action. And with both of those things comes a lot of sorrow and even mini-victories here and there. But it’s gonna become even more complicated in the back eight episodes.

I know you just wrapped production on season 5 last week. What’s that like in terms of bring excited about making it through another campaign but also saying goodbye to this on-set family for a good five months or whatever?
I feel like I’m still in it to be honest. I feel like I’m just visiting my apartment in New York and I’m about to go back. It takes you a while to decompress from it, and all of us are emailing each other on group emails already. All of us are doing that. It’s weird to be home for a minute. Even watching last night’s episode I woke up this morning feeling really down.

In what sense?
Just sad. I woke up sad. You put a lot of time and effort into all of this and you don’t just snap out of it sometimes. So I woke up pretty depressed.

What can you tell us about what we’re going to see coming up when the show returns?
It’s a very different show, the back eight. It’s still the same show, but it’s very different circumstances. Personalities really come to a boil and a lot of unexpected things are going to happen because it’s in a very different vein. You see us in a very different circumstance and it becomes very desperate. And there’s a false level of security that really messes with everyone.

I don’t know if you watched The Talking Dead last night, but Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman went out of his way to explain that Daryl is straight because of all that hubbub where he mentioned in the letters section of the comics that there had been talk of having the character be gay at one point. Does it amuse and confuse you as to why people are so invested in Daryl Dixon’s sexual orientation?
[Laughs] It’s funny that you brought that up because he caught of a lot of grief for even mentioning anything. Sometimes stories just get blown out of proportion. Whatever they gave me to do, I would happily do it and I don’t think it matters one way or another his sexual orientation. He’s an honest, badass dude and he has a lot of heart to him and it doesn’t really matter. It’s so funny when you meet people and their reaction to this and to that — and believe me they go from all the way far left to all the way far right. I didn’t really address that when it came out because it doesn’t matter. And whatever they give me to do, I would have done. But it’s kind of funny watching him cover his tracks a bit. A lot of times stories do get blown way out of proportion.

Gotcha with Emily Kinney

The Walking Dead, 2014-11-02 - EW, The Walking Dead recap: 'Slabtown'

http://tvrecaps.ew.com/recap/the-walking-dead-season-5-episode-4/

The Walking Dead recap: 'Slabtown'

Beth wakes up in an Atlanta hospital, but her rescuers aren't who they seem.

Ep. 04 | Aired Nov 2, 2014

Kyle Ryan on Nov 2, 2014 at 10:00PM

BETH'S BACK But she's not loving her new crew.

Gene Page/AMC

Could there be a less enticing, ominously evocative episode title than "Slabtown"? Ending up on a slab means dying, and anything called Slabtown should almost certainly be avoided. (That said, Portland's Slabtown Bar earns solid marks on Yelp.) The title of the fourth episode of The Walking Dead's fifth season is never explicitly linked to what happens in the episode—there’s no "Forget it, Beth: It’s Slabtown"—but we’ll presumably learn it soon.

Anyone hoping to learn who was with Daryl in the woods was probably disappointed not to have last week’s cliffhanger answered, but we can remove a few candidates from Dalton Ross’ list: Beth, the people who took Beth, and Carol. More on her in a bit.

Beth has traditionally been one of The Walking Dead’s less compelling supporting characters, so it’s nice watching her take on more narrative responsibility lately, beginning back with last season’s "Tempus Fugit." Back on her dad’s farm, Beth seemed content to let Maggie and Hershel be the grown-ups. Even in the prison she stuck to more domestic duties. That made her ill-prepared for a life on her own—as one of her new guardians notes—but times have changed. Beth may still look young and weak, but people underestimate her at their own peril. And they underestimate her repeatedly in "Slabtown."

When Beth disappeared last season in a speeding car with a white cross on the back, my money was on a group of religious fanatics taking her. Surely this world has its share of zealots who have used the zombie plague as justification for bizarre behavior. Where is the Guilty Remnant of The Walking Dead?

Well, it isn’t at the Atlanta hospital where Beth wakes up at the beginning of "Slabtown." But we quickly learn that a different, tidy fanaticism rules Grady Memorial Hospital, as personified by police officer Dawn Lerner (Christine Woods, best known for Go On and Hello Ladies): Order at all costs, down to clothing on their backs.

Lerner quickly makes that clear after explaining to Beth how she ended up there: They rescued her from "rotters" on the side of the road, "so you owe us." That debt informs the rest of "Slabtown," though the terms of it are never made clear. Beth owes them something for saving her, for her food, and presumably her shelter. She works off that debt as a nurse/assistant to Dr. Steven Edwards (Eric Jensen), the good cop to Lerner’s bad cop (and Cullen Moss' worse cop, who would like to repaid sexually).

Rarely is the passage of time clear on The Walking Dead, so it looks like Beth goes from groggily waking up to seeing the plug pulled on another patient in a matter of minutes. As Edwards explains, if patients don’t improve, the hospital euthanizes them—which is an exceedingly polite way of saying he takes them off life support and dumps their bodies down an elevator shaft to be eaten by walkers.

It may seem cruel, but limited resources mean Lerner and Edwards—the hospital’s only doctor—have to be ruthlessly realistic. Except when they don’t: Not long after Beth learns the rules, Lerner and another cop wheel in a new patient, who’d fallen from a building. The guy’s in bad shape; Edwards assesses him as hopeless on first sight: "This one’s a loser. You said you didn’t want me wasting resources." Lerner insists Edwards treat him, so the doctor relieves pressure caused by his collapsed lung, but beyond that he can’t do anything. Bruising on the man’s abdomen indicates internal bleeding, and they don’t have the equipment to diagnose the cause. Edwards again remarks that it’s a waste of resources, so Lerner takes the logical next step of slapping Beth. "Steve, try to grasp the stakes here," she says while Beth looks baffled.

The red flags continue. When officers drag in another "ward" who has been bitten during an apparent escape attempt, Lerner insists on amputating the woman’s arm to save her life, even though she wants to die. "You can’t control them!" the woman, Joan, yells. "I will!" Lerner responds. And because we’ve gone literally minutes without gore, we’re treated to the woman’s arm being amputated with a wire saw. Lerner, it’s clear, only understands force. By the sheer force of clinging to the previous rules of order, she’s going to save the world. Or so she thinks.

Dalton mentioned Tyler James Williams in his post last Monday, and now we have seen Noah (so no, that’s probably not him in the bushes, either). Noah has been working off his debt for a year since he was saved, and he seems to have no idea how much is left on his tab. In fact, he’s never seen someone pay off their debt and walk out the door. Whether that’s because they never finish paying or because they decide to stay at the hospital instead of facing the outside world alone remains to be seen. He has no illusions about his hosts: Lerner can barely keep control of her officers, and her grip is slipping; they left Noah’s injured father when they rescued him, ostensibly because they didn’t have the resources to care for Noah’s dad, but Noah suspects it was really because his dad was bigger, stronger, and unlikely to be pushed around.

"They think I’m weak," Noah tells Beth. "They don’t know shit about me, about what I am. About what you are."

Where men at this hospital see Beth and see a willowy blonde they’d like to bang—you’re no exception, Dr. Edwards—Noah is the only person, man or woman, to see a person who can unload a string of headshots on a group of walkers with icy precision. Well, maybe he doesn’t see that, but he at least grasps her toughness—and she has a chance to show off her gun skills later.

Lerner, rightly sensing she didn’t make the best impression on Beth, tries a softer approach with her later. She brings food and tries to make her case. "You shouldn’t see this as a sentence. I’m giving you food, clothes, protection. When have those things ever been free?" she asks. Then she makes plain the denial feeding her manic devotion to order: When they’re rescued, their sacrifice will have been worth it.

That includes mistreatment of wards by officers of the law sworn to protect them. Lerner clings mightily to the order of the world before the fall, but she’s the only one. Her staff, epitomized by the rapey Gorman (Moss), maintains the minimal amount of peace to keep her satisfied, though it’s unclear why they couldn’t simply pull a coup. "She can control them," Joan tells Beth later, "but she doesn’t because it’s easier. Because she’s a coward."