‘The Walking Dead’ Finale: Everything You Need to Know About How It Ended, Surprise Cameos and What’s Next With the Spinoffs - Variety

Warning: Don’t open, spoilers inside. Stop present if you haven’t yet watched “The Walking Dead” bid finale, which aired Sunday nighttime connected AMC.

“The Walking Dead” ended its 11-season and 177-episode AMC tally connected Sunday nighttime with a hopeful note, arsenic the Commonwealth had entered a play of bid and the show’s stars prepared to spell their ain ways. But it besides closed with a glimpse astatine what bid favorites Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) — who haven’t been seen successful a fewer years — person been up to.

That astonishment scene, which sets up the upcoming “The Walking Dead” spinoff starring Lincoln and Gurira, was filmed nether implicit secrecy connected the program’s Georgia workplace batch this past summer, aft the remainder of the amusement had already wrapped.

“We did a concealed shoot, and my full happening was, tin we delight support this 1 concealed from the audience?” enforcement shaper Angela Kang says. “Because things were leaking near and right. We had to fell this. So, we filmed it erstwhile cipher was expecting.”

The bid ender, “Rest successful Peace,” serves arsenic closure portion besides preparing fans for the multitude of spin-offs (including 1 featuring Rick and Michonne) that are coming. But conscionable arsenic the Rick and Michonne country astir didn’t happen, immoderate of the tie-ups mightiness person besides looked a spot different, Kang and enforcement shaper Scott Gimple archer Variety — including however Daryl (Norman Reedus) sped disconnected into the sunset.

Variety spoke with Gimple and Kang, arsenic good arsenic stars Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, to reply immoderate of the burning questions astir the wrapper up of “The Walking Dead” and what comes next.

“We’re the ones that live” — that chant, from the survivors (and particularly, the children) is however “The Walking Dead” concludes. It’s a hopeful note, with Ezekiel (Khary Payton) named politician of the Commonwealth and a consciousness of stableness and calm successful the aerial pursuing 1 last showdown with politician Pamela Milton (Laila Robins).

“Commonwealth had specified an illustration of doing it the incorrect way,” Gimple says. “And we had radical that were truthful bare for an accidental to bash it the close way. I deliberation that’s what enabled this communicative to person a happy-ish ending. That these characters had been done truthful much. And determination was a constituent to it. The constituent was, they figured retired to a grade however to unrecorded and that beyond staying fed, staying clothed and staying warm, that decency and fairness has to beryllium portion of the equation. Pamela’s strategy was rotten. They yet recovered a spot wherever applying fairness and decency to a colonisation that was precise bare for it, could make a sustainable situation.”

The finale, directed by Greg Nicotero and written by Corey Reed and Jim Barnes, is meant to evoke a feeling “like we’ve closed a section here,” Kang says.

“What truly worked successful our vantage is that from the root worldly itself, [‘The Walking Dead’ creator Robert] Kirkman’s imaginativeness of the comic is it closes a section and past different doorway opens. Because successful immoderate ways, it’s the zombie communicative that ne'er ends. That consciousness of things are inactive happening successful the background, and not everything has been fixed. But neither is it conscionable benignant of a nihilistic presumption of the world, wherever each these radical effort to past for years and past fail. The intent is to adjacent the chapter, but then, fto radical consciousness similar there’s different crook to the story.”

Morgan, who plays Negan, jokes that helium was disappointed that “we didn’t termination everything,” but past adds, “There was 2 ways to go. One we could person conscionable wiped retired everybody and fixed zero anticipation for this satellite and what was to travel and the different was to springiness a small spot of hope. I deliberation we had to extremity connected with immoderate levity and a bully small thing. Otherwise, cipher would person showed up for the past fewer days of filming!”

Says Cohan (who has played Maggie since the show’s 2nd season): “I thought that it was conscionable nourishing and honoring of the radical and was honoring of the 11 years. I deliberation we addressed the happening that has made the amusement truthful resonant for people. I felt truly moved and truly comforted and reminded of wherefore it’s been specified a bully acquisition to bash it.”

There’s a batch to unpack from the finale. Here are much things we learned astir however “The Walking Dead” ends.

Rick’s and Michonne’s finale country volition marque consciousness erstwhile you spot their spinoff.

“Andy and Danai and I’ve been moving connected that communicative for truthful long, we knew it wrong and out,” Gimple says. “And we were conscionable choosing the close spot wrong that story, to get to the thematics that we needed to reason the Walking Dead. What is the constituent of their circumstances, that shows them needing the spot that they gully from each other. We weren’t vamping. People volition larn each astir everything they spot there. All volition beryllium revealed. The communicative down the armor that Michonne is wearing is important. What Rick is doing is captious to his communicative and what helium hears from the helicopter. There’s a existent satellite that we got to peek into that radical volition person to unrecorded successful respective months.”

Bringing backmost Rick and Michonne for the finale was a precedence — but it wasn’t easy.

“As we were preparing a transportation for what the play could be, I had each the AMC execs and our producers successful the room, and I was like, ‘listen, successful my opinion, the show’s not implicit without bringing backmost Rick and Michonne,’” Kang says. “Because we cognize they’re retired there. And I had an perfect communicative mentation of what I’d similar to happen.”

This was backmost successful 2020, erstwhile the archetypal program was to nutrient a bid of Rick Grimes movies. (The program shifted to a constricted bid with Lincoln and Gurira later.) “For a while, it didn’t look similar it was going to beryllium capable to happen,” she says. “It took a batch of conversations, a batch of shifting circumstances and conversations with some Andy and Danai that Scott and I had.”

Andrew Lincoln had a main petition for his return: That the finale of “The Walking Dead” didn’t extremity connected Rick.

“For Andy and Danai it was important to them what this quality was going to beryllium and that it wouldn’t overshadow thing that was happening successful the main story,” Kang says. “Andy was truly clear, helium did not privation to beryllium the past happening that the amusement ended on. He felt similar that was not correct, due to the fact that helium had left. There were a batch of radical moving connected it for a agelong clip with antithetic angles with bully intentions and bully faith.”

For the Rick and Michonne scene, Gimple handled the penning duties.

“We were truly excited erstwhile it came together,” Kang says. “Scott was gracious capable to constitute that conception of it. I would person been blessed to constitute it. But helium was already moving with Andy and Danai astatine that constituent to effort to fig retired the rotation off. And I was like, ‘Do you privation to conscionable constitute it and past we tin marque definite that you get what you request retired of it for the adjacent show?’ He worked precise intimately with the actors. I worked a batch with him. I haven’t had this level of nonstop collaboration with Scott since helium was moving the show. He and I are ever talking astir the show, but we really got to enactment connected thing truly intimately together, which was fun. And that’s however it came together. Both (Lincoln and Gurira) were determination astatine the aforesaid time. But their pieces are truthful abstracted since they’re not successful the aforesaid space. But they were determination connected the aforesaid days and everything.”

Gimple says helium wanted to marque definite the Rick and Michonne country didn’t overshadow the program connected however they wanted to necktie up “The Walking Dead.”

“There were ways that we played astir with showing less, showing more,” helium says. “I deliberation we recovered the close cocktail of being legit about, OK, this is wherever these radical are. We’re not making a trailer for the caller show. But if we’re going to see them, we got to beryllium legit astir wherever they are. That volition make a batch of questions. But we’re hoping that with what they’re saying and the narration of what each different is saying, that audiences, their affectional absorption of the thematics coming unneurotic implicit with those peeks into this caller world.”

Negan and Maggie look to person a new, peaceful understanding. But that won’t last, arsenic we volition spot successful their spinoff, “Dead City.”

“’Détente’ is benignant of a bully connection for it,” Gimple says of the truce betwixt the two, aft Negan apologies for brutally sidesplitting Glenn, the emotion of Maggie’s life. “It’s not wholly settled with a bow. In fact, there’s an invocation that it volition ne'er beryllium settled.”

Adds Kang: “They’ve benignant of gotten to a spot wherever they’ve said each the close things to effort to spot things up. But it’s not resolved. Because I deliberation for Maggie, she conscionable can’t bring herself to forgive him. It’s a large ask. And I deliberation for Negan, the existent maturation that helium has shown is that it’s not conscionable that helium tries to bash things to assistance her. He had to ain up to his ain actions, accidental the words and besides judge that she’s not ready. And erstwhile helium walks distant arsenic the remainder of the radical is successful the house, that’s him benignant of recognizing, ‘I should beryllium with my woman close now. And I’m not going to origin her much pain.’ Negan had the furthest to go. And I deliberation that it leaves them successful an absorbing place, due to the fact that their narration could extremity successful immoderate direction. It’s volatile, you know?”

“Dead City,” which features Negan and Maggie successful Manhattan, volition instrumentality spot a fewer years aft the extremity of “The Walking Dead.”

“’The Walking Dead,’ the archetypal that we’re talking astir here, I thought it ended possibly with a batch much anticipation than what the caller amusement starts with,” Morgan says. “As acold arsenic the 2 of them. I thought determination was similar a small knowing determination with Maggie and Negan determination astatine the end. And past the mode that caller amusement starts, it’s possibly not truthful overmuch arsenic Negan had hoped for… The caller amusement doesn’t commencement instantly pursuing what we spot hap connected Sunday night. A mates of years person passed and erstwhile you drawback up backmost to these 2 characters and yeah, it’s astir apt not arsenic hopeful arsenic possibly what Negan had hoped erstwhile they’re sitting astir the campfire, determination together.”

Has Negan genuinely changed? “I similar to deliberation that helium is simply a amended man, due to the fact that of each of it and sees the mistake successful his ways,” Morgan says. “That being said, I don’t cognize that Negan volition ever wholly alteration his stripes. I deliberation successful this world, helium has recovered a mode to survive. And though helium has tried hard to beryllium portion of this radical of ours, near to his ain devices, I wonderment however easy it volition beryllium to gaffe into immoderate aged habits.”

Cohan besides notes that this Negan/Maggie bid we spot successful the finale does not clasp implicit to the caller amusement — adjacent though they’re intelligibly successful immoderate this caller setup is together. “The happening she tries to bash successful the finale doesn’t work,” Cohan says. “She’s huffy astatine him each implicit again. Yeah, Negan does stay what Maggie sees arsenic the main root of her [grief]. ‘This happening is insurmountable, this anticipation I person seems impossible, but I’m gonna enactment connected a brave look and I’m deciding this is however I’m gonna feel.’ Things don’t truly possibly enactment retired if I’m not going to springiness immoderate spoilers, but she’s thrown backmost into benignant of a little than perfect concern and it does look to beryllium a pattern. You tin effort and things inevitably don’t enactment retired excessively easily.”

“Dead City” volition so springiness “The Walking Dead” much of a consciousness of wherever things upwind up successful the post-apocalyptic large cities. “We’ve done the woods,” Morgan says. “So being successful an municipality mounting and seeing however the survivors person survived and what they’ve turned into. Not to notation the zombie of it all.”

Daryl and Carol were primitively acceptable to caput retired unneurotic — until Melissa McBride bowed retired of the show, acceptable to beryllium filmed successful Europe.

“This is thing that changed a small spot towards the extremity due to the fact that of shifts that happened with the rotation off,” Kang says. “Originally those who were going to thrust disconnected unneurotic connected the motorcycle. But erstwhile we got to the mentation wherever we person to divided them, what felt similar it needed to beryllium is that it is precisely what it is successful existent life, which is that determination is simply a impermanent divided betwixt these two. And past a batch of circumstances are going to instrumentality implicit successful the rotation off. But they don’t deliberation that this is simply a goodbye forever. Because it’s not, they’re ever going to find a mode backmost to each other. Norman and Melissa had immoderate circumstantial asks that they had for what they wanted their last large country to consciousness like. I had drafted a antithetic mentation of it before. And they were like, well, we’d emotion it to consciousness a small much similar this. And truthful I did a rewrite connected it. And I deliberation that they truly brought a batch of conscionable truly existent beauteous emotion to what they did.”

That “I emotion you” speech betwixt Daryl and Carol was inspired by the real-life enslaved among the formed and unit down “The Walking Dead.”

“It was important to each of america that they explicit to each other, ‘I emotion you,’” Kang says. “This is simply a formed and a amusement household wherever we each archer each different ‘I emotion you’ each the time, down the scenes. Norman and Melissa volition accidental ‘I emotion you,’ similar we accidental ‘I emotion you’ to each other. That’s conscionable what ‘The Walking Dead’ household is like. And I deliberation due to the fact that this amusement is truthful overmuch astir those recovered families, it felt similar that was a truly important infinitesimal that not conscionable betwixt them, but astir the full thing. It’s astir however these 2 people, who are implicit strangers, person travel to a constituent wherever they mean truthful overmuch to each other, and they would bash thing for each other.”

Christian Serratos, who plays Rosita, made a peculiar petition that her quality dice successful the finale.

One of the much affectional moments is erstwhile Rosita, a quality archetypal introduced successful Season 4, dies aft redeeming her baby. “She felt that the extremity of her communicative should beryllium that she sacrifices herself oregon dies successful the pursuit of trying to prevention her kid and the adjacent generation,” Kang says. “We effort to instrumentality those benignant of things into account, if actors travel to america and go, ‘I deliberation it’s important that the extremity of my communicative feels similar this’ and that’s benignant of the collaborative portion of what we do. We gave that a batch of thought and talked astir it with assorted radical who get to o.k. oregon not o.k. definite decisions. I deliberation Christian did an astonishing occupation successful the episode. I cried the full time, arsenic she was doing her scenes. It was truly chill to spot conscionable the relationship that Christian and Josh [McDermitt, who plays Eugene] person successful existent life. It coiled up moving truly beautifully.”

Jeffrey Dean Morgan says he’d emotion to spot a reunion amusement of sorts 1 day, arsenic the characters heading disconnected to the assorted spin-offs possibly get backmost together.

“I wouldn’t hatred that idea,” helium says. “All sorts of ideas are beryllium bantered about. But I don’t know. That’s supra my paygrade. But I deliberation it would beryllium cool. I don’t cognize what each the timelines are. It seems to maine matching up timelines seems to beryllium a bigger occupation than thing other successful this universe. Whether it’s ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ oregon us, everybody’s timeline doesn’t ever lucifer up. I mean, you know, everybody could die. I could dice successful this spinoff!”

Meanwhile, the “memory lane” look backmost astatine characters and actors who person near “The Walking Dead” implicit the 11 years was besides a tribute to the show’s changeless evolution.

“I deliberation that the communicative that we’ve ever been telling is 1 that is reaching for hope,” Kang says. “Even erstwhile the amusement had its saddest moments, it was ever astir the radical who are trying to propulsion themselves retired of that and effort to scope for thing much and effort to make a satellite that is going to enactment for their children. So, humanity doesn’t extremity with them.

“I’ve ever felt this communicative is trying to archer you is that this recovered household is truly powerful. And by bonding unneurotic implicit these years, there’s a batch that they tin execute and the sacrifices that everybody has made from the past. So going backmost to this thought of these images from the past —all of those memories, each of those things they’ve learned, each the radical they’ve lost. If you deliberation astir fearfulness movies, they astir ever extremity up connected a enactment of hope. So that’s benignant of what we’re going for.”

Adds Gimple: “Making the show, determination truly is conscionable this continuum of the radical who worked connected it implicit the years. The relationships that were formed, the handing disconnected of the amusement from 1 idiosyncratic to others, it turns into this thing. This 1 agelong line. And that’s what we decided to enactment up connected the screen. That’s what we decided to enactment our last statement for ‘The Walking Dead.’”