We haven’t got long to go now until The Walking Dead makes its return to AMC, and in hopes of drumming up some excitement for what’s so far been a mediocre season, the cast and crew have been doing the press rounds and dropping a few hints as to what we should expect.
From reports of violence being toned down (which may not have even been accurate) to promises of more levity being added into this next batch of episodes, it seems like things are going to be changing quite a bit, and with an all-out war being teased between Rick and Negan, the show should have no trouble barrelling towards an explosive conclusion in a few months’ time.
That’s something which Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne, re-iterated to Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview, saying that the upcoming action on The Walking Dead will be “riveting, really riveting.”
It’s really, really riveting, and it goes through various rich chapters of being responsive to a very daunting force, that new force that is a part of our new normal. It’s the idea of how they start choosing to respond to this threat that makes for some really fantastic drama. So I think there’s just a really riveting second half to the season in terms of we’re rising up, but what does that look like? And how the heck are we going to do that? It’s great to be a team again, but we’re dealing with the biggest threat we’ve ever dealt with, and so our tactics have to be different.
Speaking about her character in particular, the actress noted that Michonne is motivated by both rage and love.
Really, all that she does now is about who she loves and it’s about this community. So, even that rage and that desire to get back at Negan was all rooted in the love for these people, and the horrific losses that they just experienced, and how it’s just not in her nature to just take that and say, “Okay, I’ll now submit to you because you’ve got us really good.” No. No. That’s not who she is.
Gurira’s comments sound promising, to be sure, but given that the first half of the season has been pretty underwhelming, we don’t want to get too excited just yet. It does seem like things are going to begin to pick up, and we’re certainly hopeful, but until we lay eyes on the next few episodes, we’ll remain cautiously optimistic.
That being said, it’s clear that something big is about to go down between Rick and co. and the villainous Negan, and if the comics are any indication (which, they usually are), it’s going to really shake things up in a big way. Season 7 has thus far been taking its time in building up to the conflict, but with the second half now here, it sounds as if things are set to go from 0 to 100 real quick.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on February 12th, 2017.