It’s no secret that the seventh season of The Walking Dead was the most divisive run of AMC’s zombie drama yet. In an attempt to bring the characters down to their lowest ebb, as Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan lorded it over Rick Grimes and the others, the season ended up being a grim, aimless watch.
One person who was hit paticularly hard by the seventh run was Daryl, as Norman Reedus’ fan favourite didn’t get much to do other than be Negan’s disheveled prisoner. It’s not surprising, then, that the actor has now admitted that he didn’t have a great time filming the last season. However, Reedus did promise that season 8 is a massive improvement, as it’s returned to what he loves about the show.
“It feels like our original show again. I didn’t love last season, shooting it. I didn’t see anyone. I was crying all the time. I was naked and eating dog food. It was just no fun. This season feels like our show again.”
The actor’s words will definitely be music to the ears of fans. Thankfully, he’s not the only one promising that things are going to get better in the new run, either. Tom Payne – who plays Jesus – has previously said that The Walking Dead will return with “a big bang” and be full of “crazy action.” He added: “Every single episode in the first half there’s a moment which makes you go, ‘Wow, oh my god, I can’t believe that.’”
Thanks to the extra-long first trailer for season 8 released at Comic-Con, we already have an idea of what Daryl will get up to this year. In a glimpse at an exciting sequence, we saw the character riding his motorcycle through an explosion. With that in mind, it makes sense that Norman Reedus had a much better time filming the new episodes.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on October 22nd.