Back in 2014, fans of The Walking Dead were annoyed in the season finale when Rick was forced by AMC to deliver a censored version of an iconic line from Robert Kirkman’s comic book. It was the final scene of season four; there was a lot of build up toward it; and when it finally arrived, it felt anticlimactic.”They’re screwing with the wrong people,” Rick said, which doesn’t have nearly as much impact as the uncensored version:
The Walking Dead will no longer have to worry about censoring important F-bombs, however, because AMC has officially relaxed restrictions on the word in The Walking Dead universe. Several other AMC series have been allowed to use uncensored F-bombs already — Mad Men and Breaking Bad did so in their final seasons; Hitler on Preacher has dropped one; and on Better Call Saul, Jimmy even got to say “pig f*cker” — but last weekend, Nick uttered the very first uncensored f-word in Fear the Walking Dead (he dropped it so casually that many fans may not have even noticed). According to Fear showrunner Dave Erickson, AMC has given The Walking Dead universe some more freedom with its language. From Comicbook.com:
“You get a specific number of curse words you can say, and then there’s a list of what you can and can’t do. I think it was our script coordinator told me there was an email had come up; there had been a memo saying we could now say ‘f—’ twice over the course of an entire season. So you’re allowed, at least for now you’re allowed to say it.” Erickson also added “And it’s an interesting line between TV-14 versus TV-Mature. I don’t know at what point AMC corporate decided to allow it, but they did.”
It was an odd place to use it for the first time on Fear, although it did come in the series’ best episode. What it means now, however, is that The Walking Dead will also get to use the word sparingly in its eighth season. I would wager that the series won’t wait long, either. What better opportunity than the upcoming 100th episode?
But who will deliver it? The easy answer might be the foul-mouthed Negan, but given the series’ limitation of two f-bombs per season, it might not be wise to give that ability to him because he could rattle off ten or twelve f-bombs in a single episode (in fact, in the uncensored version of the season 6 finale, he drops 23 f-bombs). It might be funny to give Father Gabriel the first f-bomb, but that joke was already used when the preacher called Spencer a “tremendous sh*t” last season. Either Carol, Daryl, or Morgan could be great candidates, but for maximum impact, my money money is on Carl not only dropping an f-bomb, but being chastened by Rick for it for comedic effect.
However, since The Walking Dead gets use to two f-bombs per season, I know exactly where the second one should come. Near the end of the All Out War, Rick delivers one of his most memorable lines in an exchange with Negan. He says to Negan, “Let me put this in words you’ll understand. F**k you.”
Look for that line, uncensored, possibly in the season eight finale.
