AMC has released a featurette for the back half of season five, and while it doesn’t offer much new footage, there are a few details worth mentioning. First off, showrunner Scott Gimple promises “a huge change in the situation for the characters,” which suggests at least a change of scenery. Norman Reedus also mentions that the characters will be walking toward something, instead of away. Does that mean they will finally be heading to D.C.?
On the other hand, Tyler James Williams remarks that he’s looking forward to the back half for “the simple reason that they have nowhere to go,” so maybe they’re wandering again? (Also, it appears that Tyler James Williams will be with the main cast in the back half, having not decided to hang back at Grady). Lauren Cohan also teases that thing are about to get very dark for Maggie, as she struggles with the death of her sister, Beth. Of course, we may also see the Whisperers in the back half.
I think the most interesting thing about the featurette, however, is Rick’s beard. We know that Andrew Lincoln shaved at some point during the season, because Norman Reedus has his beard in his refrigerator. And yet, in the featurette, his beard is all over the place — sometimes shorter, sometimes longer, sometimes grayer. Look at this thing:
That’s gotta be a fake beard, right? The color doesn’t exactly match his hair, and it’s too uniform. Rick’s beard is usually black with grey specks throughout. That’s a more solid shade of greyish black.
Compare that to this shot of Rick’s beard:
That looks like the real Rick Grimes beard.
Mystery solved. Rick Grimes isn’t dying, as had been rumored. He just switched to a fake beard.
