By all accounts, The Walking Dead pulled off the unique feat of simultaneously breaking hearts, turning stomaches and even haemorrhaging the goodwill of some of its viewers during one single episode. Kudos! Seeing as Negan’s handiwork was received by the audience like a cable snuff film, it’s understandable that fans of the series might be reluctant to go back to that designated brutality zone. What if there was a pseudo-promise of (comparatively) cheery things and sweet sweet tiger action? Who could resist that pull?
Make-up effects guru and season premiere director Greg Nicotero says the next episode of the series will have a different tone. Y’know, one of those tones that have a ray of hope to it.
“The tone of it is probably the exact opposite of the first episode,” offered Nicotero in Entertainment Weekly.
The follow-up episode has a more positive vibe to it, although fans still mourning the premiere would likely consider that a low bar. Don’t get too down, gang. The age of Ezekiel sounds like fun.
“The Kingdom is a place of light,” says Nicotero. “It’s a place of life, a place where people seem to have figured it out and have been working together to build a thriving and vibrant community very, very different from anything our group has come upon in the past. And they’re led by a guy with a tiger. There’s an aspect of ‘I don’t get this place, but you’re doing it right and how’s that possible?’ But Lennie and Melissa are doing some amazing, amazing stuff coming up in this episode. And Khary Payton, who plays Ezekiel, is a freaking terminator. He showed up with pages and pages of dialogue to do and he never missed a line. He was so, so excited.”
The Walking Dead returns tonight (October 30) on AMC.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
