Life in The Walking Dead is never easy for its characters, as Paul “Jesus” Rovia discovered in the midseason 9 finale. Here, the leader of the Hilltop was confronted by a Whisperer, who promptly stabbed him in the heart. It was a pretty shocking death, even for this particular show, and promised a real shake-up for the rest of the season.
Now, we’ve got our first look at where they’re going next thanks to EW. Judging by the picture below, it seems as though we’re picking up exactly where we left off. Jesus’ body has been recovered and will presumably be given a proper burial at the Hilltop. Where things will head from there is anyone’s guess, but I can guarantee it won’t be super happy fun times.
Actor Tom Payne recently went into a bit of detail about what it’s like to die on The Walking Dead, revealing that the cast and crew have some traditions for those leaving the show in a typically gruesome manner.
“We had a little send off dinner like we usually do at a restaurant in Atlanta. But the thing about it was, it was really odd, that sequence, I went back and shot that, we did two days of re-shoots on that, spread apart, as well, to add in different reaction shots and stuff. So I had my kind of like, ‘Yay, and that’s a wrap for Tom Payne,’ and then, it wasn’t because I just kept coming back to shoot that sequence.”
Watching his death, you can tell how careful director Michael Satrazemis was in getting the sequence right. Taking its cues from more traditional horror, there was a really neat use of fog to crank up the suspense levels, and from what Payne says, they shot the scene over and over until it was perfectly pitched.
“The last time I went back, I was literally just lying in a pool of blood while [Aaron actor Ross Marquand] cried over me. “So I had an ending, but it wasn’t really the ending. You know, it’s not the ending until they finish shooting really because you can always do re-shoots and stuff. So yeah, I had an ending but it was pretty drawn out.”
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on February 10th at 9 pm ET. Will you be tuning in? Be sure to let us know by commenting down below.