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SPOILER ALERT: Read only if you have already watchedThe Walking Deads midseason premiere, Rock in the Road.
Smiles, everyone, smiles!
Credit: Gene Page/AMC
Surrounded by a scary-looking, weapon-toting group, Rick retaliated with… a huge grin?
Rick smiling under any circumstances is a momentous occasion, but this one seemed extra curious.
What was behind the beam on Ricks face?
Gene Page/AMC
We went to executive producer Greg Nicotero who also directed the episode for answers.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:Lets start with the very end.
Rick is surrounded by this new group carrying shovels and guns, and he is all smiles.
What is that smile all about?GREG NICOTERO:Of course he is.
Its the perfect ending for the episode.
You know, we see him at the beginning, hes pretty dedicated to putting an army together.
He needs people to fight, so he goes to the Hilltop.
He has a loss with Gregory, but then he has a win with Maggie.
Then they find all the explosives on the freeway.
Thats why he smiles.
I dont think hes worried for a second.
The gears start turning, and then, boom, were out.
So what we like is playing with the idea that it was always intended to be sort of uncertain.
Has Gabriel gone a little crazy?
Did he come up with or brainstorm some plan and hes going to take all the supplies?
Theres even a little subtle thing when hes putting gas in the car.
You might see the reflection of somebody in the car.
Its interesting when you have life imitating art or art imitating life.
And then you have Gregory at the Hilltop, who seems to be working off that same script.
Its a bit of a separated at birth bang out situation.Yeah, I would agree with that.
We want to live.
We want to survive.
We feel that doing that is to follow Maggie.
Xander Berkeleys so good at being a weasel.Hes so good.
That was the first scene Id ever directed with him, and we had a great time.
There are a lot of light moments in this episode.
You know, the first half of the season, it was heavy, man.
They all walked into the theater, and Ezekiels like, Jesus, it pleases me to see you.
And Jerry goes, It pleases him.
Hes like, Jerry!
Its George Costanza, you know?
I know Andys talked to you, and Normans talked to you about the band being back together again.
And whats great about this episode is everybody gets to shine.
Everybody has a bone to pick with Negan.
But then he doesnt.
He offers Daryl asylum, but no troops to fight.
That was a curveball I did not see coming.It is fascinating because weve already seen Richard.
We already know that Richard is not the kind of guy that really wants to be under their thumb.
Hes not having it.
They dont know about Negan.
So I think hes more interested in protecting his own people than putting his neck out on the line.
Hes brought in Carol.
Hes fascinated with them, but the idea that people will die, Ezekiels struggling with that right now.
Like, what defines living?
Okay, lets get to the big crazy action spectacular of the episode.
The group finds a roadblock and there is a cable across the road lined with explosives.
So he grabs all the explosives.
I said, What if exactly the way you have it written, theres the two cars.
Lets be a little audacious.
So we shot that sequence over two days.
I had a drone.
We had electric cars.
We were driving up and down the closed-off section of the freeway filming the cars driving up.
I loved every second of it.
Looking ahead: Will Daryl be able to stare Ezekiel into submission?I dont know.
I think Daryls a little too fascinated with the tiger.
And we all know that Normans been wanting a pet since, like, season 2.
I dont know if its him staring Ezekiel into submission.
Were also going to get a chance to meet a lot of interesting new characters and another locale.
Thats whats great about the show.
So some great stuff coming up.
For moreWalking Deadintel, follow Dalton on Twitter@DaltonRoss.
