Jeffrey Dean Morgan Weighs In On That Negan Moment In TWD's Season 11 Premiere
Contains spoilers for Season 11, Episode 1 of "The Walking Dead"
Negan's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) redemption arc on "The Walking Dead" just hit a major pothole.
It all seemed to be going so well. The Season 10C finale, based on the "Here's Negan" one-shot comic, showed the once-brutal leader of the Saviors at his most vulnerable: caring for his sick wife, Lucille. In that episode, she tells him that he made up for not being a great husband by devoting himself to her treatment — even through the apocalypse. At the end of the episode, he says an emotional goodbye to his infamous baseball bat, Lucille, and is seemingly ready to move forward as a new man.
However, "Acheron Part 1" reminds viewers that his cruel ways aren't behind him just yet. The long-awaited return of Maggie Rhee (Lauren Cohan), whom he turned into a widow and single mother, reignites old tensions between Negan and the rest of the survivors. Everyone knows that she wants to kill him, which she openly admits as their group trudges through the walker-infested subway tunnels underneath D.C.
When their group is forced to climb a train car to avoid a rush of walkers, Maggie is the last to go. However, she begins to lose her grip and begs for Negan's help as walkers tug at her ankles. Expressionlessly, he glances down at her and then walks away to join the rest of the group.
So, what did Jeffrey Dean Morgan have to say about his character's choice?
Here's Negan
Though Negan has shown compassion to the group's other resident outcast, Lydia (Cassady McClincy), and didn't hesitate to put his life on the line to save Judith Grimes (Cailey Fleming) or to infiltrate the Whisperers on behalf of Alexandria, he's still got a heck of a mean streak.
"I always have said that regardless of what Negan does that is good, there is still that Negan inside of him," Morgan told Entertainment Weekly, adding that his character will "always be this outsider."
Morgan said that Negan's impulse is to "reach down and save (Maggie)," but he knows that she's just waiting for the right moment to kill him. The EW interviewer asked, "Is leaving someone to die just as bad as killing them?"
"Not in Negan's mind," he answered. "I think there is a huge difference, but I don't think he necessarily leaves her to die. I think it's like, more 'F**k it. You're on your own.'"
"There's no malicious f***ing twirl of the mustache," added Morgan. "It's just like, f**k it. He knows that there's a bullet with his name on it, and he's not going to go out of his way."
With old wounds open and just one last season of "The Walking Dead" to wrap everything up, more showdowns between the feuding fan-favorite characters are inevitable.