'The Walking Dead': Creator Robert Kirkman on the killer midseason finale and what's next

Destruction, terror and mayhem are not just the lyrics to an awesome LL Cool J song. They also properly describe what went down on last night’s midseason finale of The Walking Dead. In his thirst for revenge, the Governor took Hershel and Michonne hostage, and then sliced off Hershel’s head when Rick refused to have his people leave the safety behind the fence. The Governor then stormed the prison with his tank before being killed himself through a combination of Rick’s fists, Michonne’s sword, and Lilly’s gun.

Now, the prison survivors are scattered and we will have to wait until the show returns on Feb. 9, 2014 for answers. Or will we? We chatted with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman to get his thoughts on what went down, why it went down, and what to expect next. Read on for all the intel! (Also check out our interview with Scott Wilson, who played the dearly departed Hershel.)


ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Okay, you bastard. How could you do that to poor Hershel?

ROBERT KIRKMAN: He was the moral compass of the group and it’s always good to lose the moral compass. It will all become clear when we finally show you the back half of season 4. It wasn’t enough for these characters to lose the prison. They also had to feel some kind of loss over something important and Hershel was that thing that was important to each and every character, so it made the most sense to take him off the table and see how it affects the characters, which we’ll see when we come back in a bit. So there’s a lot of cool stuff ahead because of that.


EW: Why does the Governor put the sword to Hershel’s throat and not Michonne’s? We know how he feels about Michonne so why go to Hershel and not Michonne in that situation?

KIRKMAN: Well, there’s two things: I don’t think he knew that things were going to spiral out of control the way they did right after he killed Hershel so it’s entirely possible that he had a much more horrible plan for Michonne. But two, because of that exchange between Hershel and the Governor in the trailer, and because of Rick’s comments mirroring a lot of what Hershel said, I think the Governor got the sense that this was the guy that was advising Rick and kind of represented the whole “we can all live together in harmony” attitude, and that’s the guy you want to take off the table just to show this is not what’s happening. I’m going to take this prison.


EW: It felt like the one thing we never got last season was that big one-on-one battle between Rick and the Governor. Was there a conscious decision this season of, before this is all said and done, they need to have their big knuckle-blistering brawl?

KIRKMAN: We knew that the audience needed that payoff and ultimately did want to see these two characters clash. It’s also something that didn’t happen in the comics so in that respect I think it’s a cool thing to see some kind of confrontation between these two. So we really wanted to pay off that aspect of it’s Rick vs. the Governor and also do something pretty explosive, and having these two guys duke it out while the prison was falling seemed like a pretty big midseason finale moment.


EW: In the comic, Lilly kills the Governor because she’s mad at the horrible things he made her and the other people of Woodbury do in his quest for power and vengeance. Her motivation here is a little less clear for shooting him. Is it a mercy bullet she gives him, the same way he gave one to her daughter Meghan, or is it out of anger that he came along and ruined everything? Or is it both?

KIRKMAN: It is a little bit of both. In that moment Lilly is very angry with the Governor because she had in the episode prior said, “Let’s not do this. We don’t have to go after this other place.” And she was very much against everything that the Governor was doing and to a certain extent didn’t even see why he was doing it because she didn’t know that burning vengeance that was in the Governor or that desire to control and to have the prison. I think the Governor ultimately hated that there was this group out there that was existing without him and was possibly doing better than him, and it was eating away at him. So I definitely think in that moment when she shot him, she despised him quite a bit. I do think there was a lot of hatred behind that bullet.


EW: The prison has been such an iconic setting for both the comic book and the TV show. What’s it like for you to say goodbye to that?

KIRKMAN: It’s pretty emotional. I definitely do have some pieces from that place that I pocketed as we were tearing it down, so it’s a big deal. But The Walking Dead moves on. That’s what we do. We didn’t stay at the farm. We’re not staying at the prison. We’re always going to be going to new and cool and interesting dangerous places. We’ve had a season and a half of the prison and I think it is time to move on. I think the audience is ready and there is a plethora of really cool stuff ahead. And as hard as it is to leave that comfort zone to think about not really walking in the prison anymore, it’s good to be going off to new places and it’s very exciting doing something new. So I’m happy with it ultimately.


EW: Yet you still have this open-ended question about the identity of the saboteur at the prison? Is that something we will get more clarity on in the back half of the season?

KIRKMAN: Yeah. Definitely. And I will say if you go back and look at the first half of the season, there are actually quite a bit of unanswered dangling little plot threads that we will be picking up with and resolving to a certain extent in the back half of season 4. I’m really pleased with how layered this season has been.


EW: Okay, mister — where’s Baby Judith?

KIRKMAN: Well, she’s not in that car seat. I mean, there might be some of her in that car seat, but you know, the majority of her is not there. That’s another big unknown that we’ll have to find out about when we come back. She could be dead. She could be maimed. She could be fine. We’ll just have to find out.


EW: Maimed? Jeez, Kirkman, bring it down a notch! I thought we had already seen Rick at his lowest point after Lori died, but am beginning to fear we haven’t. What’s his mental state going to be when we pick things back up again in February?

KIRKMAN: Not good is the short answer. There’s always a new low. Whenever I see someone say, “Oh, Rick is at his low!” I’m like, really? Just wait. He’s definitely in a bad place. He and Carl are gonna be on their own for a bit. There’s some pretty dark stuff on the road ahead. They’re both in pretty bad shape. This will be the low for a while and then we’ll find a new one later on, hopefully.


EW: We know that after it all went to hell at Hershel’s farm they had a designated meeting point. Is there a similar plan in place here and if so, how long until people find their way to it? Are we going to see the group reassembled or scattered out for a bit with more individual stories as they try to find their way back?

KIRKMAN: We definitely have a lot of individual stores and I would not expect the group to be getting reunited as quickly as they did at the end of season 2. Or possibly ever. So there’s definitely a lot of unknowns going into the back half of this season. We’ll just have to see if they come together It’s entirely possible that there will be some parts of that group that just don’t quite make it back.


EW: I do know you have characters from the comics like Abraham, Eugune, and Rosita that are going to be showing up. What can you tell us in terms of how and when we may see them?

KIRKMAN: I can say that their introduction will be somewhat similar to how they were introduced in the comic, which I think is a very cool thing. I’m always pushing for big changes between the comic and the show, but when there is a good, natural process to adapt things directly, we do that from time to time to keep people guessing, so we will see a bit of that in their introduction. I think the main thing to look at is that these are some very interesting and dynamic and explosive characters that will be breathing some new life into the show, which is something that all of our new characters do. They’re going to be pushing things in new directions. So they will definitely be an X factor that changes the dynamic of the show quite a bit. There’s cool things ahead with them.


EW: You’ve told me before how you push to make things a little more different from the comic, but it had to be pretty cool to see that iconic image with the Governor and the tank brought to life on the screen.

KIRKMAN: I will admit I teared up a little bit the first time I saw that episode. It’s definitely an indescribable experience and continues to happen. There are always these little moments of making this show where I go, “Wow, I can’t believe that just happened.” And that’s definitely one of them. Seeing those moments and all those elements pulled directly for the comic is pretty bizarre and really cool. And I can say is that there’s a lot more of that coming this season. So stay tuned!

Source: Entertainment Weekly, 2 December 2013
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/12/02/the-walking-dead-robert-kirkman-midseason-finale/

 

Here's Scott Wilson
http://tvline.com/2013/12/01/the-walking-dead-hershel-death-scott-wilson-season-4/

Exclusive Walking Dead Midseason Finale Post Mortem:

 

Walking Dead' Showrunner Talks Bloody Midseason Finale (Exclusive)

9:15 PM PST 12/1/2013 by Lesley Goldberg

The showrunner breaks down season four's deadly midseason finale and previews what's to come when the AMC zombie drama returns in February: "They are moving into very uncharted emotional waters," he tells THR in our weekly postmortem.

AMC

"The Walking Dead"


[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Sunday's "Too Far Gone" episode of The Walking Dead and the comic series it's based on.]

After all of season three and the first half of season four, Rick and The Governor finally came face to face in a bloody battle for the prison during Sunday's season four midseason finale.




During the episode, "Brian" (aka The Governor), takes Hershel (Scott Wilson) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) hostage and tells his group that Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) community were the ones responsible for torching Woodbury, killing his daughter and taking his eye. In a scene ripped straight from Robert Kirkman's comics, The Governor (David Morrissey) leads his group on an attack of the prison after attempts to coexist fail. Following Rick's dire plea for peace, The Governor accuses him of being a liar after the former sheriff tells him that people can change. It's a nod to the journey that both Rick and The Governor have gone on this season and one that doesn't sit well with the eye-patched baddie, who savagely kills Hershel with Michonne's sword.

But the attack doesn't end there. Lilly (Audrey Marie Anderson) -- who kills The Governor in the comics -- brings Megan's (Meyrick Murphy) dead body to Brian and saw him off Hershel. After Rick and The Governor come to blows, Michonne stabs the brutal dictator, getting a helping hand at the end of the episode from Lilly.

The Hollywood Reporter caught up with showrunner Scott M. Gimple to talk about the original plan for The Governor, why Hershel's time was up and what to expect when season four returns Feb. 9.

Was it always the plan to have The Governor die in season four? David Morrissey told us even he didn't know if he was coming back this year until he read the finale script. Why prolong his story to now instead of ending it last season?

This season was my approach from the start and the structure that I had in mind. It did have The Governor's fate sealed in this episode.

Was there any discussion about killing this character at the end of season three?

We threw the ball around on all possibilities last year and threw them around this year; it's part of the writers' room experience. I don't think that there was big push last year for The Governor story to end and I certainly agree that there was more story I wanted to tell with The Governor. I do believe that this episode -- and both the story from the first five episodes and The Governor's two episodes after that -- was those stories crashing together. Those were also the endings to those individual stories. This episode was very much an ending for those two episodes -- "Live Bait" and "Dead Weight" -- for The Governor's story not simply because he died but what he was trying to do at the prison and how everything went down. How he finally was defined to be a person who did what he did.

This season has been criticized for telling the same story as season three. Why not start the season with this conflict and avoid what's been labeled as repetitive story?

I hadn't heard the repetitive charge so much. We wanted to fulfill those two Governor stories plus this last episode was very much about a man struggling with who he was going to be and finally being defined as who he was going to be by his actions. Rick was someone who was trying desperately to become another person as well and when he extends that offer to The Governor -- which takes everything for him to do -- to essentially join him at the prison, that was the end of that story. Both those story lines featured all the characters fulfilling their stories and that took eight episodes.

It seemed as if nearly all of the Woodbury survivors were killed off this season. Was this course correcting from season three?

It wasn't so much course correcting as just part of the story this year and part of the intensity of the first five episodes and this last episode. A lot of those people survive -- we see them pull away on the bus -- so not everybody from Woodbury was killed. There was a significant portion of folks who did make it. The story didn't allow us to really dig into so many of the Woodbury people but I wanted to dig in with as many characters as possible and tell all their stories. In this episode, we closed out a lot of those stories.

When you were planning the assault on the prison, did you always know you'd have a big comic book scene planned for it with the tank and The Governor's famous "Kill them all" line?

Oh yeah. The tank was something amazing from the comic that I wanted to see and knew others wanted to see. It meant a lot when I read it in the comic. That goes back to the first time we talked about -- taking this iconic moment from the comic and using it in the framework of the story we're telling. When The Governor drives that tank in, it's different than it was in the comic; it's very much closing up this guy's story. When he goes into the prison in this episode, it's an incredibly a self-destructive act. He's lost Megan, Lilly has seen him kill Hershel. Why does he drive that tank into the prison? Rick says, "Without the fences, the place is worthless." But The Governor has lost everything; so when he says that iconic line from comic -- "Kill them all!" -- he's just a force of destruction at that point. Everything he wanted the prison to be is over. And that very much fit into the story we were telling.

Why was the time right to say farewell to Hershel after he dodged death in season two? What went into the decision to kill him off after he'd become a vital member of the community?

From a story standpoint, they lost the prison, they lost their home, civilization and Hershel was the embodiment of a civilized and humanistic approach. This episode and where the story is turning is what happens when all that is taken away. Especially for Rick. Hershel was the driving force beyond -- Carl and Judith -- to Rick's change when we join him at the beginning of the season. Everything he tried to achieve had been taken away from him over the first five episodes and now he's lost the person who walked him through that. It's a very important part of the story that Hershel died; it isn't just shock death. We're going to see now with all these things taken away from Rick if he can come back from this. Moving into the next season and a half, the loss of Hershel will be felt and will be this driving element toward Rick's character.

How will Hershel's death change Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Beth (Emily Kinney)?

Incredibly, of course. It helps define both of them into who they become and it affects them very deeply in this next half season and beyond. Hershel's death, the loss of the prison, civilization and everything they built up up, this has all been taken away from them and they are moving into very uncharted emotional waters.

Rick and Carl (Chandler Riggs) presume baby Judith is dead. There's a lot of blood in that car seat. Is she really dead?

There are a lot of walkers around there as well. It did not look good and I don't want to say one way or another but what you see tells a story.

How will Rick handle his grief this time? We presume he won't see visions of Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) or give up his gun again.

This is an unthinkable amount of loss: Hershel, Judith and the prison. Of course it's going to affect him unbelievably and it's a huge part of the story we're moving into. He's definitely not going to see visions of Lori. This is a different loss and will affect him differently. When he lost Lori, he was at a place surrounded by fences with brick buildings. One could argue that he had time to mourn or deal with it -- or not [deal with it] as he did. He's messed up physically from that fight with The Governor and now he's off in the world, that's where we left him. He's in a very different situation where there's going to be some very direct demands upon him of survival.

The group was forced out of the prison and is on the road again. Where do they go from here?

I can't say. If you know the comic, there are a lot of differences from the comic that we do and a lot of differences that we have to do. There's going to be a lot of familiar stuff, brand new stuff and remixed stuff. There are some things where you will totally know them and hopefully be expecting them and then there will be stuff that's brand new that you have no idea if it's coming but it will circle around to moments from the comic. It's very much like these eight. Comic fans once again will absolutely see a lot of iconic moments.

We saw a mysterious cabin and dead military members described as rapists and murderers. That's a big piece to Abraham's story. Will that come back into play?

That cabin in and of itself will not be seen again. That's part of The Governor's story and that story is over.
Daryl (Norman Reedus) learned of Carol's (Melissa McBride) banishment. What can you say about her next appearance?
She's going to appear sooner or later but I can't say much. There is a bit of time from when we saw Merle (Michael Rooker) on the roof in Atlanta and when he rejoined the story. It could be a bit but could be a long bit but she will return at some point. We might have flying cars at that point but she will return.
Will there be a time jump when season four resumes in February?
Not much! There's a lot that happens after the prison. Everyone seems pretty scattered. There's a lot to tell in the aftermath of what just happened.
We still don't know who was feeding the rats at the prison's fences. Is that something that's still on the table in the back half?
We will absolutely find out more about the rats and the person who seemed to dissect that rabbit that Tyreese (Chad Coleman) found in the tombs before The Governor showed up.
Season three moved at a breakneck pace and season four was more of a slower, character exploration. Will the back half of season four have the same pacing as the first eight episodes?
The back half of the season has a wildly different structure to it. It's a very different set of stories and it's very unlike the first half of the season. I can't say without giving stuff up, but it's very different. The same story priorities apply; there's a lot of character exploration but in a very different way. In some ways, the story moves quicker but in a really different manner. As soon as you see the first episode, you'll figure out why and how. Episode 10 [the second one back in February] has a super unusual structure that I'm very excited for people to see. It's very different than the first half.
So flashbacks?
Kind of!
What did you think of The Walking Dead's midseason finale? Were you shocked to see Hershel and The Governor be written out? Hit the comments with your thoughts. The Walking Dead returns Feb. 9 on AMC. Stay tuned to THR's The Live Feed for more Walking Dead coverage on Monday.

 

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Walking-Dead-Robert-Kirkman-Season4-Spoilers-1074084.aspx
[h=1]The Walking Dead's Robert Kirkman Dissects Midseason Finale, Teases What's Next[/h]
Dec 2, 2013 02:28 PM ET
by Natalie Abrams

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The Walking Dead

[Warning: This story contains major spoilers from Sunday's The Walking Dead midseason finale. Read at your own risk!]
The Walking Dead ended the first half of Season 4 with a bang — literally.
After The Governor (David Morrissey) tried and failed to take the prison without any bloodshed, he went in the exact opposite direction, murdering Hershel (Scott Wilson) and telling his new lackeys to "Kill them all!" The Governor also almost claimed Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) life, but Michonne (Danai Gurira) stabbed him in the chest in the nick of time. It was Lilly (Audrey Marie Anderson) who ultimately took The Governor's life, shooting her former lover in the head as the prison fell and its inhabitants scattered amongst the gunfire. What does this all mean for our group of survivors? And is baby Judith really dead? TVGuide.com turned to executive producer and comic book creator Robert Kirkman to get the scoop:
The Walking Dead: Who didn't survive The Governor's assault on the prison?
Talk about the decision to have The Governor die now as opposed to the end of last season.
Robert Kirkman: We had shown that no matter what happened in his life, no matter what decisions that he made, no matter how much he tried to be that good person, he was always going to be somebody who was troubled and who was going to be going after the prison. Having him come around a second time and having this confrontation come to a head, we knew that this was the logical conclusion to his story.
Does Michonne feel a sense of closure having killed The Governor, or will she find that it didn't completely satiate her?
Kirkman: That's definitely something we're going to be dealing with in the back half, but I'm pretty sure she'll find out that you don't quite get as much closure from those things as you think you will. She's still going to have quite a bit of that tormenting her.
What was behind the decision to have The Governor not ultimately claim Rick's arm as he does in the comics?
Kirkman: There are a lot of logistical problems that come from that. Story wise, it's something that I feel like works in the comic and something that I don't necessarily regret, but it does lead to a lot of problems that I'm able to side step in the comics that would be a little bit more difficult in television just because I'm able to have things move in between panels that Rick wouldn't be able to move with one hand believably. It's just not something that we felt was right for the show. Although, Andrew Lincoln is very adamant that he's always wanted to do it. So, it may happen eventually, you never know.

Hershel had survived death once before, so why kill him now?
Kirkman: We'll see this in the next half of Season 4, but it's a pretty huge deal for these characters to be losing the prison and losing this sanctuary, this place that they've built this life in. We wanted to add another layer into that. We'll see a lot of that come into play in the second half of Season 4. The only place that every group is going is away from the prison, which is overrun with walkers and completely destroyed. They're off into the unknown.
Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) was the moral center of the group before he died and then Hershel took his place. Who becomes that moral center of the group now?
Kirkman: That remains to be seen, but we have proven that whoever does become that moral center is definitely in danger, so they should be on the lookout.
The Walking Dead: Is The Governor going to die?
Is baby Judith really dead? And considering that you stayed so close to the comics in all other aspects, why didn't you choose to go the route that would follow her death in the comics more closely?
Kirkman: In the comics, this was the moment where Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) and Judith died. The story has already been changed by having Lori's death happen a little sooner. It's another one of those examples of the comic readers not really having that advance knowledge of what's going to come because something fundamental has been changed. I really like the idea of the comic readers being like, "Wait a minute, Judith was supposed to die here!" Maybe she's dead, but if she's alive, that changes the story in some interesting ways moving forward as we go into some of the other stories from the comics that happened after the prison where Judith wasn't present. It's fun to think about how she could potentially change those stories if she is alive. She certainly could be dead. There's a lot of blood in that car seat.
Will there be a time jump or will the second half of the season pick up right away?
Kirkman: There's no time jump. We wouldn't do that. It's going to pick up pretty much to the minute of where we left off.
You wrote the midseason premiere, so how close will we see it stay to the comics?
Kirkman: The show always veers away from the comics and veers back, but we've now hit a point where it's veering back on for a time. There's going to be a lot of cool stuff coming up that's taken directly from the comics. Everyone is already aware of the fact that characters like Abraham, Rosita and Eugene are going to be introduced real soon. People who've read the comics know they get introduced shortly after the fall of the prison, so you can assume there are some elements of that that's going to be brought in. We always like to keep people guessing. While there will be quite a bit of scenes that are adapted directly from the comics, which I'm very excited about, we are still going to be changing things and keeping people guessing and adding a lot of new elements in the story as well.
Can you talk about the decision to introduce Abraham (Michael Cudlitz), Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt)?
Kirkman: It's always cool for me when big characters from the comics are brought in. We're always introducing new people, but when characters from the comics I'm familiar with and in some cases haven't gotten to write in a while because they've already died in the comics, it's always fun to go back home and spend some time on these characters again.
You're also doing a twist on a comic book character with Gareth (Andrew J. West). Is there anything you can tell us about him?
Kirkman: I can tell you nothing about him.
How will losing the prison, all this death and possibly losing baby Judith affect Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Rick in particular?
Kirkman: It's taking everything away from them. It's putting them in a position where they're on uneasy ground. Rick and Carl are out on their own, they're by themselves with no supplies and no sanctuary. They're definitely in the most dangerous position that they've been in yet, which is where all of the characters are coming out of this episode. We do some really interesting changes in these characters as they're put to the test and have to decide what they're willing to do to survive and how they're going to allow this new environment and new danger to affect them, which is what The Walking Dead is all about.
The Walking Dead recruits Greek alum for major role
At this point, does Rick get a sense that being with a group is also very dangerous in this world?
Kirkman: It's also possible that at the same time he could be thinking we'd never have survived that if we had been alone. This could be reaffirming his stance on, "You need people to survive in this world," which would make it that much more important to him to somehow reconnect with whoever he thinks may have survived. It's important to note that in this episode, the group was split up quite a bit, but if you watch it, you can see that they split up in a way that they don't know if anyone other than themselves actually survived, which is going to be a big element of the back half of the season.
There's also still that lingering storyline about someone feeding the walkers rats.
Kirkman: If you go back and watch the first eight episodes of the season, there are still a lot of lingering thoughts that are still dangling out there that we will definitely be picking up in the back half.
Stay tuned for more Walking Dead scoop in this week's Mega Buzz!
The Walking Dead returns Sunday, Feb. 9 on AMC.

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-deads-david-morrissey-governors-660922
[h=1]'Walking Dead's' David Morrissey on Governor's Fate: He Got What He Deserved[/h] 9:05 AM PST 12/2/2013 by Lesley Goldberg

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[h=2]The actor talks with THR about his character's brutal exit from the zombie drama.[/h]

Gene Page/AMC
"The Walking Dead's" David Morrissey

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from "Too Far Gone," The Walking Dead's season four midseason finale.]
AMC's The Walking Dead parted ways with its biggest villain to date during Sunday's season four midseason finale.
During "Too Far Gone," David Morrissey's the Governor led a brutal and bloody attack on Rick's community in an effort to find a safer home for his new family and group. After taking Hershel (Scott Wilson) and Michonne (Danai Gurira) hostage, the Governor gave Rick (Andrew Lincoln) an ultimatum to vacate the prison. However, after both Hershel and Rick attempted to persuade him that both groups could coexist at the prison, the Governor saw red and decapitated the elder statesman in front of both groups.
It set the stage for Lilly, who earlier in the hour questioned her new love interest's moral center, to deliver the fatal shot that ended the Governor's life after Michonne saved Rick's life and stabbed the eye-patched villain.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Morrissey in London to discuss the Governor's fate and having his own Death Dinner alongside Wilson.
PHOTOS: 'The Walking Dead's' Most Shocking Deaths
What were the conversations like when you learned that the Governor was returning for season four? Did you know he'd have such a limited run?
I knew I wouldn't get to the end of the season but didn't know how limited it would be. I had a word with [showrunner] Scott [Gimple] but I didn't know when he would die or if I would get to episode nine or 10. I had an idea that it would be a good time to go in the midseason finale, and they need to do some big stuff in those episodes. But I wasn't sure until I read the script, and that's when I knew.
Did you know you'd only really be in three episodes?
I didn't. Scott said I'd come in to the season late, but I didn't know when or how late. But he said episode four or five, so I had a ballpark figure in my head about when. But he wasn't specific about how many episodes I'd be in. I didn't know it would be three or four. I knew I wouldn't get to the end of the season. None of us know until we actually read the episodes how long we've got. I only knew that I was going just before the delivery of episode eight. That's when I knew.
What was the conversation like when you found out the Governor would be killed off in the midseason finale?
I did get the death call [from Scott] and it's always a sad one. I knew the Governor wasn't someone who was going to be in it forever. I was very sad because I loved being in the show and working with everybody. Then the double whammy of also being the person who brings Scott Wilson's participation to an end was really heavy. All the episodes are all very demanding and shocking, and we had that at the end of last season when Laurie Holden (Andrea) and Michael Rooker (Merle) were both killed. It's something we go through on The Walking Dead and it's hard when it's other people, but it's just as tough when it's yourself.
STORY: 'Walking Dead' Showrunner Talks Bloody Midseason Finale
Rick tried desperately to persuade the Governor that they could coexist, but the Governor calls him a liar. How much of that was a nod to his attempts to live a peaceful life free of attachments?
It's all about the natural character that one has. The Governor did attempt to turn around and be good and find that family. But once he tries to escape the camp and take the girls with him, he sees that he can't fight this, and he has to confront what's out there rather than run away. He's a different man after episode seven. He knows he's not going to be a diplomat and accept compromise; he's much more of an old conquering man, so it has to be absolute. Once he sees the futility that Megan has died, that death and destruction is all around, it becomes this psychotic place he lives in. And he's in that place of total destruction, so once Michonne kills him, there's a sense that if he's going to go down, he's going to take as many people as he can. I hope he's been a complex character in the sense that you see, following the external battle he wages against the world and the internal battle he wages within himself, that's what I want from the character, and I think that's what the writers have delivered.
Considering his attempts to start over this season and live a peaceful life, do you think the Governor got what he deserved?
Yes, I think he probably did. There are things that he has done that certainly lack compassion and love, but I still think there could have been times in his journey where he could have taken a different option and he could have gone with the best part of himself rather than worst part of himself. The tragedy of him is that he never took those decisions. I never wanted him to be a cartoon baddie, which was just a man doing evil things; I wanted to show a man who you felt could have redemption inside. Maybe if he met someone like Lilly earlier or if he'd listened to a different side of himself he would have been redeemed in some way. But in the end, I think he did get what he deserved. I was very happy that the person who ended his life was Lilly and not Michonne. Michonne condemned him into being a zombie and was very happy to leave him in that horrible place, whereas Lilly was not happy to leave him in that place. She knew that in order to give him freedom, it has to be killing his brain, and that's debatable if that's a compassionate act on her part. But I would like to believe it was.
What was your reaction when you heard how the Governor savagely decapitates Hershel?
There's a double thing there. The Governor killing Hershel, which is horrific, he does it to show the people in prison the nihilistic man he is and his sense of destruction. He knows Hershel is a good man and embodies everything good about the prison and that community, and he kills their most beloved member and that's terrible. All sorts of destruction comes after that. Then there's the other thing in being the man who kills Scott Wilson. Bringing his involvement with the show was very hard, and it was a very emotional day. The way the filming happened, that happened on one day, and everyone came to the set and was there for Scott. It was amazing. Scott went home and three or four days later, it was time for my death, and Scott came back to the set to say goodbye to me. After my death, Scott and I spent the day together and played pool and had a few drinks. It's always very upsetting when someone you love and are friends with goes, and it was very traumatic for all of us.
PHOTOS: Inside 'The Walking Dead's' Spooky Season 4 Premiere
Why do you think the Governor opted to kill Hershel instead of Michonne, who put down Penny?
There's a sense that he wants them to see just how terrible he can be; he wants to shock them. He was planning on killing Michonne afterward, but he has a sword to this man's neck and he was hoping that [Rick's group] would see he was serious and say, "We'll leave [the prison]," but they still weren't saying that. In the Governor's craziness, just like at the end of season three when he has this blackout, he goes into this traumatic place again and blacks out and lashes out. The person he lashes out to is the person whose neck is right in front of that sword. It's to show them how horrible he can be; it's not as thought out as one would like. The Governor's plan is not very thought out; he's expecting them to see he's serious and to give up the prison, but they still don't. He's not there to negotiate.
How did you feel about having to lie to the press about remaining on The Walking Dead after you were cast in AMC's Line of Sight?
I've got to wait and see about Line of Sight. It was very different, and I'm terribly superstitious about these things; I've got everything crossed that it gets picked up. It's a great piece of writing by Blake Masters and really fertile territory to explore for me. But I'm slightly nervous about talking about it because I want it to happen so much! (Laughs.)
PHOTOS: The 'Dead' and the Red: 'The Walking Dead Cast in Character and on the Red Carpet
The Walking Dead is famous for having "Death Dinners" after castmembers are killed off. What was yours like? Did you and Scott Wilson share?
Scott and I had a dinner together. We went out with other members of the cast. What happens at those Death Dinners now that people have heard about them, we tend not to have them in restaurants because if three or four of us get together in a restaurant, people say, "They're going to die!" So we have them in one of the houses of someone we know on the show. It was great, everyone came along and it was very emotional. Like in any workplace, when you spend a lot of time with people, it's important to say goodbye and say how much you've enjoyed working with them and wish them luck. It's a good thing to do; it's the respect you have for your co-workers and that's important in any workplace. Sarah Wayne Callies [whose Lori Grimes was killed off in season three] came. She knew Scott Wilson very well, and it was great to see her and hear what she had to say. It's a very close family. Once you've been in The Walking Dead, you're always in The Walking Dead. I keep very close contact with Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus and quite a few of the cast, including Scott, as well as crewmembers, makeup and camera crew. We're very close; we go through a lot, and it's one of those jobs that means a lot to you in your life, and I will be part of that team all my life. It's a great privilege to have been part of it.
Will you continue to watch The Walking Dead?
Of course I will! I don't know what happens now! I didn't get a chance to read the other scripts. I'm just bummed I have to wait until February until it comes on again. I have no idea what happens from now on, so I can't wait to watch and see what happens.
Will you miss the Governor? Hit the comments below with your thoughts. The Walking Dead returns Feb. 9 on AMC. Stay tuned to THR's The Live Feed for more Walking Dead midseason finale coverage. In the meantime, check out the Governor's demise, below.

 

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/walking-deads-scott-wilson-hershels-661079
[h=1]'Walking Dead's' Scott Wilson on Midseason Finale Shocker: I Could Sense It Was Coming[/h] 11:34 AM PST 12/2/2013 by Lesley Goldberg

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[h=2]The actor talks with THR about his character's final episode on the AMC zombie drama: "If you're going to go, you might as well go with something traumatic like that."[/h]

Gene Page/AMC
"The Walking Dead's" Scott Wilson

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from "Too Far Gone," The Walking Dead's season-four midseason finale.]
AMC's The Walking Dead said an emotional farewell to the show's moral compass during Sunday's shocking season-four midseason finale.
During "Too Far Gone," Scott Wilson's Hershel Greene became The Governor's final victim after he was taken hostage in the villain's failed attempt to take over the prison.
After multiple attempts to convince The Governor (David Morrissey) that both his camp and Rick's (Andrew Lincoln) group could coexist at the prison, the eye-patched baddie proceeded to slash Hershel's neck with Michonne's (Danai Gurira) katana as his daughters Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Beth (Emily Kinney) looked on in horror.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Wilson to discuss Hershel's brutal slaying and having to share a death dinner with the actor who killed his character. Read our postmortem interview with Morrissey here, and our chat with showrunner Scott M. Gimple here.
PHOTOS: 'The Walking Dead's' Most Shocking Deaths
What were the conversations like when you learned that Hershel was being killed off?
It was something that I sensed before the conversations took place -- like in episode 403, with the speech he has about the risk of being alive in that postapocalyptic world. In episode 405, when he had so much to do, I knew it wasn't a good sign for him. After that episode, [showrunner] Scott Gimple called me in and told me that I'd be written out. It's a tough position for him to be in because he has a genuine concern for all the actors. It was my turn. And you know that going in, that at some point you'd have that day.
After escaping death in season two and surviving a leg amputation to become the head of the prison council, how long did you think Hershel could survive?
I didn't try to anticipate what would happen. Ernest Dickerson, who shot the first episode I was in, also took my leg off and ultimately got my head. (Laughs.) He's a great director and a lot of fun to work with. I survived my first season after [then-showrunner] Glen Mazzara told me I'd be taken out and then Scott [Gimple] told me he'd be taking me out. I told Scott, "I think you're making a big mistake, but it's yours to make and I'm not going to try to talk you out of it." I also empathize with the position he was in when he told me where he visualized the show going. I didn't have that much to say. It was a two-and-a-half-season run that was very fun and I'm not really used to working on a character for that time frame. You start reading lines and thinking it may pay off down the road, and quite often it did.
PHOTOS: Inside 'The Walking Dead's' Spooky Season 4 Premiere
Why do you think The Governor opted to kill Hershel instead of Michonne, with whom he has a brutal history?
Maybe he was planning to take both of them out. But once he took that action, it set off something that he lost control of pretty quick. I love the scene with the tank at the bottom of the hill, the cars and troops with artillery and Rick walking down the hill with the pistol on his hip to face all these war weapons. It was like an old Western, like High Noon, with a shootout on Main Street. David did a wonderful job; the more villainous he is, the stronger it made Hershel's death. It's wonderful to watch an actor do something that the audience will not respond well to, and David did a wonderful job. I'll miss working with the actors, writers and crew who all put so much into the show.
What was your reaction when you heard how The Governor savagely decapitates Hershel?
[Exec producer and VFX guru] Greg Nicotero made a duplicate head for me, so I have my head in a closet in a trash bag. (Laughs.) If you're going to go, you might as well go with something traumatic like that. It was fun and I have nothing to regret. I love the fact that they gave me episodes 403 and 405 with Hershel being proactive and acting on what he'd been talking to Rick about from season two: finding the place of humanity in this apocalyptic world. Ultimately, those speeches paid off. When he was looking at Rick [just before his death] and had a smile on his face, he realized that there was a chance for people because Rick was now naturally saying what they had been talking about and embracing what they talked about.
PHOTOS: The 'Dead' and the Red: 'The Walking Dead Cast in Character and on the Red Carpet
Considering his attempts to start over this season and live a peaceful life, do you think The Governor got what he deserved after killing Hershel?
Certainly it was warranted; he was a pretty vicious psychopath. He did horrendous things and didn't blink when he was doing them. I would say that his demise is as warranted as any demise on the show from the beginning.
How do you think Hershel's death will impact Maggie and Beth?
It will be interesting to see. I'm a fan of the show and will have to watch to see. It's been fun for me to watch the actors growing and becoming more the characters that they're playing. It will be fun to see how Hershel's two daughters develop and how Glenn [Steve Yeun], his son-in-law, evolves.
What was your death dinner like with David Morrissey this time sitting at the head of the table?
It's otherworldly in a way. It's a death dinner but you still feel so alive. It's a great expression by the cast for everyone. Those who are still alive have gratitude to those who came before them, and we have these [dinners] to honor them.
Will you continue to watch The Walking Dead?
Oh yeah! I've been a fan of the show the entire time. I didn't watch the episodes until after the season ended but now I can watch on a weekly basis.
How did your 99-year-old mother, who is a fan of the show, like the episode?
She saw it and some of her friends were asking how it felt to see her son lose his head. She said, "That's not my son, that's Hershel!" Over the course of my career, she saw me hanged in In Cold Blood. Her response was the same then: "That's not my son, it's Richard Hickock!"
What do you have coming up next?
Right now I'm stepping back and seeing what's out there. I did work on something a couple weeks ago that they haven't announced yet.
What did you think of Hershel's death? How do you think his loss will impact Rick and company? Hit the comments below with your thoughts. The Walking Dead returns Feb. 9 on AMC.

 

I think that's it, [MENTION=3700]H5N1[/MENTION] and [MENTION=4329]legendx66[/MENTION]

 

He had never heard of the show or the comic !!

Did you watch the show or read the graphic novel prior to your role?
No. I didn't know what I was getting myself into

 

What I sent you the PM about