[h=1]The Walking Dead Postmortem: Andrew J. West on His "Meaty" Monologue and That Final Scene[/h]
Oct 19, 2014 10:00 PM ET
by Adam Bryant

Andrew J. West

[WARNING: The following story contains spoilers from Sunday's The Walking Dead and the comic books that inspired it. Read at your own risk.]

"At the end of the day, no matter how much we may detest this ugly business...a man's gotta eat."

The Walking Dead's Season 5 premiere finally confirmed that the people of Terminus are indeed cannibals. But Sunday's episode revealed Gareth & Co. to be something else: the Hunters.

Having escaped Terminus, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the rest of his band of survivors began the hour on the road, where they came across the mysterious Gabriel Stokes (The Wire's Seth Gilliam), a local reverend who was on the losing end of a battle with a group of walkers. After Rick & Co. saved Gabriel, he led them back to his church, where he had mostly kept himself locked away from the zombie apocalypse.

The Walking Dead boss on the truth about Terminus and the road ahead

But like so many places before it, the church wasn't exactly a safe haven. In fact, when the previously upbeat Bob (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) stepped outside the church for a good cry — our theory: He was actually bitten by the walker who attacked him during the supply run — he was knocked unconscious by a hooded man. When Bob woke up, he was once again face to face with Terminus leader Gareth (Andrew J. West), who more clearly explained his "butcher or cattle" philosophy... by amputating and eating Bob's leg!

The longer Gareth's monologue went on, it became more and more clear what executive producer Robert Kirkman, who wrote the episode and co-created the comic books that inspired the show, was up to: The Terminans are in fact the cannibalistic group of survivors known in the comics as the Hunters. Gareth even ended his speech with the famous "a man's gotta eat" line originally spoken by the Hunters' leader Chris. TVGuide.com chatted with West to find out how he reacted when he first saw that "meaty" monologue and what Gareth's plans are for Rick and the other survivors. Plus: Is Bob definitely a goner?

All summer long, we wondered if the people at Terminus would be the cannibals from the comic. This episode answered that question pretty overtly. Did you know all along?
Andrew J. West: I was shocked by it. I'm a fan of the comic book, and I was very familiar with the story line of the Hunters. But even going into Episode 2, I didn't know how closely Gareth would be based on the Chris character. But I was so, so excited about it. [Executive producer] Scott Gimple told me that I would be in Episode 2, but I had no idea where the story was going after the premiere. So, I'm flipping through [the script], and... all of a sudden, I get to the second or third to last page and I see that monologue, and I was just smiling from ear to ear. I was so thrilled to get to bring that section of the comic book to life because the panels and the imagery and the language are striking. It's striking when you read the book, and I think they nailed it in the episode.

The Walking Dead: 5 burning questions for Season 5

Once you realized Gareth was based on Chris, did you go back to the source material to inform your character, or had you already made up your mind about who Gareth was?
West: Looking at the comics isn't really necessary at that point, because the TV show is its own thing. ... So, no, it wasn't a matter of rethinking the character or going back to the comics and finding inspiration. It was a matter of continuing to have conversations with Scott Gimple and really just continuing to take it scene by scene and being very specific on what I'm doing, what I'm trying to get from these people and why.

Why do you think Gareth and his group decided to become cannibals? There are other ways to fight back, right?
West: It's certainly extreme, but I think it's the logical development of that character. A lot of people would say, "Come on, man, you can find any other option than that!" But I don't think Gareth believes that or feels that way. For him, it's like, "In this world, it's us or them, and 100 times out of 100, I'm picking us." This is the only way to make sure that it's us. Gareth is a guy who has made up his mind about the way in which to approach this new world... He's made up his mind based on what has happened to him in the past. So, I think it's the logical conclusion for him.

Gareth says to Bob, "It's not personal. A man's got to eat." But does Gareth take some vengeful pleasure in the fact that he's noshing on one of Rick's people?
West: Some people might call bulls--- on this, but I have never seen Gareth as a vengeful person. For Gareth, I don't think it's about revenge. I think he certainly takes pride in a job well done, and for him, he and his people have come up with a system of surviving, and it's worked very well for them. He takes pride in the fact that he does it well. I think a lot of that comes from, "Look, we're good at what we do, and you're not going to beat us." So it's more pride than it is revenge.

The Walking Dead renewed for Season 6

There is some poetry to the fact that Gareth is eating Bob, whom Gareth told in the premiere "there's no going back."
West: Oh, yeah. It's one of the central tenets of [Gareth's] philosophy. Bob has a conversation with Rick about, "This is a nightmare, and we're going to wake up from this eventually and we're going to go back to the real world." Gareth feels 100 percent opposite. For him, this is it, and you've got to wake up and figure out the way to calibrate your moral compass in this new world. It's totally different than it was before the apocalypse happened, and if you don't get that, then it's too bad for you because you can't go back.

You said Gareth isn't interested in revenge. So, do you think he wants to use this experience with Bob to force Rick into submission? Maybe use this as a recruiting tool?
West: What is much more important to Gareth — more so than vengeance, certainly more so than some sort of sadistic impulse, which I don't think is a part of his persona — is survival. [He's after] whatever would best serve him and [allow his group to survive] for the longest period of time. Whatever system he can find to allow his survival is the system that he will subscribe to.Now, if that happens to include joining forces with another group, or if that happens to include destroying another group, he'll do it. It's just about surviving and whatever it takes to get that job done. We're going to see as we move on from here how he goes about trying to accomplish that.

You mentioned before how confident Gareth is that his group will win, but he's already seen how resourceful Rick & Co. were in busting out of Terminus. Isn't he leery at all?
West: I think that Gareth was leery of Rick the moment he met him. Gareth knew immediately that he was confronted with a really strong individual who is [also] capable of surviving. Gareth is a smart guy, and I think he knew that he had to be very careful with Rick from the beginning. So that has certainly carried over to this point, because now he doesn't have Rick under his control. Having said that, I think he is confident that he will win out because he is so certain about the right way to exist in this world... and he's not second-guessing himself. He's all in. That's one essential difference between him and Rick. I think that Rick has done a lot more soul-searching and there is a little bit of second-guessing with Rick. But Gareth, he's a little bit more sure, and I think that he is confident that... he's capable enough to carry out his philosophy and that it will ultimately allow him to prevail.

The Walking Dead premiere breaks ratings record

Does Gareth intend to make a full meal out of Bob, or does he want to keep him around as leverage?
West: Gareth is a long-term thinker. He's not in this necessarily just for a quick meal, unless he thinks that may be all that's available to him. Gareth is definitely thinking about the long term. So, we'll see where he goes from here.

In the comics, the Hunters captured Dale, who was out alone because he'd been bitten. Bob was attacked back at the store, and he was crying by himself when he was captured. Could there be some concern about the meat that Gareth's group just ate?
West: That's the cool thing about the show. Obviously, it takes a lot from the source material, and we see some language and some imagery taken directly from the source material in this episode. But it also mixes it up a lot too, and it changes enough things to where viewers of the TV show are left surprised even if they have read the comics. It may not be the same thing at all with Bob, but these things will be explored pretty quickly. [The writers aren't] going to leave anybody hanging on this stuff for very long.

Moving forward this season, how much of a challenge does Gareth ultimately pose for Rick's group?
West: Gareth is a challenge because, mentally and emotionally, he's a rock. He's different than the Governor in that that the Governor had a lot of psychological confusion and was searching for answers. Gareth is past that. Not only is he intelligent and confident, but he has cemented this system in his mind to the point where I don't think, psychologically, he can necessarily be convinced of a better way. That's going to be very difficult to overcome. This isn't to say Gareth is irrational. He's got a very different way of looking at the world, but he's not closed off to reason. I think he's very willing to reason with people and to figure out the best way to move forward in this world, but anyone's going to have a tough time swaying him. So I think [Gareth] does pose an obstacle for Rick. I don't want to say a threat because who knows what or who may or may not become a threat. But he is an obstacle that Rick and the rest of the group is going to have to contend with.

 

[h=1]'The Walking Dead' star Steven Yeun on if Glenn would have kept Tara's secret from Maggie[/h]



By Dalton Ross on Oct 19, 2014 at 10:01PM @DaltonRoss

Image Credit: Gene Page/AMC​

​

• 
  
  
• Comments +

[SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead.]
[h=3]Related[/h]The Walking Dead: See Full Coverage
'The Walking Dead' star Michael Cudlitz talks about the big mission to Washington, D.C.
'The Walking Dead' haunted house scared the bejeezus out of me


Blame it on Glenn. Well, not just Glenn. But blame it on the whole group for not letting Rick go back and finish off the Terminus folks when they had the chance. As a result, Gareth is now finishing off a tasty meal consisting of Bob Stookey’s leg. But therein lies the dilemma of season 5 of The Walking Dead. How far is too far in a world now dealing almost exclusively in extremes? We chatted with the man who plays Glenn, Steven Yeun, to get his thoughts on season 5’s first two episodes, whether they were wrong to not exterminate the “Termites” and whether Glenn would have kept Tara’s secret had not she not revealed it herself to Maggie.(Also make sure to read our interview with ‘Walking Dead’ star Michael Cudlitz.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: First off, before we get into the “Strangers” episode, let’s go back to the premiere. Do you realize you were, like, half a second from dying via a baseball bat?
STEVEN YEUN: Glenn loves pickles. He’s always in a pickle. He’s always in a bind. That was a really great moment that [director] Greg Nicotero and [showrumer] Scott Gimple built just to really show how dire that situation was and to maybe mess with the fans a little bit.
Yeah, there was a definite parallel to an event from the comic book that involves Glenn and a baseball bat.
All too close.
GET EW ON YOUR TABLET: Subscribe today and get instant access!
As you’re filming that and there’s this guy behind you with a big bat just waiting to take a swing, what’s that feeling like?
I actually nearly passed out almost because I was straining so hard. I was trying to play in that medium place of extreme fear and tension with a little bit of confidence of maybe I could possibly get out of this — but you’re just bracing yourself for this dude to hit you. The situation is so real that they make. You know, the trough is there, the dudes on the left of me — we saw them do the blood thing and you’re like, “What is happening?!” And I remember they had my real reaction where I look over and I’m like, “Oh, shoot! This is crazy!” That’s what’s so great about our show too, is that they really help the actor. There’s no green screen stuff. It’s just practical stuff.
There’s also a scene in the premiere where Rick doesn’t want to help those people out of the other train car and Glenn says, “We’ve got to let those people out. That’s still who we are. It’s got to be.” Combine that with what we saw in this last episode and it seems like this season is really shaping up to be about what are you willing to do and become in this world, and Glenn is simply trying to hang on to his humanity here.
Absolutely. Where we left off last season was Glenn woke up and everybody he loved and everything he loved was gone, with the prison in just complete ruins. And to wake up in a situation like that, I don’t know if many people would continue on, and Glenn in that scenario — he took it in, he had his moment, and then realized he needs to find them and he gathered up the goods and he went to go find them. And then he did find them. Everything that he wanted to do actually came true, it came to fruition. I think that only solidified in him the idea that humanity and hope is worth fighting for and looking for.
So you find Glenn on the heels of that — even having been in the train car and even almost getting his head bashed in — they still made it out. And that’s the continuing story for Glenn, is that he keeps on preserving through these very terrible situations, and for him he can only say, “I’m the guy that pulled this cop out of the tank. I have to pull these people out of this train car. We have to. That’s who we are.” And he’s grasping at that, and that’s what’s great about this season too. It’s not such a broad stroke, it’s actually a really specific, interesting look into each character to see what side of the fence they are on. What part of this gamut between savagery or humanity do they want to sit on? Because sometimes there is no going back. You look at the Terminus people and they said, “This is it. We’ve chosen. You can’t go back.” And that, to me, is the theme persevering through this whole season.
We got a moment in this second episode of the season where Abraham is trying to rally people to his DC trip plan and Glenn says basically, we’re doing what Rick does. We’re not splitting up again. That’s really important to him, isn’t it — that they finally got most of the family back together and no way is he ready for that to be torn apart again?
Yeah, I mean, why? Why split up? We fought so hard to get back to each other and now we’re just gonna go? The situation is a tough one because what Abraham is asking is, let’s save the world. And it’s just this really tough decision that everyone is kind of making. You don’t know what to do because your world is there. That is your world is the people that are there with you. And it’s there. But do you make this play for an even greater version of that? I don’t know.
We don’t get a lot of humor on this show, but we did get a little minute with Glenn trying to cover up for his not-so-smooth move of tripping over a mop. The show is so bleak at times — hopeful, but also bleak — that it’s nice to get a lighter moment like that every once in a while.
You’ve got to play them just right. You can’t really go for the joke. You can’t sell it. There are many different ways that moment could have been played…
You mean like slapstick or something…
Yeah. But you really have to ground it because it is a bleak show and what comedy we can have just really comes from truthful moments. I think Carol moments are hilarious. I think Carol can easily be considered one of the most intriguing and at the same time most hilarious characters. Because everything she does is so honest that even if she is saying some weird quippy joke it’s just so real. And that’s nothing short of the brilliance of Melissa McBride. The show is interesting because at the beginning you very much saw Glenn as that guy who would speak in weird catchphrases, like “If bad ideas were an Olympic event this would take the gold.” But Glenn has matured over the years and evolved so it’s hard for that to come out of his mouth in these later seasons.
Well, he started as almost the scrappy errand boy ready to go do the missions, but now he’s calling some of the shots.
Absolutely. I think Glenn was always there. I don’t think it was even a case of people not giving him a chance to shine or not giving him a chance to be listened to, but rather Glenn finding himself over the years. You realize that Glenn is someone that is realizing maybe more than he would have pre-apocalypse, he’s realizing himself much more — just because the situation wipes everything out of society and wipes everything equal. Now its just who you are at your core and what you’re made of, and I think Glenn has definitely proven that he’s made of much more that people thought. The way I see it, Glenn in the pre-apocalypse was just somebody who didn’t push himself. He never asserted himself. But you put him in a scenario where it’s just about who you are at your core, and it shows. He has that in his soul.
We saw Tara confess to Maggie that she was with the guy who beheaded her father. Would Glenn have kept that a secret if Tara hadn’t brought it up?
That’s a great question. I don’t think he would have kept that a secret. I think that is the one key thing that Glenn and Maggie definitely have is very good communication. That’s just a tip for relationships out there: solid communication. [Laughs] I think he would have told her, but knowing Maggie he would have known how to present that to her and he would have also known how she would have responded to that. Glenn was able to give Tara that redemption. He was able to give her that forgiveness because really, she wasn’t a part of it. She was just affected by it. She was a pawn in that specific case. Over the course of time, Tara has definitely proven herself and her loyalty to where she is. And to this point Tara is definitely very much a part of his family — of this bigger family that exists in this group. And she would not be left behind in any circumstance.
Okay, so we have to talk about what happened to Bob being captured and eaten by Gareth. Having read the comics I have a pretty good sense of what’s coming up next with that, but did you guys screw up? Rick wanted to go back and finish them off and you wouldn’t let them! This is on you, man! This is on you!
Yeah, it’s interesting. I think that’s what’s cool is Glenn holds out hope for humanity and for redemption and for salvation for people, but this world keeps screwing it up. Even in that first episode with the guy in the crate: He’s the loon. He’s the crazy guy that bound them up the first time — and he saved him. And that’s the world just continuing to beat down this semblance of hope that Glenn is striving for. I wouldn’t be surprised if you see that affect him a little bit as it goes on. That’s what’s amazing about this world is that even the Terminus people — you could justify what they’re doing in that world. Because if the world is just, “How do you survive?” then they’re not necessarily pure evil — they’re just doing what is necessary to live. And it’s such a sliding scale of what’s right and what’s wrong and it depends on what viewpoint you’re coming from, but clearly even within the group you see people sitting on different sides of that meter and that gamut of choices. Rick, in that moment, he was right from a practical standpoint. But can you come back from that?

 

[h=1]'The Walking Dead' star Michael Cudlitz talks about the big mission to Washington, D.C.[/h]



By Dalton Ross on Oct 19, 2014 at 10:01PM @DaltonRoss

Image Credit: Gene Page/AMC​

​

• 
  
  
• Comments +

[SPOILER ALERT: Read on only if you have already watched Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead.]
[h=3]Related[/h]The Walking Dead: See Full Coverage
'The Walking Dead' star Steven Yeun on if Glenn would have kept Tara's secret from Maggie
'The Walking Dead' haunted house scared the bejeezus out of me


The man is persistent, give him that. Sgt. Abraham Ford wants to get to Washington, D.C. and is pretty insistent on recruiting Rick and Co. to join them. But, as we saw on Sunday’s “Strangers” episode of The Walking Dead, that persistence may have paid off as Judith kinda, sorta convinced daddy to sign on. However, there is now the whole Gareth situation to consider. After losing Terminus to zombies, Gareth and a few of his cannibalistic cohorts kidnapped Bob and feasted on his leg. How much is Abraham responsible for that since he and the others would not let Rick go back and finish the job? We asked the man who plays Abraham, Michael Cudlitz, about that, the mission to D.C. and more. (Also check out ourinterview with ‘Walking Dead’ star Steven Yeun.)
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Man, you are working these guys hard about this trip to Washington. Yada, yada, yada… Does this Abraham guy ever give it a rest, for crying out loud?!
MICHAEL CUDLITZ: What is more important than saving the world? Come up with a better answer and I’ll stop with the yada, yada, yada. [Imitating Glenn] “Oh, my girl, I love her.” Yeah, okay, we’re talking about SAVING THE WORLD!
Even that toast you made in the church — at first I was like, Awww…this is nice, he’s laying off the D.C. thing for a second, and then…
He brings it right around!
GET MORE EW: Subscribe to the magazine for only 33¢ an issue!
Yeah, that was a super passive aggressive move there.
[Laughs] Like I said, if you can show me and prove to me that there’s something else worth doing that’s more important than saving the world — please, take the floor! You make the next toast! Talk me out of it.
Okay, let’s play hypothetical Walking Dead here: How do you think Abraham reacts there if Rick does not agree to go to D.C?
We go anyway. The mission is that important. If he were to say no, maybe we spend more time trying to convince him because obviously Abraham does know that there’s strength in numbers and this is an extremely qualified team of members to be with. So if he was able to convince them all to come with him that would be fantastic and a coup on his part. But it is not necessary to the mission: The mission comes first.
If Abraham is so intent on getting these people to join his mission he must think pretty highly of them.
They’re a bunch of badasses. He’s seen them operate. And they’re also family-driven and family-oriented. From what he’s seen, everything that they do revolves around taking care of each other. He followed Glenn, who was searching for Maggie. Abraham was trying to talk him out of it and it turns out Glenn was right — she was still alive. They got back together. He gave them a moment to pause. He has had things happen in his past that we’ll come back to and explain why those things are so important to him. But he sees people who genuinely care about each other. They’re not just a group that happens to be thrown together.
I noticed in the premiere especially how protective both Abraham and Rosita are of Eugene, almost a bit defensive to a degree. They don’t want anyone questioning the importance of the mission and getting him to Washington. Why is that?
It’s none of your business. It’s a need to know basis and right now you don’t need to know. Every piece of information that we’ve given up has come back to haunt us, so now there’s more value in protecting everything about him. And I would argue there’s a large value in keeping it mysterious because people don’t know, and the more that they don’t know the more they are willing to buy into it — with just the idea. Because we’re not here to explain what is going on. Abraham doesn’t want Eugene to tell everyone everything. He won’t anyway, because the more that it gets told the more questions that are asked. Its like, “You know what? Shut up. Don’t talk to him. We’re on a mission. You’re either with us or get out of the way.”
So, let’s talk about the big climactic end to this second episode: Gareth is back and eating Bob’s leg. And I’ll tell you the same thing I told Steven Yeun which is: It’s your fault! You guys wouldn’t let Rick go back and finish the job! You’re to blame here, mister.
Yeah, we’re gonna see a lot of situations like that come up and choices that everyone makes — either individually or as a group — that come back to haunt them that really do shape the way that they move forward from this point on. Terminus was a huge, huge turning point with that. Nobody can be trusted and that is going to play a lot into how they deal with everything and everybody moving forward.
You see that with the way Rick deals with Father Gabriel when he meets him. Not the way that Rick would have dealt with a stranger in the past. He almost looks at him with disgust and he just almost assumes people are bad now.
Yeah, he’s a guy standing on a rock. He’s got nothing to offer, It’s almost more of a pain in the ass, like, now I gotta deal with you? Let’s just kill him. It’s almost easier at that point, as opposed to the potential danger that someone new coming in can represent. And what secrets does he have? What’s going on with him? Who else is really with him? Is anyone else really with him? It’s like, ugh, really, again?
The show is posing these questions and showing the results of good intentions leading to bad results to lead the viewer to almost understand why people would be doing these horrible things. And the flip side would be, well, what if this whole thing does get solved and can you then go back?
Well, I always equate it with — and I very rarely talk religion, and it’s not a religious conversation — but I bring up the fact that if Jesus would come back today, how would that entry be? How would you convince people? There’s that sort of thing where you look and you go, there’s no way. There’s no way people would believe anything. How do you wrap your head around something like, everything’s going to be okay now. And their world, when everything has been negative with them and every encounter with other people has been profoundly negative — who do you trust? Why do you trust? And then it brings up all these things that Robert Kirkman does so well. He deals with the processing of humanity and where is humanity lost and how can you regain it if it has been temporarily suspended?
What about Abraham and Rosita? We know they are a couple in the comic. We saw a bit of that in the truck last season. Is that something we’ll see more of going forward? I know there is more romance in general this season — and we saw that with Bob and Sasha in this last episode.
Yeah, I think everyone will be moving forward in their personal relations, because they are so isolated in so many ways. There’s only one way to go, which is since we’re not going out, we’re gonna go in.
I saved the most important question for last: Let’s talk mustache maintenance, Michael. What do you do to keep that thing so sweet looking?
Well, we actually address it in the show. It’s coming up soon. I think it’s funny because people say, “You’re in the zombie apocalypse, so how could you possibly maintain that mustache and that hair?” I actually find it very refreshing because it means people are paying attention. And that may sound like an obvious statement, but what I think the looks of Abraham and Michonne and Daryl with the crossbow — you can argue that the crossbow is not necessarily the most effective weapon to have — they are these iconic looking characters that have these iconic weapons that at some level remind you that it’s an alternate universe. This is what Abraham looks like. This is what Michonne looks like. This is what Tyreese looks like. They don’t change too much.
If we were actually living in a zombie apocalypse, and had lost all the amenities and were not necessarily taking care of ourselves, everybody would look like cavemen and smell like urine. That story is not necessarily interesting for the stories that we’re telling. It’s a different story, but it’s this progressive thing. Everybody would literally have hair down to the middle of their back with massive amounts of facial hair. But we’re telling people this highly dramatic, elevated story and anchoring it in reality, but peppering it with iconic figures that remind you, Oh, he’s like Superman except he doesn’t have super-powers. He’s a specific iconic character in the comic book. And there are other specific comic book characters that are coming that have other specific looks.

 

'Walking Dead's' Andrew J. West Talks Gareth's Appetite for Revenge

7:00 PM PDT 10/19/2014 by Lesley Goldberg

"The way that the episode ends will be explored," the actor tells THR in our weekly episode dissection

Frank Ockenfels 3/AMC​

"The Walking Dead's" Andrew J. West

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from episode 502, "Strangers," of AMC's The Walking Dead and the comic series it is based on.]


AMC's The Walking Dead remixed a major scene and introduced a key character from the comics Sunday during the second episode of its fifth season.
Following the bloody blowout at Terminus, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and his sizable group of "survivors" hit the road — until they encounteredSeth Gilliam's Father Gabriel and looked to his well-preserved church for shelter. Realizing that he's low on supplies, Rick — who doesn't quite trust Gabriel — takes the preacher on a what turns out to be a harrowing supply run.
See more 'Walking Dead' Comes to Life: From Comics to the Small Screen
While Gabriel can't — and won't — defend himself against the undead, Rick's group is forced to navigate a group of walkers in water as they raid a food bankthat had been completely overrun. While everyone makes it out alive, Bob comes thisclose to being walker bait before girlfriend Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) comes to his rescue after he was pulled underwater by a walker.
Back at the church, Daryl (Norman Reedus) — convinced the group is being watched — attempts to get Carol (Melissa McBride) to open up about her time on the road without the group. Carol refuses and, just as she's plotting to leave the group to go out on her own solo, she and Daryl spot the car that took Beth and make off after it — together.
Following Bob's (Larry Gilliard Jr.) close call, he retreats to the woods while the rest of the survivors are feasting and enjoying a rare celebration. It's then that he's knocked out and, after coming to, realizes Gareth (Andrew J. West) has not only cut off his leg but his group of cannibals are feasting on it.
"Your people took away our home, that's fair play. Now we're out here like everybody else trying to survive, and in order to do that, we have to hunt," Gareth tells a visibly shocked and shaken Bob before confessing that their people evolved to become the so-called Hunters from the comics. "No matter how much we hate all this ugly business, a man's gotta eat. If it makes you feel any better, you taste much better than we thought you would," Gareth says.
It's a scene is nearly straight out of Robert Kirkman's comic series, where Dale is the one who loses his leg to the Hunters. Dale, however, had the last laugh as the Hunters were eating his leg after he'd already been bitten by a walker and had left the group to die on his own volition.
The Hollywood Reporter caught up with West to talk about Gareth's shocking scene, how the character compares with Chris, his comic book counterpart, and yes, if Bob was damaged goods at their time of "consumption."
Gareth is, without a doubt, the head of this group of cannibals. Did you know how dark he'd get?
We shot the premiere and, going into episode two, I had no idea. I read that script and when I got the last couple pages, I was just shocked — but in a good way. I was smiling from ear to ear. All Scott had told me was that I was in episode two. I kept reading and got to the final pages and my God. I'm a fan of the comic book, too, so that was informing what I was reading and I recognized certain things. But it was a huge surprise and a pleasant one at that for me to be able to get to do something like that.
There aren't many people who can say it's a "pleasant" surprise to play someone who chops off a guy's leg and eats it for dinner.
(Laughing) It's such a shocking scene, even on paper. That's the thing: You watch the episode and it's terrifying, but it's terrifying on paper when you read it. I was up pacing all night because I was so excited to shoot it. It was a big surprise but I loved it.
What did you actually eat to double for Bob?
They've got some culinary skills! It was some type of pork and it was pretty delicious! I'm a pork fan and I don't know if it was pork shoulder but was tasty stuff! I gladly skipped lunch that day. It was good, and it made shooting that scene much easier to have something so tasty. The last line of the episode wasn't that hard to say!
So how did Gareth and his goons amputate Bob's leg without him waking up?! Seems like when he comes to, he has no idea that he's now missing a limb.
The way that the episode ends will be explored, as will that whole world and that scenario. We'll get into more details about that whole situation.


Bob was outside of the church crying — just hours after a close call with a walker. Did Gareth and company make sure Bob wasn't bitten when he was underwater? Comics readers may recognize that element of this story.
Right! Obviously the scene is not just inspired by but also heavily drawn from the comics. Some of the language is the exact same; a lot of the language is also similar or the same. What's interesting is in the comics, it's Dale that they pull off from the church and into the woods. And in the comics, we know what we know that happens to him. What's cool about the show is that it does draw directly from the source material but it's not always the same. Bob is a completely different character than Dale. I wouldn't recommend people speculate too heavily on if the show is following the comic; it veers in and out of that world and that will continue. How this whole situation with Bob and Gareth plays out is going to be interesting. There will be more surprises to come.
Is there hope for Bob or is he a full-course meal?
I feel like there's hope for everyone until you see them with green skin and rotting flesh or a bullet in the brain. It'd be wrong to say that it's hopeless for anyone. We saw Hershel get around for a long time on one leg. I wouldn't want to say it's hopeless for Bob; that would be misleading.
Somebody within that church group is going to have to say, and pardon the bad joke, but "What about Bob?" right?
(Laughing) All the sudden Bill Murray's face pops up in one of the windows of the church! "What are you guys saying?!" Oh man, I spoiled it for everyone! But you'd think someone has to notice Bob is missing. It's a tightknit group; these people keep tabs on one another. It would be very far-fetched to think that would go unnoticed for too long.
After Rick vows so boldly in the season premiere to kill Gareth, what will their next interaction look like?
The show thrives on person vs. person tension and there will be no shortage of that to come — and in many different forms. It's two strong personalities going against each other and often not face to face as we see in episode two. It'll be interesting to watch their relationship continue.
Since Gareth without a sanctuary like Terminus, could he be working with Father Gabriel to lure Rick's group there so they can slowly pick them off? That's something that also stems from the comics and would make sense since he's been spying on Rick's group.
It's an interesting theory. It goes back to the resourcefulness of the character. He's probably thought of most, if not all the angles to negotiate the situation that he now has with Rick. They're in a bit of a grapple with one another and it's a bit of a cast and mouse game. Gareth has considered many avenues and that's what's going to be exciting about the show, to see what Gareth — and Rick — ultimately decide is the best way to contend with this issue that they both have with one another. Gareth thinks things through; he's very diligent and calculated about the best way to go about approaching something. So what ever he thinks is going to help achieve that goal, that's what he's going to do.
Looking at the comics, Gareth is a remix of Chris — the head of the Hunters. How much of the comic did you read to prepare for the role?
I can't say that I was a longtime fan. I started reading the comics immediately after I got cast. It wasn't so much to help me with the job; I didn't know if my character was based on any of the characters in the comics. I wanted to pick it up as a fan and now I'm addicted to the comics and devoured them very quickly. I read the Hunters arc before we even got back into season five. When I read that, I had no idea that some of that would inspire Gareth down the road. When I read episode two I recognized it and was surprised because I didn't know that's who Gareth was going to be — or that he'd be so closely inspired by that character. It was cool. I don't use it as a research tool; I don't think it's necessary since the show is its own thing. You don't need the comic to do your job well because it is its own world with its own story.
Gareth's line — "You're either the butcher or the cattle" — seems like it, too, is a remix of Chris' "Eat or be eaten" from the comics. Having read the Hunters arc, how does Gareth compare to him?
There are some similarities between them but there are a lot of differences, too. Chris in the comics is struck me as somebody who is somewhat intelligent but isn't nearly as resourceful as Gareth is. I've always seen Gareth as a resourceful, intelligent and much more organized guy than Chris is in the comics. We see Chris, who with the Hunters, lives in an abandoned house and they don't have their shit together that well. They have this thing they do but it's all fly-by-night. Gareth is just more powerful than Chris was. We see that immediately in the season four finale when he's running this major operation that we come to know as Terminus — which is very different from Chris in the comics.
As Gareth tries to survive in this world, is he looking to start trouble with Rick's group considering his mother, Mary, was left by Carol to die during the attack on Terminus?
People may not believe this but I don't see Gareth as a vengeful person. He's not a guy who is concerned with revenge. He's more concerned with doing what ever it takes to survive. Because of the history he has and the decisions he's made, it's clear that for him that it's either us or them. I don't think Gareth is the kind of guy who would go after Rick or anybody else just to go after somebody. Because he's ultimately concerned with the best way for him and his group to survive, that may entail going after Rick and eliminating them. It may entail trying to somehow create some sort of tenuous bond. The answer to that question of how do we best survive is something that he's trying to figure out and he's open to multiple answers to that question. I don't think he's hell-bent on vengeance; he's got a bigger picture perspective.
Do you think Gareth can co-exist in this world with Rick? What are your long-term hopes for him?
Gareth's whole philosophy is, "We need to call into question what is socially acceptable." The rules aren't what they used to be; they're totally different now. Gareth has subscribed to this new way of living that may seem to be much darker and terrifying to people but for him, it's what life has become now and he's willing to accept that. Because he's willing to alter his viewpoint on how to treat people and what's socially acceptable, that greatly increases his ability to exist in this world. I wouldn't write him off based on what we've seen from him and what we've heard Rick say or how the tension has grown between them. The question of them coexisting is interesting and we'll see what happens with that. Gareth has been around a long time and has seen some shit and survived and come through the other end. Whether you agree with his methods is one thing but he's made it work for himself. You wouldn't want to write him off too quickly.
How much more of Gareth's backstory will we learn? We know from the premiere that Terminus was once really a sanctuary and he was turned. Does he have any humanity left?
We will learn some more and there are things that will be revealed. The process of revelation is gradual but I don't think it's complete yet.
The series may be headed to Alexandria at some point this season. Is this also on Gareth's radar?
A lot is on Gareth's radar. If it is opportunity to exist and survive, it's probably something he's aware of. He's not a dumb guy. He has figured out how to negotiate people and the landscape. I wouldn't' put anything past him. He's serious about his business and if that means finding multiple locations, what ever that may mean, I wouldn't discount any of it.
What did you think of Gareth's food selection? Have theories about what may happen next? Share them in the comments section below. The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. on AMC.