(Spoiler Alert: Do not keep reading if you have not seen this week’s episode of “The Walking Dead”)
This week’s episode of “The Walking Dead” saw Rick (Andrew Lincoln) deliver one of his most emotional speeches to date, convincing Michonne (Danai Gurira) to submit to Negan’s (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) rule by sharing a painful secret from his past.
Rick talks about Shane (Jon Bernthal), his best friend and former partner, for the first time since he killed him during Season 2. Rick also reveals that he knows Judith is Shane’s biological daughter, not his.
“It’s one of those watershed moments that happens, certainly between the two lovers, between Michonne and Rick, that brings them together,” Lincoln told Entertainment Weekly. “It’s another perfect kind of quiet heroism. You know, he’s a stepdad and it doesn’t stop him loving his child, but he kind of has accepted that it’s not his.”
Lincoln also spoke about how shooting the scene affected everyone, including the crew, and the direction for the rest of this season.
“It was funny because I knew it affected people because [cinematographer Michael E. Satrazemis] just came and everybody kind of gave me a hug after,” he said. “I think everybody really was hurting for Rick because it’s just like a great heroic act for the sake of the community, for his people, and for this child. He’s just done it, and for his son. He hasn’t told anybody that, you know? We’re asking a lot of people to sit through, to have their family smashed apart and this new guy on the block, but believe me, it’s moving to a very exciting place.”
“The Walking Dead” airs Sundays at 9 p.m./8c on AMC.