The Walking Dead s11e06 Episode Script
On the Inside
1
- You need to tell me something.
- There's a woman.
She's the leader.
Previously on "The Walking Dead" Oh, my God.
You made it.
We found each other in the woods.
We didn't know if you'd survived.
He told me there were a lot more out there than we thought More than twice the force we have in here.
You were right about this one.
He is family now.
We got to go.
Connie's out there, alive.
[Sobbing.]
[Grunting.]
No! [Both breathing heavily.]
Virgil: Look! Look! Sorry.
Sorry.
I'm just No.
No.
It might be a house.
We could hide.
[Leaves rustle.]
[Soft growling.]
Go.
[Growling.]
[Virgil grunting.]
[Footsteps approach.]
[Growling continues.]
[Growling.]
[Virgil grunting.]
[Growling stops.]
[Thumping.]
[Thumping and growling.]
We'll make better time if I ride out on my own.
It's less risky, and we're gonna cover more ground with a larger group.
The Council's working on a plan right now.
Connie doesn't have time to wait on a committee.
Well, why don't we split the difference between fast and safe? Teams of two.
We could divide the map up into smaller grids.
It could reduce the risk.
Hey.
Any of you seen Kelly? [Horse neighing.]
Unh! [Walkers growling.]
[Bones crack softly.]
Okay.
Uh I checked the whole house.
We're okay.
Nobody's here.
You need "You need some rest.
" You haven't slept in days.
"I can keep watch.
" "We will find your home.
" You sleep.
Listen.
Rest.
Huh? Okay.
[Walkers growling faintly.]
[Gasps.]
- [Grunts.]
- Tell us where they are! [Screams.]
[Groaning.]
[Frost screaming.]
Carver: My dance card's wide open, man.
We got all day.
[Frost groaning.]
This bother you? I've done worse.
[Frost screams.]
Hm.
[Frost screams.]
Why don't you take a turn, then? Pope: Speed things up for me.
All right.
I'm up.
Like hell you are! [Frost breathing sharply.]
Well, are we just gonna stand here staring at each other dreamily or are we gonna get to it? [Gagging.]
Hey, you kill him, the two of us are gonna have a problem! [Frost coughing.]
Don't need a babysitter.
I know what I'm doing.
[Breathing sharply.]
Just give 'em a location, where your friends are hiding.
You do that, this all goes away.
That's, uh That's a good offer.
Or and hear me out you all could go eat shit instead.
Just a thought.
[Coughs.]
Already gone through these steps.
Maybe we start taking pieces.
Frost: You do what you gotta do.
Give him a knife.
I don't think you understand.
I'm the best shot you got.
Why? We "friends" now? No.
Not 'cause we're friends.
'Cause I'm the one holding the knife.
Yeah.
And your buddy's the one holding the gun.
Shut up! Shut up and listen to me.
I know you're close to her.
The leader.
Close enough to know where they're hidin'.
No one needs to die in here.
So just say a location so we can all walk away happy.
[Breathing rapidly.]
Go to hell, assho [Screaming.]
Daryl: Location! Or I take another! I can't! Location! - No! No! Please stop! - Location! [Groaning.]
Yellow house.
Town off the 283.
Antenna.
Antenna.
Antenna.
Antenna.
[Whimpering.]
[Gasps.]
Daryl: Is that good enough? I can scout it out.
Take a squad.
Three of you.
See if our friend speaks truth.
You want us to take him? [Frost coughs.]
[Creaking.]
[Lock clicks.]
[Silence.]
[Gasps.]
Wait.
What happened? S-Slow down.
I don't understand.
[Sobbing.]
What [Scraping.]
[Scraping continues.]
[Crow cawing.]
Looks quiet.
No movement.
Two entrances.
Breach both? By twos.
You take Powell.
Washington, Fish, go around the back of the yellow house.
What about dickhead? Am I supposed to believe he's got my back? No, that's my job.
Always.
[Mouths word.]
Clear! Clear! Clear! Clear! It's all clear, Carve.
That son of a bitch jerked us around.
We should stay, look around for a bit, so we don't miss nothing.
No, we'll search the rest of the town first.
Quick and quiet, in case they're still nearby.
You three, take the north end and work back.
- We'll meet you in the middle.
- Copy.
Whoa.
[Flies buzzing.]
[Rattling.]
Where are you? Virgil: My grandfather's house used to have one of these.
I'd secretly shove stuff in there.
Uh I-I'm sorry.
I don't see anything.
I'm sure you saw something but But you haven't slept.
So maybe it's Y-Yeah.
'Cause Okay, okay.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
You and me, let's give the house another sweep, okay? Connie! [Silence.]
[Soft rumbling.]
[Person grunting.]
[Thumping.]
Voice: Hungry! [Thumping and grunting continue.]
Leah: Clear! Over here! They're still wet.
Guess he was telling the truth, then.
Carver: We should clear the other rooms.
- Clear! - Clear! - [Door slams.]
- Clear! - [Door slams.]
- Clear! Nothing.
Maybe they went out the back.
I can track them.
Are you in a hurry to leave? What? Other building, you wanted to stick around and make sure we didn't miss anything.
Now you wanna run right off.
Which is it? Look, man, I'm just trying to help.
Yet you keep chirpin'.
Fine.
You lose 'em, it's on you.
It ain't on me.
Stop.
Wash, we need a perimeter check.
Possible runners.
Half a klick.
Washington: Copy that, Shaw.
Look.
I don't have time for this toddler bullshit.
- Listen - I know.
I understand, but I don't need it.
Go sift upstairs, make sure we didn't miss anything.
Don't.
Don't what? You're either with us or you're not.
What do you want me to do? For one thing stop pissing off Carver.
Usually don't end well.
[Footsteps.]
[Grunts.]
Come on.
Please.
Please.
Just a - [Horse neighs.]
- Just a little bit more! Carol: Whoa! Kelly? Awesome.
You need help? What the hell were you thinking? You should have told us that you were heading out.
Come here.
- [Grunts.]
- I'm fine.
But Connie's not.
I found her camp.
She's with some guy who knew Michonne.
They left in a hurry.
Something's not right.
She thought they were being followed.
She's out there.
She's scared.
She needs me.
And if if something happened to her No.
We're gonna find her first.
Yeah.
Come on.
Let's get movin'.
[Sniffles.]
[Thumping.]
[Person grunting.]
[Thumping and grunting stop.]
[Panting.]
[Crack.]
[Silence.]
[Soft rumbling.]
[Glass shatters.]
[Person grunting.]
[Grunting continues.]
[Objects clattering.]
[Gasps.]
[Multiple people grunting.]
[Thumping.]
[Virgil grunting.]
[Grunting and thumping.]
[Thumping on wall.]
[Thumping on wall.]
[Grunting continues.]
[Thumping on wall.]
[Grunting.]
[Both grunting.]
Hungry! [Snarling.]
[Gasps.]
[Groans.]
[Rattling.]
Oh! Oh, God.
Connie.
[Grunting.]
Come on.
I got you.
Come on.
Oh, God.
They ran.
They ain't comin' back here.
What? I mean, think about it.
You hit 'em hard.
Even if they get more people, they won't come back here.
It's a bad move.
You got what? 20 people in your town.
You got weapons.
You got walls.
You'd see them coming from a mile away.
Trust me.
They ran.
Is there a point to any of this? Let's go.
There's nothing here.
It's time we move on.
No.
We're missing something.
- Fine.
Let's waste another hour.
That's smart.
- Daryl It's not my fault he's too stupid to pay attention! Yeah.
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
- Leah: Enough.
- Ah, screw that.
This dirtbag wants to play, I'll teach him the rules.
I'm right here, man.
Make a move.
This is not the time, and it's not your call to make.
Jesus, Shaw.
We both know who he really is deep down.
What? I was there.
Remember? After.
What, you think this is gonna end any different? So this is what? You looking out for me? Always.
Uh-huh.
Gotcha.
And what about the fire? When Pope locked me in the cabin and lit it up.
You must have known.
Was that you looking out for me, too? Shaw.
Wake up.
Everything's a test now.
If you think this guy is ever gonna give a shit about any of us, you're gonna fail.
No, he's right.
I don't give a shit about any of you.
Except you.
I'm here for you.
It's no secret.
I made mistakes.
But I'm here right now.
Maybe I'd be better at it this time, if you'd let me.
And Pope scares the shit outta me.
I don't wanna be face-first in the fire under his boot.
But if you say trust 'em, I'll trust 'em.
We've wasted enough time here already.
Oh, you're not seriously gonna It's time to move on.
Sure.
Your call.
Hold on.
Told ya.
[Thunder rumbles.]
Which way? We could split up, check both trails, double back.
Storm's coming.
We should stick together.
It's up to you.
Which way do you think she went? [Thunder cracks.]
That way.
[Thunder rumbling.]
Virgil: They led us here.
I've never seen people this far gone.
To herd us, like prey.
But we're not.
I'm getting you out.
We'll make a run for it.
Take this.
No matter what happens you have to keep going.
With or without me.
Don't stop.
Just No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Please.
Just take it.
[Knife clatters.]
I don't know how to explain.
Um But I don't have a choice.
I lost myself for a long time.
Off the map.
And I, um [Sighs.]
I made choices that I can't un-choose.
But she gave me another chance.
Michonne.
She pointed me back to the road, and somehow that road led right to you.
So I have to pass on that chance, or it all means nothing.
And if you can [Voice breaking.]
If you can find your family - - No, no.
No.
Listen, listen, listen.
I need you to promise me that you will keep going, no matter what happens.
Together? Together.
[Grunting and thumping.]
Time's up.
[Grunting and thumping continue.]
[Screams.]
Go.
Go.
Go, go.
Go, go! Go! [Screams.]
Go.
Get out.
[Virgil grunting.]
[Person growling.]
[Walkers growling.]
[Screaming.]
[Screaming.]
[Walkers growling.]
[People screaming.]
- [Thunder rumbles.]
- Go.
[Person snarling.]
[Sobbing.]
They were there.
Caught signs, but they slipped away.
[Sighs.]
Sorry.
Ooh.
[Laughing.]
I thought you'd be disappointed.
Well, this day was a success.
How so? After you left, I continued the "discussion" with our guest.
He wasn't too talkative.
But I got everything I needed out of him.
[Growling.]
[Growling.]
[Growling.]
[Pope whispering.]
[Whispering.]
Negan: The world is different now Fewer people to fight for, there's fewer things to fight over.
You're saying you'd do things differently? - [Gasps.]
- If I could do it all over again? Yeah.
Your people need help.
I can deliver for you.
Your brothers are dead, are you not ashamed?! Kang: It was so great to have Lauren Ridloff back finally.
We had been planning for a long time to bring her back in this episode, and we'd sort of, like, shaped the story, and we wanted to give her, like, a big reentry into the show.
We loved having Kevin Carroll back as Virgil, and I think what was important for us is to show that Virgil was affected by meeting Michonne, and I think he had to suppress some of his heart to kind of, like, get through the death of his family, and he sort of made that decision to try stepping out and finding society again.
Of course, he found everything was just abandoned because our people were fleeing the Whisperers, but, fortunately, he comes across Connie, and I think he feels like he wants to do better in the world.
And so there's a real selflessness that you see in Virgil here.
He has some skills, you know, and when Connie's about to be attacked, like, he gets her out of the way and takes the brunt of that even though it means he gets injured pretty badly, and I think we're starting to see probably who he truly is at the core.
[Virgil grunting.]
[Walkers growling.]
So, this episode, we were talking very, very, early on, and one of the things that we talked about was, like, we would love to do just a good, old fashioned haunted-house horror story because that just seemed really fun, and we just were talking about how people become too far gone in this world, and we've seen people who are cannibals, we've talked about people that Maggie had run across, we've seen the Whisperers, and we were just talking about people that have gone completely feral, and what kind of desperation would it take to get to that point? [Gasps.]
Kang: Greg Nicotero and his KNB Group, they did all the creature design and made these people unique from zombies and have their own sort of terrifying look.
[Grunting.]
There's that set deck where you see the pictures on the wall and the eyes are scratched out.
"A," we thought that's creepy, so that's really fun, but in the backstory of it, we actually do think that those are pictures of relatives or even some of the people who became ferals and are living in that house.
And as they sort of descended into a much more feral state, they just started destroying the vestiges of their humanity.
So we totally had a story reason why we did that, but at the same time, we also thought it just looked, like, super weird and creepy.
One of the things that was interesting for us in doing this episode was just picking which point of view that you're in.
For the average viewer, you're just gonna assume that the default is being, like, a hearing viewer, and I think it's interesting to sometimes kind of flip that because they are experiencing the same events in slightly different ways.
It became really interesting to go, like, "Maybe we play the sound to him in his point of view but you don't play it when we're in her point of view.
" To me, the best horror, it really is like you're touching on the entire range of human emotion and the human experience, and I think that, like, she just captured all of that so seemingly effortlessly.
I know she puts in a lot of work into her craft and what she does, but she brings so much nuance to these little moments and, just, she's so expressive.
I think she's kind of the perfect horror-movie star in this.
I'm up.
Kang: The torture scene is just very specific to this group and their philosophy and the particular time in history when they were soldiers as well as, more importantly, mercenaries, and the darkness that continued to evolve throughout the apocalypse.
We've seen Daryl in scenes where he's had to torture people before, but certainly not to this extent and certainly not against somebody that he considers an ally and that he likes.
And I think that what the show does is put our characters into situations where they are just in the worst possible things that they could imagine.
Like, they're living nightmares.
This is not something he wants to do, but they are most likely both gonna die if he doesn't do this.
He certainly I don't think blinks at the idea of having to lay down his own life for his friends, but in this case, like, he knows he might be a key to getting this done.
But I think it's also about Frost's bravery, knowing that he's going to be tortured and basically going along with it.
Go to hell, assho [Screaming.]
Ever since Daryl signaled to him when they were behind bars in Episode 4, like, "These guys are listening.
We got to pretend like we're not friends," Frost has really, really gotten that he did exactly what Daryl was hoping he would do, which is he kind of gave him the right neighborhood, so there's some credibility, and Daryl's hoping that saves Frost.
He thinks, like, "If you just say the neighborhood but not exactly the house, then I can buy some time," which is basically what he does, and so, you know, he's trying to, like, create little signals which allowed Maggie and company to hide, and Daryl's just trying to feed them information about, like, how many people they are.
Daryl: You got what? 20 people in your town.
You got weapons.
You got walls.
You'd see them coming from a mile away.
Trust me.
They ran.
I think, when Carver goes for that trapdoor, if you watch Norman, the way he plays it is really great.
He's ready to, like, go down fighting if that trapdoor opens and the people are there, but, fortunately, they're not.
They got away.
So Daryl knows, like, now he's in with these people and his people are safe, so that's as good of an outcome as he can hope for in the moment, because it's like, if they can just keep that going, he can be that person on the inside that's gonna facilitate them getting inside the walls.
What we wanted to play at the end of this episode is that Pope is unpredictable.
I don't think anybody predicted that he was going to kill Frost anyway in the middle of that, but what we're learning about Pope is he's in a dark place.
He's spiraling in his own way.
He's obsessed with the idea of Maggie being out there, and so, in some ways, he's messing with Daryl's head, too, you know? He's kind of, like, making his own moves.
Him going off and talking and laughing with Carver is completely designed to create paranoia in Leah and in Daryl.
It doesn't even matter what he's saying.
This is more about who Pope is as a person right now and the questions that's raising in Leah and the potential openings that Daryl is starting to see in how he can work the situation.
- There's a woman.
She's the leader.
Previously on "The Walking Dead" Oh, my God.
You made it.
We found each other in the woods.
We didn't know if you'd survived.
He told me there were a lot more out there than we thought More than twice the force we have in here.
You were right about this one.
He is family now.
We got to go.
Connie's out there, alive.
[Sobbing.]
[Grunting.]
No! [Both breathing heavily.]
Virgil: Look! Look! Sorry.
Sorry.
I'm just No.
No.
It might be a house.
We could hide.
[Leaves rustle.]
[Soft growling.]
Go.
[Growling.]
[Virgil grunting.]
[Footsteps approach.]
[Growling continues.]
[Growling.]
[Virgil grunting.]
[Growling stops.]
[Thumping.]
[Thumping and growling.]
We'll make better time if I ride out on my own.
It's less risky, and we're gonna cover more ground with a larger group.
The Council's working on a plan right now.
Connie doesn't have time to wait on a committee.
Well, why don't we split the difference between fast and safe? Teams of two.
We could divide the map up into smaller grids.
It could reduce the risk.
Hey.
Any of you seen Kelly? [Horse neighing.]
Unh! [Walkers growling.]
[Bones crack softly.]
Okay.
Uh I checked the whole house.
We're okay.
Nobody's here.
You need "You need some rest.
" You haven't slept in days.
"I can keep watch.
" "We will find your home.
" You sleep.
Listen.
Rest.
Huh? Okay.
[Walkers growling faintly.]
[Gasps.]
- [Grunts.]
- Tell us where they are! [Screams.]
[Groaning.]
[Frost screaming.]
Carver: My dance card's wide open, man.
We got all day.
[Frost groaning.]
This bother you? I've done worse.
[Frost screams.]
Hm.
[Frost screams.]
Why don't you take a turn, then? Pope: Speed things up for me.
All right.
I'm up.
Like hell you are! [Frost breathing sharply.]
Well, are we just gonna stand here staring at each other dreamily or are we gonna get to it? [Gagging.]
Hey, you kill him, the two of us are gonna have a problem! [Frost coughing.]
Don't need a babysitter.
I know what I'm doing.
[Breathing sharply.]
Just give 'em a location, where your friends are hiding.
You do that, this all goes away.
That's, uh That's a good offer.
Or and hear me out you all could go eat shit instead.
Just a thought.
[Coughs.]
Already gone through these steps.
Maybe we start taking pieces.
Frost: You do what you gotta do.
Give him a knife.
I don't think you understand.
I'm the best shot you got.
Why? We "friends" now? No.
Not 'cause we're friends.
'Cause I'm the one holding the knife.
Yeah.
And your buddy's the one holding the gun.
Shut up! Shut up and listen to me.
I know you're close to her.
The leader.
Close enough to know where they're hidin'.
No one needs to die in here.
So just say a location so we can all walk away happy.
[Breathing rapidly.]
Go to hell, assho [Screaming.]
Daryl: Location! Or I take another! I can't! Location! - No! No! Please stop! - Location! [Groaning.]
Yellow house.
Town off the 283.
Antenna.
Antenna.
Antenna.
Antenna.
[Whimpering.]
[Gasps.]
Daryl: Is that good enough? I can scout it out.
Take a squad.
Three of you.
See if our friend speaks truth.
You want us to take him? [Frost coughs.]
[Creaking.]
[Lock clicks.]
[Silence.]
[Gasps.]
Wait.
What happened? S-Slow down.
I don't understand.
[Sobbing.]
What [Scraping.]
[Scraping continues.]
[Crow cawing.]
Looks quiet.
No movement.
Two entrances.
Breach both? By twos.
You take Powell.
Washington, Fish, go around the back of the yellow house.
What about dickhead? Am I supposed to believe he's got my back? No, that's my job.
Always.
[Mouths word.]
Clear! Clear! Clear! Clear! It's all clear, Carve.
That son of a bitch jerked us around.
We should stay, look around for a bit, so we don't miss nothing.
No, we'll search the rest of the town first.
Quick and quiet, in case they're still nearby.
You three, take the north end and work back.
- We'll meet you in the middle.
- Copy.
Whoa.
[Flies buzzing.]
[Rattling.]
Where are you? Virgil: My grandfather's house used to have one of these.
I'd secretly shove stuff in there.
Uh I-I'm sorry.
I don't see anything.
I'm sure you saw something but But you haven't slept.
So maybe it's Y-Yeah.
'Cause Okay, okay.
Okay.
I'm sorry.
You and me, let's give the house another sweep, okay? Connie! [Silence.]
[Soft rumbling.]
[Person grunting.]
[Thumping.]
Voice: Hungry! [Thumping and grunting continue.]
Leah: Clear! Over here! They're still wet.
Guess he was telling the truth, then.
Carver: We should clear the other rooms.
- Clear! - Clear! - [Door slams.]
- Clear! - [Door slams.]
- Clear! Nothing.
Maybe they went out the back.
I can track them.
Are you in a hurry to leave? What? Other building, you wanted to stick around and make sure we didn't miss anything.
Now you wanna run right off.
Which is it? Look, man, I'm just trying to help.
Yet you keep chirpin'.
Fine.
You lose 'em, it's on you.
It ain't on me.
Stop.
Wash, we need a perimeter check.
Possible runners.
Half a klick.
Washington: Copy that, Shaw.
Look.
I don't have time for this toddler bullshit.
- Listen - I know.
I understand, but I don't need it.
Go sift upstairs, make sure we didn't miss anything.
Don't.
Don't what? You're either with us or you're not.
What do you want me to do? For one thing stop pissing off Carver.
Usually don't end well.
[Footsteps.]
[Grunts.]
Come on.
Please.
Please.
Just a - [Horse neighs.]
- Just a little bit more! Carol: Whoa! Kelly? Awesome.
You need help? What the hell were you thinking? You should have told us that you were heading out.
Come here.
- [Grunts.]
- I'm fine.
But Connie's not.
I found her camp.
She's with some guy who knew Michonne.
They left in a hurry.
Something's not right.
She thought they were being followed.
She's out there.
She's scared.
She needs me.
And if if something happened to her No.
We're gonna find her first.
Yeah.
Come on.
Let's get movin'.
[Sniffles.]
[Thumping.]
[Person grunting.]
[Thumping and grunting stop.]
[Panting.]
[Crack.]
[Silence.]
[Soft rumbling.]
[Glass shatters.]
[Person grunting.]
[Grunting continues.]
[Objects clattering.]
[Gasps.]
[Multiple people grunting.]
[Thumping.]
[Virgil grunting.]
[Grunting and thumping.]
[Thumping on wall.]
[Thumping on wall.]
[Grunting continues.]
[Thumping on wall.]
[Grunting.]
[Both grunting.]
Hungry! [Snarling.]
[Gasps.]
[Groans.]
[Rattling.]
Oh! Oh, God.
Connie.
[Grunting.]
Come on.
I got you.
Come on.
Oh, God.
They ran.
They ain't comin' back here.
What? I mean, think about it.
You hit 'em hard.
Even if they get more people, they won't come back here.
It's a bad move.
You got what? 20 people in your town.
You got weapons.
You got walls.
You'd see them coming from a mile away.
Trust me.
They ran.
Is there a point to any of this? Let's go.
There's nothing here.
It's time we move on.
No.
We're missing something.
- Fine.
Let's waste another hour.
That's smart.
- Daryl It's not my fault he's too stupid to pay attention! Yeah.
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
- Leah: Enough.
- Ah, screw that.
This dirtbag wants to play, I'll teach him the rules.
I'm right here, man.
Make a move.
This is not the time, and it's not your call to make.
Jesus, Shaw.
We both know who he really is deep down.
What? I was there.
Remember? After.
What, you think this is gonna end any different? So this is what? You looking out for me? Always.
Uh-huh.
Gotcha.
And what about the fire? When Pope locked me in the cabin and lit it up.
You must have known.
Was that you looking out for me, too? Shaw.
Wake up.
Everything's a test now.
If you think this guy is ever gonna give a shit about any of us, you're gonna fail.
No, he's right.
I don't give a shit about any of you.
Except you.
I'm here for you.
It's no secret.
I made mistakes.
But I'm here right now.
Maybe I'd be better at it this time, if you'd let me.
And Pope scares the shit outta me.
I don't wanna be face-first in the fire under his boot.
But if you say trust 'em, I'll trust 'em.
We've wasted enough time here already.
Oh, you're not seriously gonna It's time to move on.
Sure.
Your call.
Hold on.
Told ya.
[Thunder rumbles.]
Which way? We could split up, check both trails, double back.
Storm's coming.
We should stick together.
It's up to you.
Which way do you think she went? [Thunder cracks.]
That way.
[Thunder rumbling.]
Virgil: They led us here.
I've never seen people this far gone.
To herd us, like prey.
But we're not.
I'm getting you out.
We'll make a run for it.
Take this.
No matter what happens you have to keep going.
With or without me.
Don't stop.
Just No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Please.
Just take it.
[Knife clatters.]
I don't know how to explain.
Um But I don't have a choice.
I lost myself for a long time.
Off the map.
And I, um [Sighs.]
I made choices that I can't un-choose.
But she gave me another chance.
Michonne.
She pointed me back to the road, and somehow that road led right to you.
So I have to pass on that chance, or it all means nothing.
And if you can [Voice breaking.]
If you can find your family - - No, no.
No.
Listen, listen, listen.
I need you to promise me that you will keep going, no matter what happens.
Together? Together.
[Grunting and thumping.]
Time's up.
[Grunting and thumping continue.]
[Screams.]
Go.
Go.
Go, go.
Go, go! Go! [Screams.]
Go.
Get out.
[Virgil grunting.]
[Person growling.]
[Walkers growling.]
[Screaming.]
[Screaming.]
[Walkers growling.]
[People screaming.]
- [Thunder rumbles.]
- Go.
[Person snarling.]
[Sobbing.]
They were there.
Caught signs, but they slipped away.
[Sighs.]
Sorry.
Ooh.
[Laughing.]
I thought you'd be disappointed.
Well, this day was a success.
How so? After you left, I continued the "discussion" with our guest.
He wasn't too talkative.
But I got everything I needed out of him.
[Growling.]
[Growling.]
[Growling.]
[Pope whispering.]
[Whispering.]
Negan: The world is different now Fewer people to fight for, there's fewer things to fight over.
You're saying you'd do things differently? - [Gasps.]
- If I could do it all over again? Yeah.
Your people need help.
I can deliver for you.
Your brothers are dead, are you not ashamed?! Kang: It was so great to have Lauren Ridloff back finally.
We had been planning for a long time to bring her back in this episode, and we'd sort of, like, shaped the story, and we wanted to give her, like, a big reentry into the show.
We loved having Kevin Carroll back as Virgil, and I think what was important for us is to show that Virgil was affected by meeting Michonne, and I think he had to suppress some of his heart to kind of, like, get through the death of his family, and he sort of made that decision to try stepping out and finding society again.
Of course, he found everything was just abandoned because our people were fleeing the Whisperers, but, fortunately, he comes across Connie, and I think he feels like he wants to do better in the world.
And so there's a real selflessness that you see in Virgil here.
He has some skills, you know, and when Connie's about to be attacked, like, he gets her out of the way and takes the brunt of that even though it means he gets injured pretty badly, and I think we're starting to see probably who he truly is at the core.
[Virgil grunting.]
[Walkers growling.]
So, this episode, we were talking very, very, early on, and one of the things that we talked about was, like, we would love to do just a good, old fashioned haunted-house horror story because that just seemed really fun, and we just were talking about how people become too far gone in this world, and we've seen people who are cannibals, we've talked about people that Maggie had run across, we've seen the Whisperers, and we were just talking about people that have gone completely feral, and what kind of desperation would it take to get to that point? [Gasps.]
Kang: Greg Nicotero and his KNB Group, they did all the creature design and made these people unique from zombies and have their own sort of terrifying look.
[Grunting.]
There's that set deck where you see the pictures on the wall and the eyes are scratched out.
"A," we thought that's creepy, so that's really fun, but in the backstory of it, we actually do think that those are pictures of relatives or even some of the people who became ferals and are living in that house.
And as they sort of descended into a much more feral state, they just started destroying the vestiges of their humanity.
So we totally had a story reason why we did that, but at the same time, we also thought it just looked, like, super weird and creepy.
One of the things that was interesting for us in doing this episode was just picking which point of view that you're in.
For the average viewer, you're just gonna assume that the default is being, like, a hearing viewer, and I think it's interesting to sometimes kind of flip that because they are experiencing the same events in slightly different ways.
It became really interesting to go, like, "Maybe we play the sound to him in his point of view but you don't play it when we're in her point of view.
" To me, the best horror, it really is like you're touching on the entire range of human emotion and the human experience, and I think that, like, she just captured all of that so seemingly effortlessly.
I know she puts in a lot of work into her craft and what she does, but she brings so much nuance to these little moments and, just, she's so expressive.
I think she's kind of the perfect horror-movie star in this.
I'm up.
Kang: The torture scene is just very specific to this group and their philosophy and the particular time in history when they were soldiers as well as, more importantly, mercenaries, and the darkness that continued to evolve throughout the apocalypse.
We've seen Daryl in scenes where he's had to torture people before, but certainly not to this extent and certainly not against somebody that he considers an ally and that he likes.
And I think that what the show does is put our characters into situations where they are just in the worst possible things that they could imagine.
Like, they're living nightmares.
This is not something he wants to do, but they are most likely both gonna die if he doesn't do this.
He certainly I don't think blinks at the idea of having to lay down his own life for his friends, but in this case, like, he knows he might be a key to getting this done.
But I think it's also about Frost's bravery, knowing that he's going to be tortured and basically going along with it.
Go to hell, assho [Screaming.]
Ever since Daryl signaled to him when they were behind bars in Episode 4, like, "These guys are listening.
We got to pretend like we're not friends," Frost has really, really gotten that he did exactly what Daryl was hoping he would do, which is he kind of gave him the right neighborhood, so there's some credibility, and Daryl's hoping that saves Frost.
He thinks, like, "If you just say the neighborhood but not exactly the house, then I can buy some time," which is basically what he does, and so, you know, he's trying to, like, create little signals which allowed Maggie and company to hide, and Daryl's just trying to feed them information about, like, how many people they are.
Daryl: You got what? 20 people in your town.
You got weapons.
You got walls.
You'd see them coming from a mile away.
Trust me.
They ran.
I think, when Carver goes for that trapdoor, if you watch Norman, the way he plays it is really great.
He's ready to, like, go down fighting if that trapdoor opens and the people are there, but, fortunately, they're not.
They got away.
So Daryl knows, like, now he's in with these people and his people are safe, so that's as good of an outcome as he can hope for in the moment, because it's like, if they can just keep that going, he can be that person on the inside that's gonna facilitate them getting inside the walls.
What we wanted to play at the end of this episode is that Pope is unpredictable.
I don't think anybody predicted that he was going to kill Frost anyway in the middle of that, but what we're learning about Pope is he's in a dark place.
He's spiraling in his own way.
He's obsessed with the idea of Maggie being out there, and so, in some ways, he's messing with Daryl's head, too, you know? He's kind of, like, making his own moves.
Him going off and talking and laughing with Carver is completely designed to create paranoia in Leah and in Daryl.
It doesn't even matter what he's saying.
This is more about who Pope is as a person right now and the questions that's raising in Leah and the potential openings that Daryl is starting to see in how he can work the situation.