When ‘The Walking Dead‘ hit the Season 8 midseason finale, almost all anyone could talk to was Carl Grimes having been bit so it was almost easy to overlook Maggie’s big moment. Lauren Cohan brought a weight to her character with her last actions that are beyond anything we’ve seen from the actress so far. Not only did she draw a line in the sand to declare that she wasn’t playing ball with Negan, but she did so by straight out murdering an unarmed man.
According to Nicotero, this moment is a defining one for her:
“In my opinion, one of the most powerful moments in the midseason finale was what Maggie did. I remember watching the cut out of the gate, and when she pulled the trigger and then turned and walked away, you just saw that weight on her. She’s still human. She still has morals, so she’s at odds with how to move forward.”
Honestly, her body emoted the difficulty of this decision and what it was doing to her so well that you could see it from behind. You didn’t need dialogue or a look of pain on her face as it was all shown through her actions. Howver, as Nicotero says, this has her “at odds with how to move forward” and he elaborates on that by sharing:
“She knows that there are things that she’s going to have to do that she’s probably not going to believe in. We’re going to see a lot more of that in the second half of the season, where Maggie comes into direct conflict with what her morals are and who she should be versus protecting her people and protecting the hilltop. It’s pretty polarizing what she does and what she’s able to do, and we have some great things to see from her.”
In her own way, Maggie has just declared that she and the rest of the Hilltop are at war with Negan. No amount of backtracking can make good on sending Negan one of his men in a coffin which The Saviors had provided for the person whose life they took.
It will be interesting to watch Maggie evolve and continue this struggle, all while quite pregnant and having to worry not just about her life but the lives of The Hilltop and her unborn child.
This is all elaborated in the synopsis for the second half of the eighth season that states that “a pregnant Maggie is wrestling with the many moral gray areas that come with leadership during war. In a standoff with the Saviors, she must decide how to proceed with the dozens of POW lives she’s currently in control of, as well as new complications that come with being a leader.”
After what she did already it will be interesting to see if another one tries to step out of line.
Are you looking forward to seeing how Negan takes Maggie’s message when ‘The Walking Dead’ returns? Do you think that Negan will immediately come knocking or will this take time to play out? Share your thoughts below!
Source: Entertainment Weekly
