The Walking Dead: Josh McDermitt believes 'not everyone has to die'

Josh McDermitt
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The Walking Dead: Josh McDermitt recaps 'The Damned'

Every week, The Walking Dead’s very own Josh McDermitt, who plays Dr. Eugene Porter, is taking EW behind the scenes of the hit AMC horror series. For each episode, McDermitt will share his thoughts on what went down and what’s coming up, plus walk us through the ins and outs of the show. This week, McDermitt dives into “The Damned.”

Episode 2 of season 8 of The Walking Dead, “The Damned,” written by Matt Negrete and Channing Powell, kept the war rolling, and boy the bullets were flying! Let’s jump to the end of the episode real quick and talk about Morales (Juan Gabriel Pareja) coming back all the way from SEASON 1!!! For those who need a refresher, Morales was a part of the original Atlanta group, but took his family to Birmingham instead of going with the group to the CDC.

The story is now in and around the Washington, D.C. area, and like Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Morales has found his way there. I can’t wait for next week’s episode to hopefully dive into what happened, find out where his family is, and see what comes of the situation of him holding a gun to Rick’s head. The last time we saw him he was a different person; things have obviously changed.

I love it when the show introduces and says goodbye to a character, but doesn’t kill them off. Morgan (Lennie James) had an incredible second episode after the pilot in “Clear” back in season 3. We met Sam (Robin Lord Taylor) back in season 4 when Rick and Carol (Melissa McBride) went looking for supplies in a neighborhood, and then we saw him again at Terminus in season 5. Not everyone has to die; it’s much more interesting to me to have them come back as a different person and explore the journey they’ve been on.

Before I leave you, Rick and Daryl (Norman Reedus) were looking for a giant weapon using intel given to them by Dwight (Austin Amelio). Is this a setup? I don’t know. But the air in those scenes was boiling with tension. Big props to Rosemary Rodriguez for directing this episode and to our director of photography, DC Manwiller, for crafting a beautifully backlit scene of Rick walking down the hallway searching for the goods. It was so silent and amazing. I like it when we can just let the ambient sound of the scene be all that we hear instead of directing the tension with pulsing music.

See you back here next week, y’all!