The Walking Dead's Danai Gurira praises co-star after big death scene in The Ones Who Live episode 5
May. 31, 2024Exclusive: The Black Panther star waxes lyrical on Pollyanna McIntosh’s “singular” performance as complicated villain Jadis
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Warning! This article contains spoilers forThe Walking Dead: The Ones Who Liveepisode 5. If you’re not yet up to date with the show, and don’t want to know anything that happens, turn back now!
In The Walking Dead universe, main characters dying isn’t something that’s out of the ordinary, so it should come as no surprise to fans that the latest spin-off The Ones Who Live sees a longtime figure from the franchise kick the bucket.
In episode 5 of the Rick and Michonne-centered series, Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis – or Anne, as she’s often known – gets bitten by a walker and ultimately executed by a merciful Rick (Andrew Lincoln), after she threatens him and Michonne. After the pair’s escape from the Civic Republic Military’s compound, Jadis had been hellbent on catching up to them and forcing Rick to return and take over from recently deceased Lieutenant Colonel Donald Okafor (Craig Tate). If he comes back? She’ll let Michonne live and keep her promise not to give up Alexandria’s location to the CRM.
In the chase, she’s mortally shot, and later tries to convince Rick and Michonne to help her as her death, be it from her wounds or not, would result in the CRM being given a dossier that’d tell them where to find Alexandria. But when she tries to double-cross them, the survivors reveal they’re already one step ahead and Jadis gets chomped on the neck by one of the infected.
Confessing that her actions and blind loyalty to the CRM were born out of her heartbreak of losing people in the past, Jadis decides she’d rather die as ‘Anne’ and tells Rick and Michonne where to find the file at Cascadia Base. She gives Rick a wedding ring that Gabriel had found for him, too, before asking Rick to shoot her before she turns.
“[Pollyanna] is great, I’m just sad that me and her didn’t really get to work together much,” Gurira tellsGamesRadar+. “She’s incredible and she really carved out such an original character from the minute she was a part of The Walking Dead, so the fact that she was given this incredible arc is no surprise. It’s always sad to see the great characters die, but you know, she’s a fantastic actress and a fantastic person. What she brought to the story and how she played that role, I thought, was always very singular. There’s no-one like her.”
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“She’s the reason Rick winds up where he does, and we envisioned her as a very big part of the story,“he previously told SFX magazine. “Jadis’s story was a long time in the works.” As for the CRM, Gimple said, “In some ways, that was initially planned to come out maybe after this. And to be, in some ways, different,” he adds, noting how the many delays in production shifted some ideas. “Timing got really twisted there. It was supposed to be another look at aspects of this; a smaller look, to tell you the truth. But with all the shows, I always look for those threads to connect. You never know how things will schedule, how things come together, and the stories go. What works, and what doesn’t.”
After premiering in the US back in late February, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is now finally streaming on Sky and NOW. For more, check out our handy guide onhow to watch The Walking Dead franchise in orderor our list of the most excitingnew TV showsheading our way.
I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering all things TV and film across our Total Film and SFX sections. Elsewhere, my words have been published by the likes of Digital Spy, SciFiNow, PinkNews, FANDOM, Radio Times, and Total Film magazine.
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