The Bob-B-Que on last night’s episode of The Walking Dead was only the beginning for Gareth and his gang of cannibals.
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Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter on “Strangers’” stomach-turning ending, Gareth’s Andrew J. West described how the Season 5 antagonist is hungry for more than human flesh. And with the brains to boot, Gareth will be a far more cunning villain than his comic-book inspiration, Chris. According to West, Gareth thinks his plans through at a methodical pace and leaves no variable unaccounted for.
“I’ve always seen Gareth as a resourceful, intelligent and much more organized guy than Chris is in the comics. We see Chris, who with the Hunters, lives in an abandoned house and they don’t have their s*** together that well. They have this thing they do but it’s all fly-by-night,” West told The Reporter. “Gareth is just more powerful than Chris was.”
Despite his character’s instincts as a natural-born killer, West stressed that fans shouldn’t write Gareth off as a pure villain just yet. Unlike the Governor, or Shane, Gareth isn’t sadistic or vengeful . Every move that the Terminus leader makes, no matter how horrible, will be done for survival. As West put it, Gareth thinks he’s just following the rules of the new world order. Of course, that point of view will only complicate his rivalry with Rick.
“The question of them coexisting is interesting and we’ll see what happens with that,” West said.
And as for that slab of meat West munched on during the cannibalism scene? That was pork shoulder, which was apparently so good, West hardly had to pretend to enjoy it.
“The last line of the episode wasn’t that hard to say!” West said.
The Walking Dead returns next Sunday on AMC.
