Melissa McBride Recaps The Walking Dead: JSS

Tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead, JSS, was a very Carol Peletier episode.

After watching the episode, we had the chance to catch up with Melissa McBride to talk about the chaos which took place in Alexandria and learned a bit about what to expect going forward.

If you have not yet watched the second episode of The Walking Dead‘s sixth season, the following interview will spoil it in its entirety!

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In “JSS,” Carol gets to be a bad-ass again!

Oh, that’s just one episode! Shoot!

I like to start off with a question from my Twitter followers and this time the question they came up with is, “What would you do if you were in Carol’s shoes?” So, would you be killing and doing what it takes to survive or would you be more like Morgan in that you don’t have to kill?

You know what, I would fight to the best of my ability and try to balance it with any sort of normalcy just like she’s trying to do. Just like they’re all trying to do. That’s where the challenge and the heartbreak of this episode is. It’s where that hope or sense of normalcy is so impacted and it’s falling apart with the walls coming down. But yeah, I would fight and I would also try to have some sense of normalcy.

By the end of JSS, Carol is sitting on the porch and she notices the “A” on the banister. Is that “A” some thing the Wolves put there or was it already there?

Yeah and that comes right when she’s wiping that “W” off of her forehead. Just that whole dichotomy, that polarity… There’s this community that’s holding on and then there’s the W’s that you’ve just given up and they say, “It’s not a choice,” and two, it’s the sweetness of Sam. That was his stamp. The “A, welcome to Alexandria, you’re one of us now,” and just that whole community and safety and shelter. Just being a child, I think that’s what I was thinking of when I saw it and I was thinking of him and I’m shattered.

I understand Carol sees reasons to kill people as a survival method but why is she killing the man Morgan has tied despite him ordering her not to? Why did she kill him rather than try to get information from him?

I think in that moment, she felt like she needed to just dispatch all of these and get them out of here because they’re just filling around totally randomly and very quickly and just killing people and she just put as many away as she could until the threat was diminished. That’s her point of view, too. How many times do you give somebody a chance? We all know when somebody leaves or you saw where the Wolves came up and Carl shot the guy in the leg and he’s like, “Help me! Help me!” and he gets back up and tries to go for the gun. It’s all about trust and that’s another sad factor. It’s hard to trust anything.

What does Carol think of Morgan’s no killing policy? Is that something she’ll never adopt? Does she think she just think you have to do what it takes to survive and that often times means killing people?

That’s exactly what I think. She does what she has to do to survive and that involves killing people. I think every circumstance is unique but, for the most part, it goes back to trust. You can let somebody go and they can come back and they can come back with a greater vengeance than before and with more people. It’s scary.

So, I’m guessing the Wolves will remain a threat.

Now, let’s see what happens. Morgan let some of them go! We’ll see what the consequences of that may be.

We haven’t seen much of Daryl and Carol in season 6 just yet. Is Carol going to find a romance with him or anyone else this season?

Well, Daryl’s been out… They’re busy now with the whole herd thing but it’s early in the season, I’ll reserve my answer.

If you were writing The Walking Dead, who would you want to see Carol fall in love with? Would it be Daryl?

I couldn’t even think of the term, you know? I just don’t. There’s too much stuff going on. Hold on a minute. You want to ask Norman?

NR: Hello?

I just asked Melissa, “Are you guys gonna be falling in love this season?” Are we actually going to see it?

You mean on camera or off camera?

Why not both?

Well, I mean off camera we’re pretty hot and heavy already, so it’ll probably bleed onto camera at some point. I can’t get her out of my trailer, you know what I mean?

I don’t blame you! She’s a bad-ass.

She’s a cute chick! You know what I mean? I’ve been making googley eyes at her since season one. She’s taking the phone from me!

So silly.

So, you all don’t have any fun on set, huh?

No, we have no fun on set! Is it a spoiler that we’re on set?

No! But are you looking at Negan right now?

No! That one we can’t answer.

Okay, last question: At New York Comic Con Robert Kirkman said Carol is the one character he couldn’t kill. Does that make you feel a bit safer or do you still think Carol is in constant danger?

No! That doesn’t make me feel better! No. That doesn’t mean won’t.

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The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 PM EST on AMC.