The Walking Dead’s Jeffrey Dean Morgan on the Consequences of Negan Saving Lydia

The Walking Dead star Jeffrey Dean Morgan says Negan identifies with “underdog” Lydia (Cassady McClincy), a former Whisperer now struggling to fit in to Alexandria after defecting from mother Alpha’s (Samantha Morton) enemy cult. Amid growing tensions and paranoia caused by their proximity to the Whisperers — suspected to be behind coordinated attacks on the Alexandria, Hilltop and Oceanside communities — both Negan and Lydia have been targeted by rattled Alexandrians. The situation worsened when Negan accidentally killed Margo (Jerri Tubbs) after she attacked Lydia with accomplices Gage (Jackson Pace) and Alfred (David Shae). An angry mob forced Negan to flee jail while awaiting the deciding vote on his fate, but Lydia has defended and then covered for Negan. As she told Daryl (Norman Reedus), “He gets me.”

“I think that Negan likes the underdog, and he doesn’t like people getting picked on, and he doesn’t like bullies. With Lydia, Negan has to step in and save her,” Morgan says in a new behind-the-scenes video from The Walking Dead Season 10. “It’s just ruining the whole villain thing, isn’t it? But something horrible happens, and a lot of people are gonna take this wrong.”

Like Negan told keeper Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam), the ex-Savior leader is worried the Alexandrians will “move me from the proverbial ‘semi-us’ category to the category of ‘them,’” meaning the neighboring Whisperers.

“The Whisperers are casting a large shadow over our world,” Morgan says. “Negan is smart enough to realize that the tension has ramped up to a thousand, and they’re going to take it out on me.”

Facing the life of a lone fugitive, Negan could use the situation with the Whisperers to his advantage.

“I think that, moving forward, our group is in big trouble with the Whisperers, much more trouble than they were in with Negan and the Saviors. And if I think if someone can step forward and help, it’s Negan,” Morgan said on a past episode of Talking Dead. “Will our group be open to that? I mean, honestly, I don’t know what’s in [showrunner] Angela [Kang] or [TWD chief content officer Scott] Gimple’s mind and what they have in store. But I would love to see him get a chance to work with our group. Just give him the chance.”

Negan might soon get that chance. The Negan-starring 10×05, “What It Always Is,” premieres Sunday, Nov. 3 at 9/8c on AMC.

For more TWD intel, follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter.