The Walking Dead: Surprise Cast Member Talks About Finale Return

04/03/2017 12:22 am EDT

Major spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 7 finale follow.

The Walking Dead Season 7 finale brought back one of the fan-favorite characters who bowed out in the same season's premiere. Michael Cudlitz appeared in Episode 7x16 (The First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life), scattered in scenes throughout its run time as Sasha took a trip down memory lane before dying herself.

Following the finale, Cudlitz appeared on The Walking Dead recap show Talking Dead with co-stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Norman Reedus, Sonequa Maritn-Green, and showrunner Scott Gimple. Hardwick introduced a clip from Cudlitz on the screen beside him with a message from the actor.

In a pre-planned moment, the audio of the video cut out and Cudlitz popped out from behind the stage with flowers for Martin-Green who was celebrated for her role on the AMC series throughout Talking Dead. Cudlitz did stick around to discuss how easy it was to take on the role one more time.

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"It is family," Cudlitz said. "Norman had written to me and sonic after he watched the episode this week. There's that continuous connection with all the cast members. We are still in touch with each other."

In fact, the group regularly reunites at Walker Stalker Conventions throughout the country on a monthly basis, in addition to other comic conventions through the year.

"The cast is so large I think there's actually more now than when I was on the show," Cudlitz pointed out. "It was like coming home. It was really awesome."

Despite being on the series for over three years, the flashback sequence which added depth to Abraham and Sasha's relationship ranked among Cudlitz's best experiences on The Walking Dead. "Definitely one of my favorite scenes," Cudlitz said. "We shot that all as one scene although it wasn't all one scene. We were able to take our time with it and it was wonderful."

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The Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.

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