The Walking Dead's six-year time skip has brought Alexandria leader Michonne (Danai Gurira) closer to new right-hand man Siddiq (Avi Nash), leading some fans to call for a romantic coupling — but Nash says the relationship is familial, not romantic.
Siddiq, who was first welcomed into Alexandria by the late Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) before he was embraced by Michonne's lover Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln), has since cultivated "a really interesting relationship with Michonne" following Rick's "death," Nash told TV Insider.
"It's very much fueled by the loss of Rick that they both share. You know, Carl first brings Siddiq into this world of Alexandria and with his passing, Rick accepts Siddiq and takes his advice to be merciful. And then, I think, as Rick is gone, Rick's remaining family members: Judith, Michonne — they become Siddiq's de facto family."
Michonne and Siddiq were last seen en route to Hilltop, escorting newcomer group Magna (Nadia Hilkes), Connie (Lauren Ridloff), Kelly (Angel Theory), Luke (Dan Fogler) and Yumiko (Eleanor Matsuura) to the colony that is now on unsteady ground with Alexandria and its isolationist leader following an undisclosed traumatic event that forced the survivors apart.
Siddiq presses Michonne on her treatment of the outsiders, a move Siddiq is allowed to make because "Michonne and Siddiq have an elder sister, younger brother bond," Nash said.
"He looks up to her and she also listens to his advice. He's able to speak to her in a way that cuts a little bit deeper to her core than anyone else because you know, she can be a brilliant leader, but also very stubborn and he's able to call her out when he has to.
"They need to present the united front to the rest of Alexandria, but they're also hashing out, 'What do we do now?' The world is six years later. The walkers aren't the same sort of threat that they were at the beginning of the apocalypse. Michonne has fought to create a civilization. It was a very big deal for them to let in those strangers. If Michonne's ear is the one that they have to turn, Siddiq is the person best poised to say, 'Hey, this is what's happening. And I need to tell you this hard, bitter truth.' And it's pretty sweet. I went from working with Andrew Lincoln to Danai Gurira, so I'm super lucky."
Six years after Rick was believed to have died — in reality, he was scooped up by Anne (Pollyanna McIntosh) and taken to parts unknown in a story to play out in a trilogy of television movies — Michonne has since given birth to their son, R.J. (Antony Azor), and dutifully raises daughter Judith (Cailey Fleming).
Michonne has yet to entirely move on from Rick, who is expected to one day fight his way back to his family as he did when separated from Carl and wife Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies).
"We know Rick Grimes," chief content officer and Rick Grimes trilogy overseer Scott Gimple told THR. "He would want to be home."
As for Siddiq, Nash said Siddiq has most likely had "many" of his own romantic entanglements over those six years.
"He spent a lot of time in Hilltop. He spent a lot of time in the Kingdom. He's a very affable, kind person, but also very capable of surviving. I think those are great qualities for a person in the apocalypse," he said.
"I think we may see the entanglements that do happen, in real life and in the apocalypse, which aren't always really clean. It's not always like, 'Hey I really like you, let's go out.' It's messy, like life. The writers have done a really good job this year of addressing certain elements in the show like love and relationships."
In the comics, Siddiq was linked to Rosita (Christian Serratos), who in the show is with Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). Other new romantic pairings introduced this season include Carol (Melissa McBride) and Ezekiel (Khary Payton), Jerry (Cooper Andrews) and Nabila (Nadine Marissa), and yet another couple to be revealed in Sunday's mid-season finale.
The Walking Dead premieres new episodes Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.