The Walking Dead returns with long-awaited answers about Connie (Lauren Ridloff), who has been MIA since the midseason premiere, “Squeeze,” in February. Earlier this season, Whisperer leader Alpha (Samantha Morton) lured Carol (Melissa McBride) into a walker-filled cave trapping Daryl (Norman Reedus), Aaron (Ross Marquand), Jerry (Cooper Andrews), Magna (Nadia Hilker), Connie, and sister Kelly (Angel Theory). When Carol fumbled a stick of dynamite in an attempt to destroy Alpha’s walker horde below, Connie and Magna were unable to get clear before the cave collapsed on top of them. In “Walk With Us,” a resurfaced Magna reported losing Connie somewhere in the horde after moving through it to escape the cave, leaving Connie’s fate unknown.
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In Sunday’s Season 10 finale, “A Certain Doom,” Daryl silences the Whisperers once and for all when he stabs Beta (Ryan Hurst), who is then swarmed and devoured by walkers. Daryl, Carol, Kelly, and others successfully finish off the rest of Alpha’s horde when they steer it in the direction of a cliff, sending the undead tumbling into the ocean below.
Nearby, dirt-covered fingers twitch as a body, covered in dust and grime, stirs awake. What appears to be a stray walker is revealed as Connie, still alive, but barely. She stumbles through the woods and collapses in the path of an approaching horse.
Looking up at its rider, Connie sees Virgil (Kevin Carroll). Days earlier, Virgil stayed behind as the lone inhabitant of Bloodsworth Island when parting ways with Michonne (Danai Gurira).
In February, executive producer and showrunner Angela Kang confirmed Connie’s disappearance was to accommodate the filming schedule of Ridloff, who plays speedster superhero Makkari in the upcoming Marvel Studios film Eternals.
“I think for the story, it’s actually worked out really beautifully,” Kang told Insider. “So I think there’s some really interesting stuff that came out of it for both Carol and Daryl, and she’s a character that I think is leading with emotion for both of them. So sometimes those things that you have to do to help out a beloved actor also work out in your favor.”
In “Squeeze,” Connie’s disappearance and possible death left Daryl distraught, forcing a falling out between him and his best friend.
The Walking Dead soon begins filming on six new episodes extending Season 10 into early 2021. Kang and the writers designed these episodes for safe filming amid the pandemic, and the anthology-style episodes will take “deep dives” into the show’s characters in the build-up towards Season 11.
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