The Walking Dead is at it again.
Yesterday’s penultimate episode of season 8, titled “Worth,” saw another long-running cast member bite the dust. After his ambition got the better of him and he started taking control of the Saviors himself, Simon finally got his comeuppance last night when his vengeful boss Negan strangled him to death with his bare hands. The character has had an interesting arc over the past few seasons and his death should also have major consequences for Negan’s organization going forward.
But what did actor Steven Ogg think of his fan favorite kicking the bucket after three seasons on the hit AMC zombie drama? Obviously, everyone who works on the show knows that their time could be up at any moment, but it still must come as a blow when it’s your turn to go.
Ogg chatted to Cinema Blend recently and opened up about how it definitely does hurt that he doesn’t get to be part of the TWD gang anymore, saying:
“I mean, you know, [I’ve had] time obviously since shooting it in November. There’s been a lot of time, so you gotta get over that shit. It’s sad to not go back — to work, to play, to be around everyone. That hurts. I never really feel like not getting to play Simon again is going to keep me up at night. It’s just more the environment that you’re gonna miss, that environment of work and being with those people. That’s the biggest thing. And yeah, of course, in a sense, it’s so much fun to play that character, that you do miss that freedom that’s gonna come with playing a character like that.”
Still, he’s lasted longer than many of his fellow cast members on the show and his character has grown and grown over the years to become a much more prominent part of the series than he started out as.
ComicBook.com also caught up with Ogg in the wake of his exit from TWD and spoke with him about Simon’s journey throughout the series. The star revealed that he initially thought he would only have a minor role to play on the show before things developed, explaining:
“I think, largely, [producer Greg] Nicotero was a fan and supported the fact of, ‘Hey, I think we got someone here who can give some interesting character.’ I was just thinking it might have been just that. I was someone who revealed the big man, you know? Pulled back the curtain to show Oz. I thought that was gonna be my… That was it. Then, it grew bit by bit, a little more, and all of the sudden, he became this right hand man.”
Killing off arguably the show’s secondary villain is a bold move that suitably raises the stakes for this week’s finale. Not only that, but Simon’s death will also open the floodgates for plenty more death to come in the climactic battle between the allied communities and the Saviors.
In other words, it’s looking like the season 8 closer is going to be a can’t miss outing and it’ll all go down when The Walking Dead 8×16 “Wrath” airs on AMC this Sunday, April 15th.
