The Walking Dead season 10 returned with a shocking midseason premiere this past weekend. While much of the discussion around the episode was focused on the gross-out sex scene between Negan and Alpha, let’s not overlook the devastating cliffhanger, in which it appears that both Connie and Magna have died.
Due to Carol’s obsession with getting revenge on the Whisperers, she plants some dynamite in the entrance to the cave they’ve been trapped in in an attempt to blow up Alpha’s horde. However, the explosives go off too soon, causing a cave-in that crashes down on the two characters. TWD fans, of course, know better than to trust an off-screen death, but for the survivors themselves this comes as a massive blow. Partly because it was all Carol’s fault.
While speaking to Insider, showrunner Angela Kang talked through the cliffhanger and what this means for the characters and the story. The writer/producer stressed that whether Connie and Magna are still alive or not shouldn’t be our focus as it’s the fallout of their presumed death that will fuel how the season develops from here.
“There are two people that got buried within the cave, whether alive or dead, our people don’t know. That triggers the next set of adventures for Daryl where he, on the search, is going to find some things that are unexpected. And I think emotionally, for our characters, just the question of whether they’re alive or dead really has a lot of impact on them going forward. We will eventually find out the fate of Magna and Connie. But in the meantime, there’s a lot of our characters such as Carol, who are living with the guilt, or people who are activated to try to find them, or just deal with the emotional fallout from it.”
Those who are following Lauren Ridloff’s career will know that the Connie actress is set to play one of the lead roles in Marvel’s upcoming Eternals, so it’s clear that her character was written out – at least temporarily – to allow her to go film the superhero movie. Kang admitted this was partially why this event happened, but also believes it was the right development for the story.
“There is some aspect of that that is true. But I think for the story, it’s actually worked out really beautifully. 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.”
Don’t expect confirmation of Connie and Magna’s fates for a while, then, but do expect exploration of the fallout of their possible deaths and how that affects Daryl and Carol.
The Walking Dead season 10 continues with episode 10, “Stalker,” this Sunday, March 1st.
