The Walking Dead has successfully made it out of the frying pan and into the freezer… or something to that effect.
For months – nay, years – fans have been calling on AMC’s creative team to nudge TWD towards uncharted territory. The result? After nine seasons and a startling time jump, we finally have our snow episode, and it’s coming this Sunday.
Entitled “The Storm,” season 9’s finale explores the aftermath of an “overwhelming loss,” which may or may not have something to do with Alpha and her wicked ways. Whatever the case, AMC has dropped a slew of high-res photos for The Walking Dead‘s next installment, in which Negan accompanies our group of survivors. It could well be that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s snarling baddie is on the road to redemption, after all…
You’ll notice that most, if not all of our core characters are bound for Whisperer territory – perhaps in an effort to overthrow Alpha after her sadistic display of power in last weekend’s “The Calm Before.” But if that really was the calm, just imagine what kind of storm AMC has in store for this Sunday’s season finale!
When asked about The Walking Dead‘s first venture onto snow-covered lands, Greg Nicotero, the director responsible for “The Storm,” told The Hollywood Reporter that the season 9 finale was by far the most challenging episode of TWD he’s ever worked on.
We finally have our frozen zombies. We finally have our winter episode. I’m dying for people to see it. For me, it was one of the most technically challenging things I have ever done in my career as a director and as an effects artist who has to visualize this world. The other big challenge is this: How do you follow something like episode 15 with a season finale? While we were shooting it, we all said that episode 15 felt like a season finale. It was a moment where you want to end the show with people reeling and recovering. Adding a little P.S. on it, with the magnitude of what we did? I think people are going to be blown away.
Season 9 of The Walking Dead reaches its gore-filled conclusion on Sunday, March 31st, and will seemingly tee up a pretty incredible 2020 for AMC’s zombie franchise. Expect details of Fear The Walking Dead season 5, and that planned TV movie starring Rick Grimes, to emerge very soon indeed.
