Lennie James addresses possible Morgan and Rick Walking Dead reunion
Warning: This article contains spoilers about Fear the Walking Dead's season 8 midseason finale, "All I See is Red."
Morgan Jones was seeing red on Fear the Walking Dead's midseason 8 finale (conveniently titled "All I See is Red"). The character's fragile emotional state led to a series of blackouts in the episode where Morgan would wake up and not remember what happened as he slipped back into a fit of killing rage. But the character now appears ready to go missing permanently from the show — but not the franchise — judging by the events of the episode.
Fueled by despair over watching history repeat itself with the death of his wife Grace (Karen David), and with his adopted daughter Mo (Zoey Merchant) perhaps on the way to her own demise, Morgan (Lennie James) kept wailing on walkers and humans alike, often being knocked out or blacking out in the process. But while talking to Mo over the walkie-talkie, he relayed the same words Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) told him when he first crossed over from The Walking Dead to Fear the Walking Dead in season 4 of the spin-off series — "You can hide, but you can't run."
Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC Lennie James on 'Fear the Walking Dead'
That reference was laying the groundwork for Morgan's next mission. Once Morgan and Mo were finally reunited, and the child soldier decided to stay with him, the duo said goodbye to Madison (Kim Dickens) and left on a boat together, with dad telling daughter, "It's got me thinking about the people I ran away from when I first came to Texas. And they're people that mean as much to me as you all do. I got to find them. I got to see if they're still there. Right my mistakes and make sure that they're all okay."
Morgan then gave Mo her own stick to begin training — as Eastman once taught him — while also imparting the lesson that all life is precious, it was not about killing or not killing, it was about the time that you have.
Morgan then referenced Rick to Mo: "Remember that friend I mentioned, the one who told me not to run? Thought we'd go look for him," he said, adding that "It wouldn't be the first time we found our way back to each other."
Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC Zoey Merchant and Lennie James on 'Fear the Walking Dead'
That seems to be a pretty clear indication that Morgan very well could be making an appearance on the upcoming Rick and Michonne Walking Dead series, an indication made even stronger when Morgan got on his walkie and said, "This message is for Rick Grimes. It's Morgan Jones. Man, I'm gonna come and look for you, whether you're at Alexandria or not. I will leave this message every morning at dawn, and I'll leave the walkie on for a few minutes after. Who knows? Maybe you might even be listening."
Morgan's Fear story then ended with him touching Eastman's grave and seeing faces of family and friends he lost along the way. When (and where) we see him again remains unclear, but a Rick and Morgan meet-up would once again bring the franchise full circle by reuniting the two characters whose paths crossed in the very first episode of The Walking Dead.
We picked up our own walkie to chat with James about Morgan's journey ending on Fear and his possible Walking Dead return.
Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC Kim Dickens and Lennie James on 'Fear the Walking Dead'
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What was it like wrapping your time up here on Fear the Walking Dead?
LENNIE JAMES: The end didn't feel real, to be honest. It was weird, because on one level, it felt like just another episode wrap, but there was just a lot more noise, many more cast and crew around, and lots of hugs and tears. I think, in the moment, it was too much to compute. It was the end of the day, the sun was going down, and it was a little overwhelming. I was glad that the last scene I shot was with Kim. That felt like the Gods did me a solid. To end it with her felt special.
How did you feel about Morgan's story circling back these past few episodes to Jenny and Duane, and then finally to Eastman — with Morgan talking to Eastman's grave marker and then passing on his teachings to Mo?
I just wanted to make sure that we earned the right to go back there. That the story we were telling in the present was worthy of us dipping into the past. The history of the characters in the universe are so vital to who they all are. I think we did what we set out to do. We added to Morgan's history and revealed things about him and his story that we didn't know. This far down the road, that isn't easy to do and is a testament to our storytellers. Also, it was lovely to catch up and spend some time with Keisha and Adrian.
Gene Page/AMC Lennie James and Andrew Lincoln on 'The Walking Dead'
Morgan leaves on a quest to go find Rick Grimes, leaving him a radio message. And we obviously know Rick is returning on a new show. What can you say about Morgan's future on The Walking Dead?
Morgan has set off in one direction and ended up going in another on more than one occasion, so who knows? He left a message for Rick, but he could go roaming out there and bump into Daryl or Maggie and Negan... or none of the above and just be left to see out his days walking the apocalypse with his kid! All I can say is this chapter of Morgan's story is over, and it has been my pleasure and honor to count myself among the amazing cast, crew and storytellers that bring FTWD to life.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
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