‘Fear The Walking Dead’ EPs On Rick, Carol And Jesus’ Surprise Appearance

Morgan made his highly anticipated arrival on “Fear the Walking Dead” in last Sunday’s Season 4 premiere of the AMC series. But much to fans’ surprise, he wasn’t the only “The Walking Dead” character who made the jump.

After the cold open and the new “Fear the Walking Dead” credits sequence, viewers were taken back to the trash heaps location previously occupied by Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh) and the Scavengers on the mothership series. Morgan (Lennie James), who appeared to be living there on his own for quite some time, got a visit from Jesus (Tom Payne), Carol (Melissa McBride), and Rick (Andrew Lincoln). All three tried to convince Morgan to return with them to civilization. But their attempt just drove him off.

While some viewers might find Payne, McBride, and Lincoln’s cameos a mere stunt, “The Walking Dead” universe chief content officer Scott M. Gimple told Entertainment Weekly that Jesus, Carol, and Rick’s appearance in the episode actually propelled Morgan’s story forward.

“It was there simply because it has everything to do with Morgan’s story, and those exchanges he has in that scene really do affect him deeply and play out into the entire season of the show,” said Gimple. “The conversation that Rick and Morgan have is super-important to the whole season of ‘Fear the Walking Dead.’ It wasn’t just a goodbye, it was a seminal moment in Morgan’s life.”

New showrunner Ian Goldberg echoed Gimple’s remarks in a separate interview with The Hollywood Repoter. “Even though Morgan chooses to run away from Rick, Carol and Jesus, the words that the three of them say to him before he goes — and particularly Rick’s words about Morgan being connected to people, and that he’ll find his way back to the world — those are things that will resonate with Morgan, and to a certain extent haunt him as he runs away and pursues isolation,” Goldberg said. “The words will continue to be carried with him throughout the season.”

As for why Lincoln, McBride, and Payne were the only “The Walking Dead” stars to cross over to “Fear the Walking Dead” with James, Goldberg’s fellow showrunner Andrew Chambliss pointed out that Rick, Carol, and Jesus are three characters Morgan has very different relationships with. “It just seemed that for his sendoff from ‘The Walking Dead’ and the start of his journey here [on ‘Fear the Walking Dead’], we should see what he was running away from,” Chambliss explained.

As for what it was like to film his possibly final scenes with Lincoln, McBride, and Payne, James told Entertainment Weekly that it didn’t really feel like shooting an extra scene for “The Walking Dead” even though it was shot on the set of the mothership series.

“It really didn’t because it was … shrouded in secrecy,” James told the news outlet. “And it was a weird one to have something shrouded in secrecy that is kind of being kept secret from the vast majority of the cast and crew of ‘The Walking Dead.’ So there were a lot of crew members on that who weren’t our permanent crew members, who were day players. So it was kind of like a covert mission in the middle of ‘The Walking Dead,’ which is used to holding its own covert mission. So it was a slightly odd undertaking, but it was a lot of fun.”

What do you think of Lincoln, McBride, and Payne’s appearance on “Fear the Walking Dead”? Sound off in the comments section below!

“Fear the Walking Dead” airs Sundays at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC.