(WARNING: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for Fear the living dead Season 8 Episode 6, “All I See Is Red.”
He made the journey from Atlanta to Virginia, then from Virginia to Texas…but now it looks like Morgan Jones’ (Lennie James) story of survival in the zombie apocalypse is coming to an end.
Since the end of All I See Is Red, Morgan and his adopted daughter go in search of the friend who once told Morgan “not to run” – aka Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln). He buries Grace (Karen David) in the same plot as Eastman (John Carroll Lynch), gives a heartbreaking little speech about “making life mean something,” and walks out… potentially out of the franchise, but definitely out of the show.
Here’s why we’ll miss Morgan.
Ryan Green/AMC
A true moral compass – with a dark side
Over time, in both the main show and its spin-off, Morgan has often had the thankless task of serving as the group’s moral compass. His “all life is precious” mantra occasionally drew the ire of fans who wanted to see less philosophy and more zombie killing, but there’s something to be said for a survivor who still believes in the lasting good of humanity after witnessing what’s worse Whether he was scrambling to save one of the Wolves that attacked Alexandria or setting down boxes on the side of the highway to help survivors in Texas, Morgan always tried to do what was right—and in the Walking Dead universe, the good heart is rarely encountered. . Although Rick has always been his closest partner, we also have fond memories of his bond with Carol (Melissa McBride). Although they didn’t see eye to eye at first, both characters frequently struggled with the need to kill. When it came down to it, Morgan’s influence helped pull Carol out of some of her darkest days.
That said, some of Morgan’s intrigue also came from his “dark passenger.” During Season 3, we learned that he had the potential to slip into a sort of pain-and-rage-induced madness during which all he saw “was red.” Morgan was lost when he lost his son and again when he lost Grace. There’s a reason “Clear” remains one of the show’s best episodes: James plays the good guy Morgan well, but he’s phenomenal at delving into the character’s dark side.
Gene Page/AMC
A unique fighting style
A lot of Walking Dead characters have their signature weapons. Rick has his Colt Python. Michonne (Danai Gurira) has her katana. Daryl (Norman Reedus) has his crossbow. Morgan, however, has his Aikido staff and his fighting style has allowed for some epic action sequences over the years. Take, for example, the fight between him and Jesus (Tom Payne) in Season 8, which highlighted both characters’ abilities (and was one of the few action scenes Jesus was given outside of the source material). Eventually, he even upgraded the stick with an ax, making it even more deadly in a fight.
Portrait of Lennie James
In the end, we’ll miss Morgan, sure – but we’ll really miss having Lennie James on TWDU. James’ acting has consistently been among the best in the franchise, and even though the writing has faltered at times for Morgan’s character, James’ real-life ability never has. The moment when Morgan tries and fails to kill his zombified wife remains one of the most poignant and touching scenes in the entire franchise, and that’s thanks to the actor who plays him.
While James looks like he’s done Fear, we wouldn’t be shocked to see him pop up at least once. Since he’s off looking for Rick, we bet he’ll show up PEAK, the Rick-and-Michonne spinoff. Is not clear (ha) how big he would be in that program. Whether he takes part in a climactic final showdown against CRM or walks in as calmly as he did during that pivotal Season 5 post-credits scene, we doubt AMC will forget about him. When zombies franchise ends, we’re betting it will do so with a final meeting of the two original Atlanta survivors.
Fear the living dead, Season 8, Part 2, TBD, AMC