[Warning: Spoilers about 5.01 ahead!]
This rumor has been making the rounds on the internet for the past week. I thought the answer to the rumor was obvious, but since a co-worker brought it up to me in conversation last night, I felt like I should address it here.
In the season five premiere, “No Sanctuary,” Carol, Tyrese, and Judith are walking on the train tracks toward Terminus when they are confronted by a zombie. Fans of the hit AMC series can’t help but notice that the zombie is A) blonde, B) sporting wounds consistent with a self inflicted gun shot, C) wearing part of a handcuff, and D) wearing clothes that Andrea used to wear. Andrea was played by the amazing Laurie Holden.
Addressing the circumstances one at a time… There are literally millions of blonde people in the world. Andrea wasn’t the only blonde person ever to exist. Andrea committed suicide at the end of season three after being bit by a zombie and not wanting to turn. However, she did so with Michonne at her side. If Andrea did it wrong, or somehow survived, you don’t think Michonne would have finished what Andrea started in some sort of bizarre act of mercy? As with the hair, there are literally millions of handcuffs in existence. That walker could have easily been in the back of the patrol car when the zombie apocalypse happened. Now the clothes, ok, that one I’ll give you. And that’s wardrobe’s fault! Those were the exact clothes that Andrea wore SEVERAL times throughout the show. However, Andrea was barefoot when she died, and that walker was wearing shoes.
While I knew it was obvious that the walker that Carol kills on the train tracks was not Andrea, the rumors became so widespread that they made it to the head hanchos at “The Walking Dead.” Director Greg Nicotero was on a podcast and addressed the rumors himself. He said that was 100% not Andrea, and it was just a random walker played by the DP’s wife.
Also, you can take it from Laurie Holden herself:
Well, they did a piss poor job of that “not being Andrea.”
Yeah they should have worked harder to make a walker that they had no intention of being Andrea and had no idea anyone would think was Andrea…… Why don’t they work harder to prove things wrong that they don’t know someone will thing?
And yes they should have done a better job than using an entirely different actress with no intention of it looking like Andrea, with different clothes…..
From now on all walkers should carry signs that say “not andrea”…. Of course the signs should probably also say “not dale”, “not Lizzy”……