Andrew Lincoln talks The Walking Dead Season 6 Pt2 and how the game changes right away

The Walking Dead season 6 is going to be ‘very shocking, brilliant, terrifying and epic’ when it returns from the midseason break, according to star Andrew Lincoln.

The survivors were in a bit of a stick situation when things ended in the season 6 midseason finale — their town had been infiltrated by zombies but you can only expect things to get even worse when the show returns, according to Lincoln.

“We do realise very quickly in the returning episode that it’s almost like the end of a chapter. Something happens. Rick learns a lot about himself in this episode. What I will say is that the pace quickens a lot in the back eight. It jumps up a gear, maybe two gears, and we move very, very quickly. A lot of things happen in quick succession that propel us towards a very thrilling finale,” the British actor told Entertainment Weekly(via Squareeyed)

“I will say that five of my favourite episodes in a long time — and very different episodes — are in this back eight. I loved shooting this back eight, from the moment we started with episode 9, which felt like a season premiere. The scale of it is astonishing. And [director] Greg Nicotero and our brilliant crew put their bodies and everything on the line to get it shot. It was all night. It’s absolute mayhem. I think it’s going to scare some people.”

Lincoln also revealed that the question of whether the town will still be divided will be answered in the returning episode: “That question is very quickly answered in the returning episode. [Showrunner Scott M. Gimple] and the writers have done a very smart thing in that they’ve thrown a lot of propositions and questions and challenges to Rick and the family and the community, and you will quickly realize they are answered in a very shocking, brilliant, terrifying, epic way. All I will say is this is our Magnificent Seven, this episode.

“I think it is. When we arrived there we felt that instantly. Also, Deanna, for all of her flaws, she was an incredibly savvy leader and had great ambitions for the place. The mere fact that they were able to build the fortifications and the solar panels and all of the infrastructure is an astonishing achievement — and with nothing, no soldiers or anything. Rick’s strength is seeing that we can fortify this place.  A lot of these concerns and questions get answered relatively quickly in the first two or three episodes of this back eight. There is a time jump, I will say, at some point. And you will see why we stay in Alexandria.

“I think you’ll see there’s a marked change in Rick as a result of what happens in episode 9. It’s one of those watershed moments that happens. And as a result he learns something vital about being a leader. And yet again, he changes. And he develops a new way of leading. And that could be said for the back 8, in that it turns very dark.

“I’m more excited than I’ve been for a long, long time. We’ve been spending so much time looking inward and looking inside the walls, certainly in the Alexandria chapter. Now, we’re looking to the horizon. In one direction you see good, and in the other direction, you see very, very bad. But the world is suddenly growing. And as a result, the show grows again. And as a result, the family and Rick as a leader has to develop and adapt to this new world order.