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[azaleadphan]

Why Europe?

People are wondering why the now Daryl spin-off will be located in Europe. I believe this has everything to do with the mutated walkers in France which were apparently shown in FTWD (I don’t watch it). This story will somehow be a bridge to finding Rick. (Makes sense since Andy lives in Europe.) JDM said that the decision was AMC’s and that it had everything to do with money. Now, this makes sense because EVERYONE has been wondering when Rick will be back. Perhaps, the movies aren’t happening anymore but they still want to reintroduce Rick in an epic way?   They probably steered away from the Caryl road show for that reason. Or, maybe the show was always supposed to be Caryl searching for Rick. But the original plan was for the show to be set in Georgia.

JDM also talked about the actors’ contractual obligations.  Both Norman and Melissa had contracts with AMC. Now, they can be fine with one OG breaking away from the contract but not both of them. So, Norman is burdened with the task of sallying forth without MMB which must be very heart-wrenching for him. Having observed Norman and Melissa’s friendship, I had a very hard time believing that Norman would demand for the spin-off to be shot in Europe if he knew that it isn’t what Melissa wanted.

Also, I find it very strange that AMC allowed Norman to be the scapegoat in this whole thing. They only made a statement AFTER JDM finally clarified the reasons why Melissa was out of the spin-off and articles were coming out about JDM defending Norman. The lack of transparency and straightforwardness from AMC frustrates me. They waited quite a while before confirming the rumors and did it in such a vague way, angry fans started to speculate (I don’t condone them bullying Norman btw. That is unacceptable.) There were no apologies for the fans.

I am deeply disappointed that the most profound and layered relationship on the show won’t be explored further.

AMC want spectacles. What better spectacle than Rick Grimes and Daryl reuniting in France? Sure, I want that too but not at the expense of Melissa. Their first mistake was announcing projects waaay in advance. Now, fans are disappointed and a lot of them tried to point the finger at someone, desperately trying to find an explanation. AMC let it happen until JDM stepped in. What an inelegant way to deal with this terrible situation.