#so trust me when i say the amc show has got me feeling some intense type of way

[alexassanart]

I could swap this life of shame.

[vince-thrilligan]

Patrick Fabian: From Lord Vader to Fan Favorite

“After the finale, my social media filled up with people saying, ‘Watch your back, we’re rooting for you, Howard!’” Fabian shares. “I couldn’t help but chuckle because when the series premiered, Jimmy McGill called me Lord Vader and people immediately got on my case. Now, five seasons later, I’m almost getting sympathy.”

Awards Focus: When you’re in Albuquerque for months at a time, how does living with costars Bob Odenkirk and Rhea Seehorn affect the work on the series?

Patrick Fabian: It’s like we’re a college dormitory or a startup theatre troupe. When we go to work, we visit each other and support each other, and we’re watching and learning from our talented behind-the-scenes crew.

Then we come home and download what the day was like. I’m not gonna say we gossip, but perhaps we gossip a little bit. Then we plan for the rest of the week, even if you’re not directly involved. Oftentimes, I’m watching Rhea and Bob do their scenes.

When we do a scene, it’s more than just memorization. We talk about it, analyze it, take notes… often we’ll hit a question and then call Peter Gould or the writer of the episode to help us break it down. We’ll explore ideas before we get to set, so we’re ready to work with the director.

AF: That’s real dedication.

Fabian: To be fair, we’re home in hoodies and sweatpants reading lines over dinner or while we’re cleaning, there’s always ice cream at the end. Our living situation has worked out great and I think the proof is on the screen.

AF: Are there any scenes that particularly stand out as developing or changing as a result of your work at home?

Fabian: Well, the acting is always organic to some degree, when there’s so much drama for the actors to work with. Rhea is especially great at experimentation and reaction, so whatever you throw at her, she can throw right back. Our final scene together this season, when she tears Howard a new one, was a lot of fun. We worked that one out over the dining room table.

On the day of the shoot, I had one of those “Acting 101” moments where I just couldn’t find it. I was lost… and other actors can tell when it’s not happening for someone, we’re all sensitive to that. Rhea looked at me and said “Let’s do it again.”

I was in my head, but she encouraged me to go out on a limb. Then we did the next take and it was palpably different. She looked at me and said, “That was something,” and Peter Gould chimed in with his seal of approval. It reminded me that if we hadn’t put in the time at the dining room table, we wouldn’t have the chemistry and the trust to experiment like that.

AF: In episode seven, Jimmy flies into a rage while talking to Howard in the courthouse. What went into making that scene so intense?

Fabian: As soon as I read that script, it stuck out to me as a big moment. In the context of the scene, Jimmy is – well, Saul is – unhinged. Jimmy has just seen the survivors of the kid who was killed by Lalo. He’s feeling a mixture of very unpleasant emotions. And then Howard shows up, the last person on earth that Jimmy wants to see. On a practical level, it’s funny because Bob and I are great friends and have a great relationship. Obviously, Jimmy and Howard have not had a great relationship. Howard’s coming to Jimmy after the bowling ball and the hooker incident, with one last stab at saying, “Let me help you.”

And we get this rant from Jimmy that is just unhinged. As an actor, standing there watching it, it’s so powerful. If you think that stuff is good on screen, you should have a front row seat… which I do. Watching Bob project that fury is a wonderful thing, and it’s so great to be a part of it as Howard.

Howard is coming at it with a benevolence, maybe even love. But Saul just loses it on me and calls me a “little man” and all that stuff. Howard gets to make a decision – he’s gone through enough therapy that he doesn’t have to react in kind, so he removes himself from that situation.

How we did it? Well, Bob lights the flame and he burns while the camera goes. It takes a couple of passes to get the mechanics of it correct and meanwhile, Bob is searching for his stuff. This is not a situation where I chit-chatted with Bob. He’s in a space and you have to respect that space. There’s no point in us discussing dinner when we’re doing a scene like that.

Bob did it a zillion different ways, up and down the scale, but the one we went with at the end is so wonderful. He’s yelling at me to the back of my head and you’ve got a great image of the cameras in front of me.

I’m walking out stiffly and he’s just losing his mind on me. Then the camera flips back around and it’s a silhouette of Bob after I’ve left, and Saul is just like a puppet. Like his physicality is unhinged, like you’ve got strings on his hands or something like that. And then it cuts back around to his face, and it’s wonderful.

AF: As you pointed out, Howard’s gone through therapy since his low point in season four and now he’s got a lot of momentum, personally and professionally. Season four episode six also features a Jimmy rant, with the central point being “Get yourself together!” How did that moment push Howard towards self-improvement?

Fabian: The low point for Howard is when he runs into Jimmy in the bathroom at the courthouse. Howard’s tie is disheveled – that’s how you know Howard is completely lost and adrift. But to his credit, he’s out in the world. And to his credit, he says to Jimmy, “Here’s a number that I’ve been working with. I’ve been going to therapy, this works.”

So Howard is willing to be seen like that. But later Jimmy comes into the office and tells him, “Get your shit together, Howard,” and Howard says, “Fuck you!”

By the way, AMC gets two major swears each season and they gave one to me so I felt very blessed. But back to the point, that was the turning point because Howard at that point thinks, “Wait a second, you’re right. I’m being the victim. I don’t need to be the victim.” And he works himself through it. In no small part, Jimmy’s speech boosted Howard.

AF: So a newly put-together Howard offers Jimmy a job at Hamlin Hamlin McGill. What does that represent for their relationship, from Howard’s perspective?

Fabian: Howard’s become serious about putting everything with Chuck in the past. He’s willing to admit he was wrong. And now he’s saying, “I’m hiring you not out of pity, not out of woulda-coulda-shoulda, I’m hiring you because I need you. I recognize your talents. Let’s do this.” That’s why Howard’s conscience is clean as far as I’m concerned. He’s reached out, been benevolent, and tried the best he can.

As far as hiring Jimmy, Howard knows what he’s getting, he’s not dumb. I think he’s realized that Chuck, although a very valuable asset in HHM, was not HHM itself. And so he recognizes that he has his own talents. One thing he doesn’t have is street smarts. He says as much to Jimmy – “You’re Charlie Hustle, you’re creative, you think fast.” Howard is smart enough to know that that’s not his game. Howard is good at getting business. We still haven’t seen Howard actually practice law in the entire time we’ve been with Better Call Saul. So we don’t know what kind of lawyer he is. But he knows what kind of lawyer he is. And he knows he needs a tool like Jimmy, a weapon like that in his holster if HHM is going to go places, which Howard says it is.

AF: Chuck’s influence still looms over the show. How does Howard see the relationship between Chuck and Jimmy in retrospect?

Fabian: I think Howard has been tethered to Chuck’s will from the beginning of the series. And so he tries hard to cut off Jimmy from Chuck. After it all happened, the great scene that Michael McKean and I do in his house. We have scotch and there’s an air of congratulations, because Jimmy’s gone. Howard’s telling Chuck that he doesn’t need Jimmy. And that’s also Howard in the clear, because he no longer has to play this role of being a jerk to Jimmy. Which Howard felt some resentment for, because Chuck forced him to take the heat of not hiring Jimmy. That contributed to Howard’s bold move, to pay off Chuck out of his own pocket.

Chuck is seeping into season five’s finale because ultimately, I’m trying to appeal to Kim Wexler’s better angels. I’m trying to save her from herself and save her from Jimmy because Howard knows that Chuck’s fate was tied to Jimmy’s behavior as well. We know Jimmy is directly involved in the events that make Chuck go crazy.

So that final scene where Kim was laughing at Howard, he pulls out the only arrow left in his quiver. He washed his hands of Jimmy earlier in the season, when Howard walked away from him. So when Howard says that Chuck was right about Jimmy, it’s the meanest thing that he can say. But it also happens to be the truth. It’s like an epiphany for Howard. It’s like, “Oh, I’m done. Guess what? Good old Chuck was totally right. And I’m so done dealing with this.” I’m just a guy trying to run a law firm and all these other people are acting batshit, I just don’t get it (laughs).

AF: Jimmy accuses Howard of killing his brother. What does that line represent for Jimmy’s character arc?

Fabian: Our writers give the audience so much great stuff. So when Jimmy says to Howard, “You killed my brother,” we, as an audience, know that that’s not true. And by witnessing him saying that, we again get that pang in our heart that goes, “Ah… he’s really not going to go back to being Jimmy McGill, is he?”

We’re watching a slow motion car crash where we keep waiting for the off ramp for Jimmy and Kim. We just want them to move to Atlanta and get a house and have kids and raise horses. And yet, we know that’s not where it all goes. We don’t know exactly what happens but we know when they get to Breaking Bad, he’s full Saul Goodman.

Saul Goodman says “Kill Badger.” That’s the man he has become. So every time there’s a chance to see him not take that turn, the audience is hopeful. So when he says, “You killed my brother.” We know that’s a lie and so we don’t hurt for Howard at that point, because we also know Howard knows that’s a lie. We hurt for Jimmy and we hurt for ourselves because he’s just now embracing Saul.

AF: In the season finale, it’s not Jimmy, but Kim who seems to be heading down the dark path. What was your reaction when you learned that Kim was scheming to destroy Howard’s career?

Fabian: Of course, I’ve read all the scripts, but as an actor I’m concentrating on what Howard is doing. So I read those scenes, the dialogue that Kim and Jimmy had, back in September when we were shooting. And then the show aired in four or five months,  and I watched it on Monday nights just like everyone else.

I’d forgotten exactly what that scene was and who was driving it. I think I conflated it in my brain and thought it was Jimmy coming up with another plot. So when I saw that it was Kim, it was jaw-dropping to me. Hats off to Rhea Seehorn. Because she doesn’t twist her mustache or act villainous – it’s just a slow degradation of who we thought Kim Wexler was, and maybe possibly always was.

It’s an exact flip of the ending of Season Four with Jimmy walking away saying “Saul Goodman!” And she’s standing there, and we’re left with her reaction. Now in season five, the last time we see those characters, she’s walking to the bathroom and going “Pew pew,” and we’re left on his face going, what? Even if you don’t pick up on the parallel immediately, it’s there. You saw this thing before, it was just reversed. It’s just jaw dropping.

AF: What are Kim’s motivations in that scene?

Fabian: Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t think the audience knows. Had she always hated playing second fiddle in HHM? Did she always resent Howard? Or is her moral compass just askew in general? It’s funny, after the episode, my timeline and social media filled up with people saying, “Watch your back, don’t get in the shower, be careful of your hair!” And I couldn’t help but chuckle because when the series premiere aired, Jimmy McGill called me Lord Vader, and people immediately got on my case. And now, five seasons later, I’m almost getting sympathy with messages like “Watch your back. We’re rooting for you, Howard!”

Well, that’s just the genius of the creative team. Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, and the entire writing staff created a character who could have been one dimensional and nixed off in season two. That said, it looks like there’s something coming down the pipe for Howard. I have no idea what it’s going to be though.

AF: What about Jimmy’s motivations there? Does his hesitation emerge from guilt regarding his treatment of Howard, or to preserve Kim’s moral sensibilities?

Fabian: Oh, I think his sense of responsibility for what Kim has become is strong. Jimmy’s mentioned that several times, saying, “This is bad for you,” and “I don’t want you to do this.” And she���s always talked him into it. I mean, even the marriage thing is her idea, right?

Let’s face it, Jimmy’s sense of being able to take responsibility for his own actions has been wanting for a while. So he has a sneaking suspicion that he’s probably not good for Kim. But she disabuses him of that notion. And in the end, doesn’t Clyde want Bonnie, ultimately, to be Bonnie?

It’s a back and forth banter, and they’re viewing it in different ways. For him it’s a sort of criminal foreplay (laughs). And it is playful for her too. But those finger guns! It’s so playful, but it’s also dead serious. So we’ll see next season if they both get onboard the same train.

AF: Better Call Saul is about the masks people wear, and we’ve discussed that theme with regards to Jimmy and Kim. Is there a difference between Howard’s public persona and who he truly is?

Fabian: I like to think of Howard as  somebody who is earnest and sincere. He’s certainly not a criminal, and I think his taxes would be squeaky clean. He means what he says and he’s serious about who he is. And consequently, I think it drives him. Like when he wants to help Jimmy, hereally wants to help Jimmy.

I don’t think he’s the kind of person that everybody likes. A lot of the presumptions get foisted upon him, because he’s been successful, because his father had a law firm. He’s the rich kid, the Golden Boy, and always has been. But that doesn’t mean he’s not a hard worker, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t adhere to the ideas of truth and justice. He’s shown that with his willingness to try and help Jimmy and Kim. Successfully or not, he’s worked to better both of their lives. The case can certainly be made for the things that Howard has done right in this world, only to be rewarded with being yelled at by Jimmy and laughed at by Kim.

I don’t have any indication that Howard has something hidden or a deep driving force. I don’t think of him as a dual person. Howard sleeps soundly at night with who he is.

Part of AwardsFocus.com’s BCS interviews [x]

[superleeleehipster]

Apologies for the negativity here... It’s just that I’m wondering what keeps people believing in Caryl? I remember Melissa saying that for Carol in S9 EVERYTHING has changed and TWD show her happy to be married. Okay so I doubt fireworks are there but she actually wants to be married to that guy. Nothing points to Caryl at all. Yeah Caryl really love each other like very best friends and Daryl does seem in love with her but will NEVER do anything about it. I believe that’s them in a nutshell. 😕

No worries anon, I understand the negativity. Everyone’s their own at this point when it comes to the Caryl fandom. I’ve taken a step back from analyzing every little detail in the scenes they do have together b/c, frankly, there are ppl out there who do it better than I do XD. I’ve actually been focusing on Caryl fanfics recently b/c that’s where I feel the most happy when it comes to Caryl.

Be that as it may, however, I still very much believe in Caryl. Even before the Carzekiel thing happened, I’ve always said that no matter what, as long as they’re both alive then there’s always a chance, and I still genuinely believe that. I was really disappointed when I first heard the Carzekiel spoiler, but now that it’s been the first half of the season, the way in which they’ve treated Carzekiel actually has me laughing my butt off. Not only did they already make it happen within the time jump, they made the engagement very non flashy (Carol seemed to agree after she looked at Henry, which makes me think a lot of it has to do with him) and they didn’t even show a wedding that spoilers first suggested. Zeke hasn’t had many scenes to play in general this entire season, so the show is treating the relationship like it’s not a big deal... maybe b/c it isn’t.

Then you have all of these wonderful Caryl scenes where the writers had plenty of opportunities to say that Daryl is like a brother to her (don’t say son!!). Plenty of opportunities to close it but they didn’t. They emphasized that they were each other’s most important person, Carol trusted Daryl the most when it came to her kid at Hilltop. And we got that script from the first Caryl scene that Angela K posted herself and it talked about how Daryl needs to act jealous and have an aura of loss of something that was important to him. Then Angela K as well as others openly say how important Carol and Daryl are to each other and how they’re soulmates, etc. Again, plenty of chances to shut it down and say “they’re just family, that’s it”, but no. They haven’t shut anything down. 

Here’s a good example of the type of couple I think Carzekiel is. In the Notebook, it was discovered that Allie’s mother Anne had a similar romantic thing going on around the same age as her daughter when she was that young. Anne wound up being forced to break things off from her then boyfriend via her parents and was pushed towards into marrying someone more proper, like Allie’s dad. Anne had reiterated that she really did love Allie’s father, she did. But she wound up giving Allie her blessing in chasing after Noah instead of going back to her fiancee, b/c she didn’t want her daughter to do the same mistake she did. Anne settled, and although it was a good man she settled for and she did love him, it wasn’t the intense/romantic love that every girl dreams about. It’s safe love...

I know some folks would say that that’s because they don’t want the Caryl fans to lose hope and drop the show. But considering how many ppl have dropped the show already, if that were the case, then they’re more stupid than I thought b/c IT’S ALREADY HAPPENING...

Anyways, in regards to Melissa talking about Carol and being married to Ezekiel, that didn’t surprise me one bit. This is the deck of cards that she was given to play. She doesn’t have much leeway or choice in the matter, so you damn well know she’s going to give it her all and play her best with it. And as an actress/artist, she wants people to appreciate what she creates. She wants ppl to respect her work that she does and respect her character’s story, even if others don’t agree to it. And honestly, I can respect that, and I still very much support Melissa... I just won’t support the writer’s decision.

Now I will say that if recent spoilers wind up being true and a certain other someone gets their head on a spike, then that’s just fucked up. The writers will once again give Daryl the same arc as what he’s had since season 5 really, and Carol will get the same arc as way back in season 2. It’s freaking ridiculous and really poor writing and they deserve every negative nancy from the critics that comes their way. But I do have a theory in that if that does occur, then Carol is going to push people away and maybe continue the Michonne arc from the comics. Yes her interaction with Daryl earlier this season was fairly similar to Michonne and Rick in the comics, but they might be giving that scene to Carol in season 10. 

In the comics, after All Out War, Michonne lives with Ezekiel at the Kingdom for a while and is genuinely happy. But then she decides to leave and be off on her own b/c she didn’t think she deserved a good life after everything she felt guilty for. She “abandoned her daughters during the outbreak and she could never live a happy life with all that regret”. I know this happens before the Whisperers War but the show has tweaked timeline shit before, especially in Carol’s case. This is only a theory but a certain someone’s death may have Carol running away again. Maybe not immediately but it could be after the Whisperers War. Like what we’ve all theorized, Carol seemed to decide to marry Ezekiel for Henry’s sake. So to have that gone, and in such a brutal manner, I don’t see Carol sitting very well with it. And I honestly see Ezekiel blaming her b/c he’s had the balls to call her a coward before b/c she wouldn’t go out to save Henry.

But at the end of the day, it’s up to AMC to decide whether or not to have Caryl end up together, and honestly, I don’t have much faith in them to do it while the show is still at it’s prime. I can see it happening like NCIS. You know, when Agent Dinozzo and Agent Ziva David had so much chemistry your eyes popped out of your skull, but nothing ever happened between them until Cote (Ziva) decided to leave the show. That’s when we finally see the first official kiss between them, when Tony says goodbye to her. Then it was like “oh what the hell, she’s gone so why not”. Then, same thing with Tony when Michael left, they spinned his departure by showing that he had a kid with Ziva, confirming that things were very much physical with him and Ziva the last time they saw each other. 

But anyways, it’s okay to feel negative anon, you have every right to. But I still believe in Caryl and always will. For now I can only indulge via fanfics, but that’s okay. If worse comes to absolute worst, at least we’re able to see two amazing actors share absolutely astounding scenes together that, despite not being together, still make us squeal out loud... or is that just me...

Much love to you anon

[ikkleosu]

Why I still think it’s happening and the other thing isn’t

DISCLAIMER: This post is in NO WAY telling people, or even asking people to have hope for Caryl. Absolutely not. Frankly, right now I’d stop people on the street and tell them NOT to ship Caryl if they can possibly help it. This post is ONLY telling those who are interested why I still think Caryl might happen, and largely why I don’t think CQzekiel is happening. I am writing it only because every time something new happens (or doesn’t) I get anons and msgs asking me my thoughts, and why I still hang on.

Truthfully, a lot of why I still hang on is simply just the way my brain works. It’s an eternal Pollyanna, just think of my brain like Bob’s game with Sasha. Whenever something potentially negative happens, I get irritated, despondent and then about 20 mins I’m going “yeah but what if?.... maybe this is setting up...” I CAN’T HELP IT. As long is there is a chink of light (in this case Carol and Daryl both alive) then I will find a way to shape things to fit what I want to happen.

Anyway, what I’m saying is don’t be hopeful, I don’t know if I’m right. I don’t know if I’m deluded. I’m just saying THIS is what I am tihnking.

So, here is the break-down of the whys:

1) The Caryl promo stuff - I know a lot of people think it's just trolling to get Carylers watching, with no plans to actually carry it out. I personally don't buy that, simply because there's stupid and then there is career suicide. I firmly don't believe that AMC is so idiotic as to repeatedly hype and promote a relationship (Even tweeting about it 2 days ago) with full knowledge that the show will do the exact opposite, in terms of giving those fans what they want. When you are desperate to get fans back on board - and believe me AMC are - you don't  deliberately do the one thing guaranteed to send all those fans packing, fans that you just spent money bringing on board. You just don't. Anyone with a brain knows it won't just put them off, it will guarantee they will never watch again. AMC wants Carylers to watch, yes  so they dangle the carrot - but they also want them to keep watching. And they know that won't happen if the other ship happens at the same time they are teasing Caryl.

2) Melissa. While we are all justified in not trusting AMC at all, and in believing Norman;s words are as sound as a chocolate teapot, the one thing I think we can rely on is Melissa. Melissa doesn't troll or tease. And Melissa has been consistent. She has never said anything to indicate Carol is set for romance with Zeke. Also, at the premiere she said - off her own back - that Carol is closest to Daryl. It seems unlikely she’d be saying that, reinforcing the idea of Daryl as the man dearest to Carol’s heart, if she was currently filming Carol undertaking a romantic relationship with someone else.

Melissa also gave us an abundance of Caryl titbits on Twitter last week. Now maybe she was told to do I by AMC marketing- in which case, see reason 1. Or maybe she did it herself, which again shows she a) knows what the majority of fans want and b) is reinforcing and reminding people of the Caryl bond and relationship - which i just cant see her doing if the show is about to be all about Carol and another man romantically.  To me, its just not Melissa’s way.

3) Khary. Three times now Khary has been asked about the chance of a Carol an Ezekiel romantic relationship, and three times he’s said “I don’t think it’s going to happen”

“I hope to see the relationship between Carol and Ezekiel flourish,” Khary told us on the red carpet, adding, “I am not sure that we will see it.” Well, that got upsetting pretty quickly, huh?

http://hollywoodlife.com/2017/10/23/carol-ezekiel-walking-dead-relationship-khary-payton-interview/

“She obviously has an affinity for him, but I don’t know how far that goes romantically. And I don’t know if we’ll ever see it. I hope we find out, one way or the other, what their relationship is, but there’s also a beauty in that ambiguity. But obviously, this show is known for stringing the audience along when it comes to relationships, so your guess is as good as mine at this point.”

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/walking-dead-khary-payton-ezekiel-carol-season-8-shiva-152712878.html

“Oh! You know what, I think that they are going to be great friends, is what I think. Because that’s what they do on this show. They just pull you along thinking that something’s going to happen. You know, because there are so many people that want Carol to find, you know, love and a relationship somewhere. And I, yeah, yeah, I just don’t think they are going to give it to us.” 

https://undeadwalking.com/2017/11/09/walker-stalker-con-chat-khary-payton-carol/

He is very clear, he doesn’t think it’s going to happen. Also, in the summer he repeatedly gave the answer that he honestly didn’t know. Now he’s saying exclusively that he doesn’t think we’ll see it. His answers are very different to Norman’s (usually dreadful) answers about Caryl, which always say he’s not ruled it out. Khary, on the other hand, has.

3) The telling of the comic story. It is very clear that they ARE giving Carol much of Michonne’s comic story with Ezekiel. But much like the Morgan and Tyreese stories, they are tweaking them and changing the dynamic.

It’s key to note that in the scene of Ezekiel revealling his true self to Carol, back in The Well, they didn’t include the overtly romantic parts of the scene from the comics (where Ezekiel says Michonne is exceedingly cute). And more significantly, in season 8, they have skipped over the window where Ezekiel and Michonne get together.

In the comics, Ezekiel and Michonne begin their relationship the night of the fight at ASZ that sends Negan packing to declare war. The next time we see them interact is after Shiva dies, when Ezekiel is despondent and Michonne punches him and calls him a pussy.

As we have seen, TPTB skipped over that relationship beginning with Carol and Ezekiel, and spoilers show that it is likely we’re about to get the Shiva death despondency. So we’re going straight from the beginning friendship to the antagonistic part of the relationship - and yes, I think that’s how the relationship is going to play out in the near future.

I don’t think we’re going to see Carol punch Ezekiel and call him a pussy… BUT the scenes of Carol being irritated by Ezekiel’s confidence and the specific dialogue from Ezekiel of “fake it till you make it, baby”, is a very direct set up for the dialogue in the punch scene. Michonne says to Ezekiel “If you’re really this much of a pussy, do what you do best… act like you aren’t.”

The fake it dialogue shows that Carol is going to bring back Ezekiel’s own words to him when he’s feeling lost and useless after everyone’s deaths. This is also reinforced by all Gimple has said about Carol and Ezekiel’s relationship - saying he looks foolish to Carol; his words about their relationship at the start of the season: “There are some intense times ahead for Ezekiel,” Gimple said. “Carol is not going to be surprised about the difficulty and brutality that they’re facing. Ezekiel is a little more new to this. The contrast [between the two] will be pretty stark.” showing how different their view points are going to be. And even Melissa’s words today, “She understands that, so if she has any reservations, I don't think she's putting it all out on the table. As long as they're heading forward and going to the battle to try to win this war, he can have his optimism.” Shows that conflict is headed their way - Carol is happy to let Ezekiel have his act and what not as long as they are moving forwards with the plan, but he’s about to go to pieces and stall, which means Carol isn’t going to be happy and will “put it all out on the table”.

Gimple and co have made clear Carol and Ezekiel are in VERY different places emotionally when it comes to battle, and while I suspect Carol will be far more understanding than comic Michonne, the above quotes show she’s not going to mollycoddle Ezekiel as a leader, suggesting she is going to be telling him he needs to “king up” and fake it for the good of his people.

Ezekiel is playing emotional catch up, Carol being aggravated by his failing as a leader, and Ezekiel’s feelings of impotence and depression are not conducive to the beginning of a romantic relationship. Kirkman knew that, which is why he had Michonne and Ezekiel get together at a happy positive point in the story BEFORE this would test their connection. Gimple and co have chosen NOT to give Carol and Ezekiel that bond before the conflict comes into play.

And also interestingly, notice that at THAT point in the story when they could have had Ezekiel and Carol get together, in 8x01, what did they give us? A Caryl hug and focus on their relationship that they promo-ed the life out of.

[tylerhoechlin]

Back from the brink, Dylan O'Brien is ready to prove he's an action hero

or the past year, Dylan O’Brien has been in hiding. He spent most of his time inside his home in Sherman Oaks, wondering if he’d ever be the same person he was before the accident. Not just emotionally, but physically too: After major reconstructive surgery that left him with four metal plates holding one side of his face together, he feared he’d never look the same again.

“It’s a miracle, what they’ve done,” O’Brien says, placing his hand on his cheek. Indeed, the actor’s team of doctors must have done some incredible work, given the fact that he looks almost exactly as he always has — the boyish teen heartthrob who has amassed an army of young female fans since he began working on MTV’s “Teen Wolf” at age 18.

Of course, he’s 26 now, so he’s filled out a bit, and there’s also a hint of patchy scruff on his face. He had enough gravitas to him that the producers of “American Assassin,” which opens nationwide Friday, felt confident casting him as the grizzled action-hero Mitch Rapp — even though the character in Vince Flynn’s bestselling books was widely believed by readers to be in his 40s.

“American Assassin” is the reason O’Brien emerged from his self-imposed exile. He’d signed onto the film just a few weeks before he began work on “Maze Runner: The Death Cure,” the third and final installment in 20th Century Fox’s post-apocalyptic young-adult franchise. He was hoping “Assassin” would mark the beginning of a new period in his career. In 2017, after six seasons, “Teen Wolf” would come to an end, as would the “Maze Runner” series.

“I’ve never looked at myself as this pop candy type,” O’Brien says, peppering his speech with more colorful language. “I felt like I was more real than that, so I would get mad when someone would say [I was a teen heartthrob]. I’d be like, ‘I’m 19! I’m a stoner!’ I really resented that.”

He was so excited to begin work on “Assassin” that he fielded calls from director Michael Cuesta just as production began in Vancouver, Canada, on the final “Maze Runner” film. Together, they discussed how O’Brien would approach the character, a 23-year-old who is recruited by the CIA to hunt down terrorists after he witnesses his girlfriend’s murder at the hands of Muslim radicals.

“I spoke with him on a Saturday when he had just started ‘Maze Runner,’ addressing his notes and concerns about the character,” Cuesta recalls. “He was really excited and seemed like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready to do this.’ I was like, ‘Pace yourself, dude. Take it slow. We’ll talk when you’re off this project.’ That was Saturday, and on Wednesday, I got a text from my agent telling me that this awful thing had happened to him.”

On the third day of production in Canada, O’Brien was performing a stunt that required him to be harnessed to the top of a moving vehicle; reports claim he was accidentally pulled off that vehicle midstunt and hit by another vehicle. As a result, he suffered “a concussion, facial fracture and lacerations,” according to a report from WorkSafeBC.

Fox put production on hold in March 2016, and O'Brien ultimately returned to set a year later — after he'd shot "Assassin." “Death Cure,” which was originally scheduled to open in February of this year, is now set for release Jan. 26, 2018.

“I didn’t really wake up or become cognizant, in a way, for a good six-to-eight weeks after it happened,” O’Brien explains. “And then I entered a really difficult phase. I just wasn’t the same person. Things happen to you after something like that that you just don’t have any control of. Your body is designed to react in a way to protect itself if you have a severe trauma to your brain.”

The actor is sitting at a hotel bar in late August, publicly discussing his accident for the first time. He’s been anticipating this day for months. He knew how it would go, meeting reporters at the Four Seasons in Beverly Hills, where he’s done press a handful of times before. Even though he was supposed to be talking about “American Assassin,” he’d also have to talk about what had happened to him.

“I hid for a long time, obviously. I was going through a lot and didn’t want anybody to see me going through that, I guess,” he explains. “But I’ve gotten to an OK place of talking about it all. I’ve had to come to terms with people asking me about what happened.”

In a way, he admits, he regrets being so private about what happened to him, given the rash of recent on-set stunt-related injuries and deaths. Last month, stuntwoman Joi Harris was killed while riding a motorcycle on the set of “Deadpool 2.” In July, a stuntman on AMC’s “The Walking Dead” died after falling and suffering massive head injuries. And actors have been harmed too: Tom Cruise broke his ankle while attempting a jump from one building to another on the set of “Mission: Impossible 6,” and filming had to be halted in August. And on the sets of two different comedies this summer, Rebel Wilson suffered a concussion and Ike Barinholtz fell from a high platform, fracturing two cervical vertebrae in his neck.

“It’s really disappointing, and I think things like that should really wake the industry up,” says O’Brien. “It’s really easy, sometimes, to get comfortable on a set and get into the groove and think it’s all make-believe so nothing bad can happen. As an actor, you blindly put your trust in experts — and if they tell you something’s safe, you don’t fully vet it yourself. If you’re young and inexperienced, that’s just what you’re taught to do.”

While he never felt like a “gun was to [his] head,” O’Brien admits he always felt responsible for performing his own stunts. He’d get upset any time he had to be replaced by a stuntman. When he’d watch one of the first two “Maze Runner” films and catch a shot of his double, he was irritated.

“It bugs you,” he explains. “You see it and you’re like, ‘Ugh, what the [heck]? How do people not notice that’s not me?’”

But if he knew if he was going to move forward with “American Assassin,” he’d have to approach his action sequences with far more caution than he ever had before. Once he decided to stay with the project — and CBS Films, the production company behind the movie, agreed to wait for him to fully recover — he began working extensively with action coordinator Roger Yuan to ready himself for the movie’s hand-to-hand combat scenes.

Not surprisingly, O’Brien says, there were strict parameters set in place by the film’s insurance company that dictated just how much he could do himself in the wake of his accident. But he was still eager to do the fight scenes himself, so he rehearsed them extensively — to the point, he says, where he literally could do the choreography blindfolded.

“You just want to know it to that extent so that everybody knows what they’re doing on that day,” he says. “And then when you get to that day and somebody says, ‘Wait, can we just change this?’ You say ‘No.’ Things like that, you’ve gotta stand up for. I’ve understood more of where my voice can exist. When I was younger, I used to just want to please everybody and not want to be an issue or not be considered a diva. I’ve just grown up and realized you have to look out for yourself and stick up for yourself and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Other protections were built into the production to make O’Brien feel more at ease too: His father, a veteran below-the-line staffer, was hired as a camera operator so he could be there if needed for his son. And “on the days we were putting Dylan in a situation that might make him uncomfortable, we took longer than we might normally take because we didn’t want to rush it,” says producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura. “We were acutely conscious of not putting him in a situation where he could have an adverse reaction — a stunt that might rekindle something.”

O’Brien had also spent time readying himself mentally for the return to set even before production began, visiting with a therapist two times a week. It was there that he realized the similarities he now shared with Mitch Rapp, a character struggling to contain his anger in the wake of a serious trauma.

“It felt like this version of me at the time, always trying to hide from people,” he says. “I was in a really dark place. Obviously, I didn’t experience what he goes through, but that summer when I was in recovery, I was going through a lot. Funny enough, I felt so deeply connected to the dude, and I don’t think I would have known how to play him if this hadn’t happened.”

Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether “American Assassin” will be the role to catapult O’Brien into adult leading-man territory. His young female fans are still ravenous, anyway: On set in Rome, they once became so intense that the actor was forced to move to a different hotel.

“I saw some fans outside afterward, and three of their moms gave me the finger,” says Cuesta with a laugh. “They hated me because I was keeping Dylan from them.”

The producers of “Assassin” are hoping the film does well enough at the box office this weekend to launch a new action franchise. O’Brien knew that was a possibility, and says he’d be happy to play Mitch Rapp again. But he’s also looking forward to doing something smaller — “finding the new generation of filmmakers and taking risks on guys who don’t have a 25-year résumé.” The idea of acting in a Marvel superhero film, he says, makes him shudder.

“It just seems like too much,” he says. “I don’t think I’m a person who could handle being that face, that star who has to be on every talk show every year. It gives you a lot of flexibility and freedom in things that you do want to do, but it also takes a lot of your time away. And just artistically, it must be hard to keep suiting up and be the same character again over and over all year long in a bunch of different movies. I would like to have a lower profile and career, in a way, but still do things that mean something to me.”

He’s proud of his work in “Assassin,” he says, but he almost doesn’t look at it as a movie.

“It was everything but, in a way,” he acknowledges. “Look, I was angry for a long time. But at this point, that’s not going to do anything. I have to process what happened and move beyond it, and I have. It was the worst thing that ever happened to me, but it’s provided me with a lot of growth and insight that I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

[source: LA Times]