The Federalist: America can't wait - The Walking Dead Season Finale

Thursday, March 28, 2013

America can't wait - The Walking Dead Season Finale

The Walking Dead - America's Secret Obsession

By Gary;

Damn it all to Hell! Now Merle Dixon is dead.

AMC keeps killing off every character I have grown to love . . . . and I keep coming back for more of the Walking Dead. I admit it. I am a Dead addict.

The last time I went crazy about a TV series was the cable show "Lexx" that ran 1997 - 2002. Those were the very early days of original cable TV programming. Today many cable networks are breaking into prime time with some very original and entertaining programming.

Now comes the Season Finale: "Welcome to the Tombs." I will be there, ready for anything.

Last Sunday’s episode of The Walking Dead featured one of the show’s most heartbreaking scenes ever as Daryl Dixon found the brother he had finally been reunited with — Merle — hunched over and eating human flesh as a zombie. Not only did Daryl find his big brother dead (or undead, as it were) but he then had to rekill him to put him out of his zombie misery.

Now, the man who plays Daryl, Norman Reedus, reveals how he used the loss of his father to prep for the scene, what it all means for the future of his character, and how the cast said goodbye to the man behind Merle, Michael Rooker. He also says to get ready for one insane season finale on Sunday night.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Tell me your reaction when you first read the episode or heard what was going down?

NORMAN REEDUS: I was bummed to see Rooker go. He’s such a strong character and such a good actor. He brought so much to the show so I was bummed to see him leave. I would have liked to have explored that relationship a bit more. And he’s always fun to play scenes with so I was bummed about that. I’m bummed every time someone leaves the show, to be honest.

EW: Merle and Daryl are so linked on this show, but you guys didn’t really work a whole lot together. You had the big hallucination episode in season 2, that one episode after you left Woodbury, and then a few big scenes in the last one, but not nearly as much as one would think. What was it like working with Rooker? I’ve seen him on set and the dude is like a spark plug.

REEDUS: He’s a Tasmanian devil, that guy. That’s Rooker. We have such a good rapport as friends and I think that translates to the screen because we just know each other really well and we get along really well and we’re similar in a lot of ways. It just helps. There’s a lot of understood brother stuff that happens that’s not really explained but you can tell. I know what my brother is going to do. I know what my brother thinks and it translates to other scenes when we refer back to each other. He’s nice to bounce with because we have this camaraderie.

EW: How did you prep emotionally for that final scene when you discover Merle as a walker and know you have to put your brother down? What did you draw on or use to get you to that place of just absolute personal devastation?

REEDUS: I listened to some songs that remind me of my dad to start off. My dad passed away a long time ago and it was a big emotional scene when that happened. I listened to a song that reminded me of my dad and sort of thought of that.

EW: That’s what it felt like. It went beyond shock or sadness. It was like a whole other level of pain.

REEDUS: With my dad, there were a lot of things I didn’t know and a lot of questions I would have liked to have asked him. I would have liked to get to know him better. In some ways, it’s kind of like that relationship. We’re two brothers that have been looking for each other. There’s a chance for a new sort of life there. Daryl’s not the same guy he was back then. There are parts of Merle that are changing you can tell during that episode, and there’s this hope out there that things might get better and there’s a chance that we can be other people and take it to a different level and we can grow and maybe start a dialogue that wasn’t there in the beginning. Sort of like my dad, I didn’t get to ask him these questions. I didn’t get to know him on a level I would have liked to have known him. It’s similar.

EW: Is that the hardest scene you’ve had to do on the show so far? On one hand, I could see it maybe being exciting to flex some different acting muscles, but to get to that place where you need to be must be emotionally exhausting.

REEDUS: Going into that, I wasn’t really thinking Oh, let’s nail this. Let’s do a good job. I was more thinking, Oh, f—, here we go, We got to do this. You know what I mean? It wasn’t so much, let me show some acting chops. It was like, Oh, this is gonna suck. Here we go.

EW: Did you guys give Rooker the standard Death Dinner you have for castmembers after they bite it?

REEDUS: Yeah, we had a nice dinner. Everyone shows up and everyone’s bummed and tears are shed. Castmates are all hugging each other and having drinks and being sad about it. I just talked to Jon Bernthal who still watches the show and he was going on about how good Rooker was. He really brought that character to a whole other level and it could have been such a flat character and a character you’ve seen before, and it wasn’t. So we sat around, had some drinks and talked about what a good job he did and how much we’re gonna miss him.

EW: So what can you say about Sunday’s finale?

REEDUS: It’s explosive. Everybody wants this dude dead. Everybody hates this guy. He’s hell bent on destroying what we have and we’re hell bent on chopping his face off. Every single person wants to kill him, and he’s out for some bloodthirsty revenge. He’s offended everyone on a super personal level. It’s a fleet of bulls smashing into a fleet of elephants. You know what I’m saying.

For the full interview: Inside TV.

.
Merle Dixon
RIP: 1955 - 2013
You did not want to turn your back on Merle, but in a fight there was
no one better to stand at your side.

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Thomas Pinckney, Federalist

Commissioned as captain in the 1st South Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army. After seeing much action, he became an aide-de-camp to General Horatio Gates. He was captured by the British at the disastrous Battle of Camden in 1780. After recovering from his wounds, he was released in a prisoner exchange. In 1781 he fought under Lafayette in Virginia. Appointed by President George Washington to be the U.S. minister to Great Britain served as Envoy Extraordinary to Spain. The Federalist Party made him a candidate in the 1796 presidential election as the intended running-mate of John Adams. Served as Congressman and Governor of South Carolina. Served as a major general in the Army during the War of 1812.

Henry Lee III, Federalist

Major General "Light-Horse Harry" Lee fought at the battles of Paulus Hook, Guilford Court House, Eutaw Springs, Yorktown and the Whiskey Rebellion. Federalist Congressman from Virginia, Governor of Virginia. Father of Robert E. Lee. In 1812 Lee was attacked by a Jeffersonian mob of Democratic-Republicans while defending a Federalist newspaper from attack. Lee and the other Federalists were beaten and tortured by the mob over the next three hours. Lee was left partially blinded after hot wax was poured into his eyes. The men were left for dead. All were severely injured, and one Federalist, General James Lingan, died.

Frederick Frelinghuysen, Federalist

In the War of Independence he served in the New Jersey militia as an artillery captain, seeing action at Trenton and Monmouth. Attained the rank of colonel. Member of the Continental Congress. Served in the New Jersey General Assembly. Member of the New Jersey convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1787. President George Washington appointed him as brigadier general in the United States Army for the 1790 campaign against the western Indians. Commissioned major general in the New Jersey militia in 1794, during the Whiskey Rebellion. Elected to the United States Senate.

Stephen Van Rensselaer, Federalist

Van Rensselaer served in the New York Assembly and Senate. He served as the Federalist Lt. Governor under John Jay. In 1786, Van Rensselaer was made a major of the militia. As a Major General in the War of 1812 he led an army in an invasion of Canada and fought at the Battle of Queenston Heights. In 1813 Van Rensselaer was the Federalist candidate for Governor of New York earning 48% of the vote. A shift of only 1,800 votes would have made him Governor. In 1822 he was elected to Congress as a Federalist serving until 1829.

WILLIAM PATERSON, Federalist

James Hillhouse, Federalist

Hillhouse served as captain in Governor's Foot Guards in the Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, Congressman from Connecticut at-large, 1791–96, and a Federalist Party U. S. Senator from Connecticut, 1796–1810. He was the anti-slavery leader of the Congress in the early days of the Republic. After the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, Hillhouse fought to bar the importation of slaves into the Louisiana Territory. "I consider slavery as a serious evil," he proclaimed, "and wish to check it wherever I have authority." Two of Hillhouse's amendments restricting slavery passed the Congress and were signed into law.

Oliver Ellsworth, Federalist

In 1777 he was chosen as one of Connecticut's representatives in the Continental Congress. Served at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia as a delegate from Connecticut. On June 20, 1787 he proposed the use of the name the United States to identify the nation under the authority of the Constitution. United States Senator from Connecticut. Ellsworth was the principal exponent in the Senate of Alexander Hamilton's economic program. In 1796 Ellsworth was appointed by President George Washington to be Chief Justice of the United States. Served as United States Envoy Extraordinary to the Court of France. Ellsworth was a candidate in the 1796 United States Presidential election, receiving eleven votes in the electoral college.

Robert Goodloe Harper, Federalist

At the age of fifteen, Harper joined a volunteer corps of Cavalry and served in the American Revolutionary Army. Harper was elected as a Federalist Congressman from South Carolina (1795 - 1801). In 1798 at a dinner in Philadelphia honoring John Marshall, a group of U.S. Congressmen were discussing a recent demand made by the government of France. French vessels had been plundering US ships in a piratical manner. French foreign minister Talleyrand said the attacks would be stopped if the US paid him $250,000 and gave France 50,000 pounds sterling and a $100 million loan. As toasts were made, Harper sent his own defiant reply to the French with this toast: “Millions for defense but not one cent for tribute.” Harper served in the War of 1812, attaining the rank of major general. He moved to Maryland and was elected as a Federalist to the US Senate. He was an unsuccessful Federalist candidate for Vice President in the 1816 election. He also received one electoral vote for Vice President in the 1820 election.

Jacob Read, Federalist

Alexander Contee Hanson, Federalist

Member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Editor of the "Federal Republican", a Federalist Party newspaper in Baltimore. Four days after the beginning of the War of 1812 a mob of pro-war Democrat-Republicans destroyed his newspaper office. The paper moved to another building where Hanson was joined by a group of armed allies. When that building was besieged by another mob, Hanson and his group fired, killing two. Hanson and his group surrendered to the militia and were escorted to jail. That evening yet another mob stormed the jail. Hanson was beaten and left for dead. Hanson was elected as a Federalist to Congress in 1812 and 1814. In 1816 he was elected as a Federalist to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate until his death in 1819 at the age of 33.

William Bingham, Federalist

As a merchant he brought full loads of munitions & guns for the war. Served as a diplomat for Congress to France. Bingham marshaled the Second Troop of Philadelphia Light Horse. He served in the Continental Congress, 1st Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, State Senator, and US Senator. Federalists agreed to hold preliminary votings at the Bingham Estate before propositions were brought before Congress publicly, thus creating unanimity among party lines. Alexander Hamilton sought Bingham as his mentor in managing taxes, tariffs, and in constructing a national bank.

Ezekiel Whitman, Federalist

Whitman practiced law in New Gloucester, Maine and in Portland, Maine (both communities a district of Massachusetts until 1820). In 1808 Whitman was elected as a Federalist Congressman from Massachusetts and served one term. In 1816 he was again elected as a Federalist to the US House serving from 1817 to 1821. In 1819 he was a delegate to the convention that prepared the constitution which led to Maine's statehood. In 1820 he was elected as a Federalist Congressman from the new state of Maine serving until 1822. Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Court from 1841 to 1848.

David Cobb, Federalist

Cobb studied medicine in Boston and practiced in Taunton, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1775; lieutenant colonel of Jackson’s regiment in 1777 and 1778, serving in Rhode Island and New Jersey; was aide-de-camp on the staff of General George Washington; appointed major general of militia in 1786. Fought in the New York and New Jersey Campaign, the Battles of Springfield, Monmouth, Rhode Island and Shay's Rebellion. He served the Federalist Party as Lt. Governor of Massachusetts, President of the State Senate and Congressman.

Josiah Parker, Federalist

In 1775 Parker enlisted in the Continental Army. He was commissioned a major in the 5th Virginia Regiment in 1776 and became its colonel in 1778. His regiment served in Virginia under General Charles Lee and was transferred to George Washington. The regiment thereafter saw action at the Battles of Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and the Siege of Charleston. During Cornwallis's Virginia campaign in 1781, the notorious Colonel Tarleton ransacked his home. He was elected to the First US Congress from Virginia serving for twelve years.

William Stephens Smith, Federalist

Smith married Abigail "Nabby" Adams, the daughter of President John Adams, and so was a brother-in-law of President John Quincy Adams, and an uncle of Charles Francis Adams. Served in the Revolutionary Army as aide-de-camp to General John Sullivan. Fought in the Battle of Long Island, was wounded at Harlem Heights, Battle of White Plains, was promoted to lieutenant colonel at the Battle of Trenton, fought at the Battle of Monmouth and Newport. He was on the staff of General Lafayette, became an adjutant in the Corps of Light Infantry, then transferred to the staff of George Washington. Elected as a Federalist Congressman from New York.

Oliver Wolcott, Jr., Federalist

John Rutledge, Jr., Federalist

Rutledge served as Congressman from South Carolina. A passionate Federalist, he supported Aaron Burr against Jefferson, founding the Charleston Courier (predecessor of the Post and Courier) to support his causes. Joining the South Carolina Militia in 1799, Rutledge served as commander of the Twenty-eighth Regiment in the War of 1812. He subsequently commanded the Seventh Brigade from 1816 until his death. Rutledge's life was fraught with controversy. Catching his wife (mother to his nine children) in a "clandestine visit" with Dr. Horace Senter, Rutledge challenged him to a duel, fatally wounding the doctor.

John Sergeant, Federalist

Member of the Pennsylvania state house of representatives 1808-1810; elected as a Federalist to Congress and served from 1815, to 1823. Sergeant was a strong backer of Henry Clay's American System and the Second Bank of the United States, and even traveled to Europe to negotiate loans to the Bank. He was a strong opponent of slavery who voted against the Missouri Compromise. In 1826 he was an envoy to the Panama Congress. Elected to Congress as an Adams candidate 1827 to 1829. Failing re-election he became legal counsel to the Bank of the United States. Sergeant was the Vice Presidential running mate in Henry Clay's campaign on the National Republican ticket in 1832. Elected as a Whig to Congress serving from 1837 to 1841.

John Laurance, Federalist

Philip Barton Key, Federalist

Key had been a Loyalist in the American Revolution. He served in the Maryland Loyalists Battalion as a captain. Key fought with the British Army from 1777 to 1781, until he was captured by the Spanish in Pensacola, Florida with the rest of his battalion. After the war he served as Mayor of Annapolis & member of the Maryland House of Delegates. Appointed a Federal Judge by John Adams. He was a Counsel to Justice Samuel Chase during Chase's Jefferson ordered impeachment show-trial in 1805. Elected as a Federalist to Congress from Maryland (1807 - 1813). Francis Scott Key was his nephew.