TV

'Walking Dead': What Carl's Choice Means for the Future

Will the zombie drama hero's newest friend turn out to be a deadly foe?

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for season eight, episode six of AMC's The Walking Dead, called "The King, the Widow, and Rick," as well as major spoilers from the comic books on which the show is based.]

"You gotta do what's right. It's hard to know what that is sometimes — but sometimes, it's not."

And with that sage wisdom from the late Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies), alongside a much-needed supply of food and water, Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) has made his first new friend in the zombie apocalypse in quite some time — and it's someone familiar to comic book fans, if only in name.

Meet Siddiq, a newcomer to the world of The Walking Dead, at least as far as the television series goes. Played by Avi Nash, Siddiq was first encountered in the 100th episode of the series, the season eight premiere, attempting to make contact with Carl at a gas station. Almost instantly, Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) appeared on the scene like an overprotective papa bear, firing warning shots into the air, a successful attempt to scare Siddiq away. But Carl didn't give up on the potential new ally, leaving supplies behind along with a friendly message, in case Siddiq was still out there.

Now we're past the note-trading stage, thanks to Sunday's sixth episode of the season. Midway through the hour, Carl encounters Siddiq once more, and this time, Rick is far from the action, tied up with the Heapsters. When they meet again, Carl asks Siddiq the classic three questions his people once used when recruiting newcomers in the prison days: how many walkers have you killed, how many people have you killed and why? Siddiq's answers ("237, give or take a couple," "one" and "the dead tried to kill him, but they didn't") are enough to pass muster, as Carl brings the young man into the fold, the two of them even battling a pack of walkers together.

"I'm responsible for you now. That's how it works," Carl tells Siddiq, who assures him that even though Rick wants nothing to do with the newcomer, "sometimes kids have to find their own way to show their parents the way."

It's interesting enough that Carl speaks to Siddiq as though he's a "kid," considering the character's roots in the Walking Dead source material. In the comic books from Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard, Siddiq is nearly 40 years old, originally hailing from Oceanside, before becoming one of the key members of the Alexandria Safe Zone construction crew.

Siddiq has little to do with Carl in the comics, but has ties to other familiar faces from the show: Rosita (Christian Serratos) and Eugene (Josh McDermitt), who become romantically linked to one another at some point during the time jump between the end of the war against the Saviors and the beginning of the war with the Whisperers, the new threat on the board once Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has been neutralized. Rosita is killed at the start of this conflict, and several issues later, Siddiq tearfully confesses to Eugene that he and Rosita were secretly in love; she was planning to leave Eugene before her death.

Will Siddiq and Rosita embark on a similar romance in the Walking Dead TV series — an ill-fated one, at that? It's certainly not impossible, but given the relatively significant shift from the character's first appearance in the comics, it's also possible that the Siddiq of the TV show isn't all that he says he is.

Is it possible that Siddiq is aligned with the Saviors, setting Carl up for a massive betrayal down the line? Given the red-eyed Rick glimpsed in the season premiere, Walking Dead fans should be on full alert for someone close to the Alexandrian leader to die — and Carl's death at Siddiq's hands, or some other method associated with Siddiq, would certainly be big enough to prompt Rick's words that speak to the season's theme: "Can my mercy prevail over my wrath?"

The tides of the war between the Alexandrians and the Saviors look likely to shift at least somewhat in the near future, given the potential germ warfare storyline being introduced with a very sick Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam). With that in mind, Siddiq being a secret Savior wouldn't be too far outside the realm of possibility. In other words, Carl might be wise to keep an eye on his new friend in case he's an enemy — a daunting task, since Carl only has the one.

What do you make of Siddiq? Do you think he's as he appears, or is there another shoe that's still to drop with Carl's new friend? Let us know in the comments section below, and keep checking with THR.com/WalkingDead for further deep dives and theories all season long.

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'Outlander': Inside Claire's "Survivalist" Solo Journey

Claire's (Caitriona Balfe) harrowing journey back to Jamie (Sam Heughan) involved more than a few natural obstacles in a new story that book readers weren't expecting. Executive producer Toni Graphia breaks down creating that adventure for THR.

[Warning: This story contains spoilers from Sunday's Outlander, "Uncharted."]

Claire (Caitriona Balfe) is no damsel in distress on Starz's Outlander. Time and again, the drama's central heroine has proven that she doesn't need a knight in shining armor (or tartan) to save her in times of trouble. She can take care of herself. And Sunday's episode provided the latest example of that.

During Sunday's episode, the time-traveling doctor proved her worth again after jumping off the side of the Porpoise into the ocean. Finally free of the British military men she helped cure of typhoid, Claire knew she had to get back to Jamie (Sam Heughan) before he was arrested by those same men in Jamaica. But first, she found herself washed ashore on some unknown island, with no clue where she was or how she would get back to her husband to warn him of what was coming.

But first she needed to survive her solo adventure. For days (and the first half of the episode), she wandered the island alone, looking for signs of human life, food, water and shelter. She ran into several obstacles, from waking up covered in biting ants to a large snake slithering over her body as she fought the elements and nearly died from thirst until she found Father Fogden and Mamacita, who helped nurse her back to life.

In a stroke of luck, Jamie and the rest of the Artemis crew became shipwrecked on that same island. When Willoughby (Gary Young) stole and ate one of Fogden's goats, Claire realized who the shipwrecked men were and ran to the beach just in time to signal the crew. Jamie noticed her on the beach and immediately turned around for a romantic reunion with his wife.

But before Outlander could reunite its two star-crossed lovers again, Claire had to go through hell first. "This was a very interesting script," executive producer Toni Graphia tells The Hollywood Reporter. "It was very challenging in the writers' room, because we actually started with a completely different story of what happens to Claire on the island."

While Graphia couldn't reveal what the initial plan was "because it might be a spoiler for something that's coming later," it was something that happened to Claire on the island.

"We decided to scrap that story for now and push it down the line a bit, and it will be revealed possibly later if we end up doing that story at another time," she says. "We ultimately went with this version and we called it our survivalist episode. We all loved the wackiness with Father Fogden and Mamacita and the coconuts, so we knew we had to play that, but it wasn't quite enough for an entire episode."

The writers decided to combine two characters from the book — Father Fogden and Jewish natural scientist Lawrence Stern, who helped Claire after she washes ashore on Hispaniola and brings her to Father Fogden. "The two characters seemed similar to us," Graphia says. "We wanted to do justice to both characters."

But since that left half an episode to fill with story, the Outlander team "decided to get creative and do something out of the box, something that's not done on TV." Graphia remembers a time before Outlander, when she worked on a network TV show and tried to pitch an episode where the whole first act was without dialogue. According to Graphia, the network was "outraged" and didn't allow them to do it.

"They thought we were crazy," she says. "It was something you can't do. So that's where you appreciate working on something like Outlander, not only because it's cable but also because Starz trusts us and lets us do something like this. So the first 20 minutes or so is a tour de force for Caitriona with no dialogue and very little voiceover."

While Claire's time on the island "plays out much differently in the book," Graphia admits, where "Jamie's joined some kind of militia and pretends to be French and it all gets kind of crazy," the writers decided to "tell a simpler kind of story that strips Claire down to her bare essentials to survive."

"We threw everything at her that we could think of," Graphia says with a laugh. "This adventure is a big homage to her roots, and how she grew up traveling with her Uncle Lam around the world and camping and learning all these techniques. [Executive producer] Matt Roberts is always talking in the writers room about the rule of threes: you could go without air for three minutes, water for three days and food for three weeks. That was our guide for Claire."

She continues, "We thought, 'What are all the awful things that could happen to her and challenges she would have to go through?' So we put her through the ringer because we knew she could handle it."

And that includes the actor, since Balfe gamely took on everything the writers threw at Claire. "The snake was completely real," Graphia reveals. "They found a snake, his name was Scar, and they introduced him to Caitriona and let her play with him. She pet him and got familiar with him, and she insisted on doing it herself. So the snake was actually on her."

And the horrors didn't stop there for Balfe. "The ants were real as well, but they didn't have as many," Graphia says. "They had some ants and the rest were multiplied by visual effects. But most of what we do is real. The beetles in the jar were real. We always go for it on Outlander. If something can be done practically, we do it practical. The actors are always troopers, I have to hand it to them. Sam and Caitriona love to do their own stunts, anything with animals, they'll give it a try and it shows."

But the episode wasn't all doom and gloom. After Claire and Jamie tearfully reunited on the beach, Jamie decided to give everyone a bit of joy for a change, and convinced Father Fogden to marry Fergus (Cesar Domboy) and Marsali (Lauren Lyle) that very night. And when Father Fodgen asked Fergus for his surname during the ceremony, Fergus faltered since he was an orphan and never had one given to him. That's when Jamie stepped up and gave Fergus his last name: Fraser.

"That's my favorite part of this episode, when Jamie gives Fergus his name," Graphia says. "This is a more light-hearted episode that has a lot of fun things but it gets me every time when Fergus says he doesn't have a last name. Fergus and Jamie have such a deep relationship, so to see this moment come full circle where he's like a son to Jamie, that moment to Fergus was as important as his marriage to Marsali. He not only got a wife, but he got a father."

Even though Jamie has essentially been Fergus' surrogate father all this time, this moment was what "made it official."

"That scene was so beautifully done," Graphia says. "The look Sam and Cesar give each other is full of love and appreciation. It's my favorite moment in the script."

And back on board the Artemis, Claire, drunk on Mr. Willoughby's turtle soup, playfully seduces Jamie in a fun, carefree scene to close the episode on a much different note than the last few chapters have.

"The episode was originally titled 'Turtle Soup,' because that is such a fan-favorite that people have been waiting for," Graphia says. "Ever since season one, people have been tweeting and writing to us asking, 'When are you going to do turtle soup? You have to do turtle soup!' Of course we never would have left that out."

But since they didn't want to give away the fun in the title of the episode, the writers "hid it a little" and changed the title to "Uncharted" instead.

"That's why we used the turtles swimming as the title cards, so book fans will know as soon as they see the turtles swimming," she says. "We always like to say no turtles were harmed in the making of the episode. Caitriona had a lot of fun with that scene; the actors were looking forward to that one for a while."

Ending "Uncharted" on that fan-favorite moment from the book allowed the writers to give it its full due. "We didn't want to shortchange that moment so we decided to make it a nice, long scene," Graphia says. "It's a challenge sometimes to make all the sex scenes different. If all the love scenes were the same it would get boring. So they have angsty love scenes, long, drawn out love scenes, the quickies in the woods and then the light-hearted ones. That's very much like a real couple, every time there could be a different mood for it."

Because Outlander hasn't shown this specific mood in a love scene before, the writers knew that ending the episode on the turtle soup moment would give this chapter the most emotional impact.

"Seeing Claire tipsy is so fun, especially with Willoughby knocking on the door," Graphia says with a laugh. "It was time to lighten the mood after all that typhoid ship sadness. We're barreling towards these last few episodes and we're going to leave fans with enough to get them through the next Droughtlander which hopefully won't be as long."

Outlander airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on Starz.

Outlander
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'Walking Dead' Favorite Lennie James to Exit, Joins Spinoff 'Fear'

The details were revealed during Sunday's 'Talking Dead.'

AMC's The Walking Dead is set to see one series regular jump to spinoff series Fear the Walking Dead.

Fan favorite Lennie James is officially moving from the flagship to the prequel, in which he will continue to play Morgan Jones. The announcement was made Sunday when James was a surprise guest on Talking Dead.

"Morgan's arc in The Walking Dead season eight positioned him for the story on Fear the Walking Dead," Walking Dead showrunner Scott M. Gimple said via a statement read by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. "It was also important to see Fear's world and characters through new, yet familiar eyes."

For his part, James said he begins filming Fear on Monday, with his scenes to be streamed live via the show's social media accounts. The actor, who was the first person Rick (Andrew Lincoln) encountered after waking up from his coma in the show's pilot, wrapped production on the Atlanta-set Walking Dead days ago and appeared on Talking Dead via satellite from Austin, Texas, where the show is moving its production.

"From the very first moment the whole suggestion of Morgan going over to Fear the Walking dead, the hardest part of that, from beginning to now, has been leaving The Walking Dead," James said. "Leaving that cast, leaving that crew. I've said my goodbyes to the cast and I've said my goodbyes to the crew… That show stands or falls on the back of that crew. And I'm going to miss them very much."

James move to Fear the Walking Dead also confirms news that THR previously reported — that the prequel series is moving its filming location to Texas — a shift that was set up in the finale's narrative as a new villain (Ray McKinnon) set sail for "what's left of Houston" with Alicia (co-star Alycia Debnam-Carey).

James' addition to Fear comes as the lesser-rated series is amid a major reset for its upcoming fourth season. Showrunner Dave Erickson, who developed the series with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman, exited the show after the season-three finale. Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg (Once Upon a Time) will take over as showrunners for season four, with Walking Dead boss Gimple also joining the spinoff as an executive producer. Fear has also bolstered its cast, with stars Garret Dillahunt and Jenna Elfman boarding as series regulars. Details on their characters are being kept under wraps.

That James would move to Fear comes as the character continues to struggle with his role in the new world. Morgan guest-starred in seasons one and three before recurring in season five and being promoted to series regular in season six. When he was introduced, Morgan was grieving the loss of his wife, Jenny, and son, Duane, who were both killed in the outbreak. He has struggled with his sanity — and whether or not he needed to kill other survivors — during the most recent seasons.

The decision to move him to the spinoff comes as the flagship series in its current eighth season has also explored Negan's backstory (that was featured in a one-shot called "Here's Negan"). That both shows are now crossing over comes after Erickson's early Fear script (then called Cobalt) originally featured a scene in which Dr. Candace Jenner — aka Test Subject 19 and played by Claire Bronson on the flagship — was introduced. The character previously worked with Edwin Jenner (Noah Emmerich) at the CDC before being infected and ultimately killed. That idea didn't last long with Kirkman and the storyline was nixed as producers at the time insisted Fear would not be crossing over with the flagship.

Fear the Walking Dead, while not a breakout hit like the flagship series, still performs well for AMC. The drama, which hit a string of series lows in its third season, is one of the top shows on cable (and AMC's No. 2 overall), with an average of 5.3 million total viewers and 3 million among adults 18-49 with three days of delayed viewing.

Fear the Walking Dead
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'House of Cards' Extends Hiatus, Hopes to Resume Production

In a letter to the cast and crew of the Netflix hit, the show's producers say production on the final season will be on hold until Dec. 8.

The hiatus for production on House of Cards season six will extend for another two weeks, according to a letter sent to the cast and crew by producers Media Rights Capital that was also distributed to press by the Netflix series' producers.

The streamer announced earlier this month that the upcoming season would be the show's last, following reports of sexual misconduct against star Kevin Spacey, who was subsequently fired from the series. An investigation into the actor's on-set sexual misconduct is still ongoing. Spacey will likely be written out of the show for the final season.

The letter, signed by Media Rights Capital senior vp television business and legal affairs Pauline Micelli, states that the "crew will be paid for an additional two-week hiatus — beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th." The writing staff, as well as a "small contingency of office/accounting staff," will remain in the production office on a continuous basis.

Micelli ended the letter with a rallying cry for the show's cast and crew, saying, "The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business."

An additional update was promised for the Dec. 8 deadline.

Read the full letter below.

Dear Cast and Crew,

As we move into the holidays, we want to express our appreciation for all of the meaningful messages of support we have received from you and want to update all of our loyal cast and crew on our progress and where things currently stand.

We continue to work with Netflix with the hope of resuming production soon. As we continue these discussions, we have determined together that the crew will be paid for an additional two week hiatus – beginning on November 27th and continuing through December 8th.

In addition to the writers, there will be a small contingency of office/accounting staff who will remain in the production office on a continuous basis. Our hope is that the entire crew will be able to reconvene when production resumes, but we want you to know that we will certainly understand if crew members need to find other work in the interim, which will prevent them from re-joining us. We sincerely appreciate all you have done.

Cast and other union members who are not actively working will be paid in accordance with applicable union guidelines through this period and we will be reaching out directly to your representatives to work through the details; we will get to everyone as quickly as possible and appreciate all of your patience here.

These last two months have tested and tried all of us in ways none of us could have foreseen. The one thing we have learned throughout this process is that this production is bigger than just one person and we could not be more proud to be associated with one of the most loyal and talented production cast and crews in this business.

We will provide an additional update by 12/8/17.

Thank you all.

Pauline Micelli

House of Cards
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“Words can't express the solace our family’s received from all the love & support during this trying time,” the 'Arrow' actress wrote.

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Robert Kirkman's Skybound to Create 'Summoners War' Universe

'The Walking Dead' creator's company will help bring the billion-dollar game franchise to small screens, the printed page and beyond.

The mobile RPG Summoners War is expanding its universe.

South Korean game developers Com2us is partnering with Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman's Skybound Entertainment, to expand Summoners War into an entertainment franchise across various mediums, including comics, animated series and more. The new partnership was announced moments before the final matches at the Summoners War World Arena Championship on Saturday at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, a free event that showcases 16 of the best players from around the world.

“We couldn’t be more excited to work closely with Skybound to expand the Summoners War franchise into new mediums. Our goal at Com2us has always been to allow our amazing community to interact with the Summoners War IP in engaging ways, and through this partnership we can’t wait for it to expand into comics, animation and more. In addition, Skybound's enthusiasm for our partnership has reaffirmed our decision to continue expanding into additional brand platforms in the future," Casey Lee, CEO of Com2us USA told Heat Vision.

Development of the new universe outside of the gaming space will be overseen by Kirkman, Skybound co-founder and CEO David Alpert, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars/The Angry Birds Movie producer (and CEO of Skybound North) Catherine Winder.

“Building universes and a supporting narrative in multiple platforms is the foundation upon which Skybound was built. The opportunity to partner with Com2us on Summoners War, a rich and magical fantasy story, was an excellent creative fit for us. We couldn’t be more excited to bring this property to life by expanding the franchise’s reach in North America, and beyond, in mediums including comics, animation and more," Winder told Heat Vision.

Skybound Entertainment, founded by Kirman and Alpert in 2010, is behind AMC's hit The Walking Dead television show as well as the prequel Fear The Walking Dead and Cinemax's Outcast, all based on Kirkman's comics. The company made a move into the digital content space this year with the narrative VR series, Gone, for Samsung’s Milk VR platform. The company will additionally produce the VR horror series Lies Within, which is the first project out of Skybound’s partnership with interactive theatrical company Delusion, and a film adaptation of Kirkman’s comic series Invincible, with Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg attached to direct, write, and produce the movie for Universal.

“The Summoners War team has created an incredibly compelling and fantastical world ripe with engaging characters and storytelling opportunities. We are excited and proud to partner with them to expand this rich universe, loved by so many from around the world for audiences across all cultures and ages, into multiple forms of content filled with the adventure and wonder of the game,” Kirkman, Winder and Alpert said in a joint statement.

Summoners War is a mobile turn-based strategy game gives players control of a summoner who can call forth over 1,000 different monsters to do battle. The game first launched in June 2014 and has been downloaded more than 80 million times worldwide. In the three and a half years since the game was released it has generated over one billion dollars in revenue.

“To say we are honored to work with such a prolific and acclaimed creator as Robert, Catherine and the entire Skybound team, is an understatement,” said Casey Lee, CEO of Com2us USA, Inc. “Robert has proven that he is a master of blending human drama and fantasy, while Catherine has been a veteran adaptor of major franchises into other mediums. There is no doubt in our minds that we are working with the best creators possible for building the Summoners War universe."

Specific details about the upcoming projects have not been revealed.

Read the full article – Hollywoodreporter.com

Jodie Foster's 'Black Mirror' Episode Previewed in 'Arkangel' Trailer

"The key to good parenting is control."

Netflix has released a trailer for the Black Mirror season-four episode directed by Jodie Foster.

Entitled "Arkangel," the episode stars Rosemarie DeWitt as a mother whose child goes missing at the neighborhood playground.

Thankfully, her daughter reappears, but she then turns to technology to make sure such a terrifying mishap never happens again.

"Response so far is just incredible," it is said of the initiative in the trailer. “A sense of security, peace of mind. The stories we’re hearing are just truly inspirational."

However, it seems that activating the safety measure requires injecting a syringe directly into the child's head.

Black Mirror season four is set to premiere on Netflix this year. Watch the preview below.

Black Mirror
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Will Ferrell, Molly Shannon to Host Live Rose Parade Coverage for Amazon

The Funny or Die live stream will feature the 'SNL' alums emceeing as cheesy local TV hosts on New Year's Day.

Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon are kicking off 2018 in Pasadena.

The Saturday Night Live alums are reuniting to host coverage of the 2018 Rose Parade in an Amazon Prime Video live stream, presented by Funny or Die.

Ferrell and Shannon will emcee the special in-character as Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan, fictional local TV hosts who have covered the annual event for the past 25 years.

Amazon's announcement noted that Hosenbeck is a frequent television and radio host dedicated to physical and mental wellness, and has authored over 30 books on subjects ranging from diet to dressing for success. Additionally, Cattigan, a former Miss Arizona, has written books about relationships, co-dependency, marriage and wellness. She also is known for her two-show stint as assistant district attorney Keller on L.A. Law.

"Tish and I wait all year for this and this year it’s going to be the biggest, the best, the most fun parade ever!” said Cord. Added Tish, “Pasadena in January! I wouldn’t miss it for the world!"

“Cord and Tish are parade legends, beloved the world over, and it was such a coup for us to steal them away to Amazon Prime Video for their first-ever live-streamed parade,” said Amazon Originals head of unscripted Heather Schuster. “We’re excited to bring Prime members this unprecedented live event from these veteran parade commentators.”

Said Tournament of Roses president Lance Tibbet: “We are honored to work with Amazon Prime Video on this exciting broadcast.”

The 2018 Rose Parade: Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan will stream live on Amazon Prime Video at 8 a.m. PT/11 a.m. ET on Jan. 1. Watch the event's announcement video below.

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Stars Steve Martin, Rob Reiner, brothers Tommy and Dickie Smothers and more look back on their experiences transforming TV comedy with a groundbreaking and controversial variety show.

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The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism released a statement Friday: "In rescinding this award, we hope to send an unequivocal message that what Mr. Rose did is unacceptable, and that such behavior – far too common in not just media companies but many organizations – must stop."

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