‘Fear TWD’ showunners discuss cliffhanger season 5 finale

The season five finale of “Fear the Walking Dead” saw most of our group split up as they reluctantly headed off with Ginny’s group for shelter and food.

Morgan (Lennie James), however, wound up staying behind and in the final moments of Sunday’s episode he was mercilessly shot by Ginny and left for dead as he bled out. Is Morgan really gone for good?

“Listen, he was bleeding quite a bit from that wound. And, he also had walkers encroaching on him,” coshowrunner Ian Goldberg told Insider of Morgan’s gunshot, which may not have hit him in the heart.

“Whether it’s in the shoulder or the heart, it’s a bad gunshot wound and it’s not going to be one that he could easily survive.”

“Fear TWD” showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg broke down the final minutes of season five with us and teased whether or not Morgan’s a goner.

The duo also told us whether or not they felt outside pressure to incorporate the larger world of the “Walking Dead” movie and main show into their storyline, and how they’d grade the season after receiving a lot of criticism and backlash from fans and critics alike.

Why Ginny shot Morgan, where he was actually wounded, and whether or not he’s dead.

Kirsten Acuna: First of all, we’ve got to talk about the end of that episode. I was waiting for something to happen all episode — maybe for Dwight to get eaten by zombies, for something to go wrong at June and John’s wedding, and then the person I least expect gets shot. Why have Virginia shoot Morgan and how long were you guys planning this?

Andrew Chambliss: Virginia shooting Morgan really boils down to the fundamental disagreement that they have in kind of their viewpoints of how to live in the apocalypse. The reason she’s killing Morgan instead of anyone else is that she really sees him as the person who has tried to keep this philosophy alive. You know, as she says, she views herself as someone who is able to make the hard decisions and she sees Morgan’s inability to make those hard decisions as weakness. Obviously, Morgan would have a very different viewpoint on that. He’s someone who values kind of every individual. Whereas, Ginny’s viewpoint is very much about the group and how to look towards the future that is stable and can grow.

These things really do come to a head when they’re opposite each other at the end of the episode. But I think the interesting thing about that moment, you know, is she shoots him and hits him in the shoulder and then she’s got the gun to his face and she has that line where she says, “I just resent your face so much.” And you know, that speaks to some more stuff that’s going on beneath the surface for Ginny. Perhaps there’s something about Morgan that pushes her buttons in the wrong way on a personal level. And we’ll learn more about her in season six as we see all of our characters kind of living under her rule in these very settlements.

But it was something that we were really building to all season. You know, Morgan was at the forefront of pushing our group to really try to find a new way to live. And he did a lot of personal work on himself and pushed past a lot of the trauma. And you know, on these shows, a lot of times when characters make a lot of personal growth they find ways that they end up having to pay for that. And even the final moments of the episode, Morgan is definitely paying the price for freely fighting for what he believes in.

Acuna: So, Andrew, you mentioned something interesting. You said that Virginia shoots Morgan in his shoulder. And that was something that I wanted to clear up because I’m sure fans will be asking about it. It looked to me as if Virginia almost shot Morgan in the heart. It is the shoulder?

Goldberg: You know, listen, he was bleeding quite a bit from that wound. And, he also had walkers encroaching on him. So you know, whether it’s in the shoulder or the heart, it’s a bad gunshot wound and it’s not going to be one that he could easily survive.

Acuna: Yeah. Well, I think if it was in the heart he might have been dead right away.

Goldberg: Yeah, I don’t think he would have probably crossed the stones.

Acuna: I don’t think so either. Is this the last that we see of Morgan? I have to ask. Is he really dead?

Chambliss: I think all we’ll say is that Morgan’s final message to everyone was telling them to just live and he meant that on, I think a more metaphorical level telling them to try to live their lives because there actually was some validity to what they were doing. But for Morgan, the question is whether or not he’s going to be able to take his own advice and literally live 30 seconds past when the camera cuts in that final shot. And that’s just something people are going to have to wait and see.

On whether Ginny is connected to Georgie’s group on “The Walking Dead” and how they would grade themselves for season five as a whole.

Acuna: While mentioning Ginny, can we confirm that these key people are connected to Georgie [from “The Walking Dead”] in some way? They’ve been talking about the future. We saw an entire map with keys. I think she may have even said the words “key to the future” at some point.

Chambliss: I think we’re just going to have to wait and see. It’s a big universe. There are a lot of people out there and I think that’s all we’re going to say right now.

Acuna: Oh, you guys are killing me. You know what, I’m going to step back a little bit and ask you, looking at the season overall, what grade would you guys give yourselves for this season?

Goldberg: Well, you know, we’re tough on ourselves. So I don’t know if we would necessarily assign a grade. But you know, I think what excited us about this season was the opportunity to see people navigate the apocalypse in a completely different way. You know, by its very nature of the apocalypse, often, you know, whether in the “Walking Dead Universe” or the apocalypse that’s been explored in other TV scapes, it’s a very bleak, nihilistic place. And, certainly we’ve seen some of that over the course of the season.

But it was exciting for us to dig into what it meant to face the apocalypse with a lens that was more optimistic and hopeful and about connection and helping people. Obviously we see that that, in the finale, is being met with a huge roadblock in the way of Virginia and her people. And it’s going to completely shift the paradigm going forward in season six. That’s a story that we really believe in, that we were excited to tell in season five. So looking back on it, we’re excited by how it took shape and really proud of our amazing cast and crew for helping to bring it to life.

On whether or not the showrunners felt pressured to insert elements that hinted at the larger “Walking Dead” universe into season five and their response to criticism.

Acuna: Well, looking at the show, the scale of the series across the season, did you guys feel a pressure to have to insert certain story elements or requirements onto the show in order to satisfy the needs of this larger “Walking Dead Universe”? I ask that for a reason, but I want to see what you guys say first.

Read more: Sunday’s ‘Fear TWD’ director was convinced her episode was going to connect with the helicopter people who took Rick

Chambliss: No, I think everything we did and even the elements that tied “Fear” into the larger universe in terms of having Dwight enter the series and Al’s connection that she made to Isabelle, and whatever group Isabelle is part of who had the helicopters, was all really designed to serve as, you know, the story that Ian just laid out, and we really had looked at the ways to integrate those in a way that they would be meaningful to all the characters on “Fear” and not just as a way to have ties into the larger universe.

Acuna: OK. I asked that because while watching a lot of the season, I often felt like I was watching almost not for journeys and growth of characters like Alicia, Daniel, Strand, and some of our original characters, but often to see what the next connection was to the larger “Walking Dead Universe,” you know? As you said, a glimpse of a helicopter, maybe a nod to Georgie’s key to the future book. It felt like I constantly needed to be on alert to see how the show was connected to either “The Walking Dead,” or the movie that’s coming, or the larger universe. And I was wondering if that was part of the plan for season five?

Goldberg: You know, it’s certainly something we discuss a lot because it is a universe and the connections and connectivity are constantly increasing and expanding. So, it is something that’s important to us. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is that we’re honoring the characters and we’re telling both epic and intimate stories with them. And not to say that greater universe connections are secondary, because they definitely aren’t. But you know, we always try and lead with story and emotion first.

Acuna: I have to ask, because I know that I’m going to hear it if I don’t, but the season has been faced with a lot of backlash and a lot of criticism, not just from fans, but also critics. I’m wondering what your response has been to all of it? Has it made you look at what you’re trying to do with the show any differently or maybe how you’ll approach next season?

Chambliss: You know, we told the story that we believe in and we’re proud of what we did and in terms of going forward, the show is changing and that’s always been a part of the plan. You know, it changes every season and every half season and we’re very excited about the direction it’s going and a lot of the tough challenges that our characters ahead are going to be facing.

You can follow along with our coverage of “FearTWD” and “The Walking Dead” here. The new season of “TWD” starts Sunday, October 6 at 9 p.m on AMC.