At the end of the last season of “The Walking Dead”, we saw Morgan Jones finally reuniting with Rick in Alexandria, but it seemed like the reunion came as a bit of a surprise to both of them. Both characters were seemingly not quite what the other was expecting, and the whole event was underlined by Morgan watching Rick shoot a man at point blank range, and not showing any obvious reaction to it.
The tension that’s been building up between the two characters is likely going to cause a lot of drama in the new season, but according to Lennie James, who plays the role of Morgan, it’s a struggle for his character as much as it is for Rick, despite him trying to conceal his emotions and doing his best to not let the others see his anxiety.
Morgan is going to have to figure out if he’s able to maintain his “all life is precious” mantra, or if he’s going to give in to his negative emotions that have been building up lately. That line covers everything about his life, not just his relationship with Rick but also with the Alexandrians.
On the other hand, Rick appears determined to take Alexandria at any cost and he’s sparing no resources for that goal. He goes as far as to kill those who don’t want to fall in line, while Morgan is trying to show that he has finally come to peace after losing his son. But it might be an attitude that’s more difficult to maintain than he originally thought.
One of the main differences between the two characters is in how they each approach their situation with the group. While Rick is determined to help out the other and keeps thinking of ways to assist the group, Morgan is the one who keeps thinking what he can do to aid himself and get through the day. Now, he’s staying with some new people that he doesn’t know and his calm mask is starting to crack.
The undead are converging on Alexandria in the meantime, coming in at an alarming pace, and Rick is trying to get the town prepared and ready to fight for their lives, but it looks like Morgan will also be fighting his own war within the whole chaotic environment.
His battle, however, is going to be with himself above all else, and he’ll also have to deal with the way others are treating him in order to become the person that he wants to be. This will not be an easy battle, and we actually expect to see a lot of character progression for Morgan. Season 6 could very easily be focused on him, as the show does occasionally try to explore specific characters in more detail.
However, it’s also a show that likes to put its characters through a lot of difficult situations, and it’s not rare for the storyline to reach some point of irreversible change. It’s one of the details about “The Walking Dead” that have been discussed the most among the show’s fans, and this kind of unpredictability is something a lot of people like to see.
Something worth noting about the promotional materials that have been coming out for the show, is that the trailer we recently saw for season 6 might have been intentionally edited to give a misleading story, and the season could actually see some events that unfold differently.