Alternate ‘Walking Dead’ Season 4 Ending Brought Morgan to Terminus

The Walking Dead has made Morgan an integral character over the last few seasons; a far cry from years-earlier questions of Lennie James’ return plaguing showrunners at every turn. And while Morgan’s unmasking made for a welcome surprise in the fifth season premiere, we almost caught up with the character as early as Season 4.

Entertainment Weekly reveals that nestled among the Walking Dead Season 6 Blu-ray commentary for “Here’s Not Here,” showrunner Scott Gimple once thought to include Morgan in the closing moments of Season 4 finale “A.” At the time, James was likely to become available for a more regular Walking Dead presence, but it wasn’t guaranteed:

At the end of 416, Rick would say, ‘They’re screwing with the wrong people,’ and a gentleman would come out of the shadows of the train car and he would say, ‘Yeah, they are.’ And that would be Lennie, as Morgan. And it looked like it almost could have happened.

Because it looked like a show that Lennie was on was ending. The time was right. But Lennie had a commitment to another show, which allowed us to do something super cool, which allowed Morgan to go on a journey after this episode in season 5 to see how he catches up to Rick and the group.

We’re hard-pressed to deny that Morgan’s return would have changed the dynamic of the group’s escape from Terminus, as well as the subsequent season, but his absence may have been for the best. Not only would the Season 4 finale reveal have stepped on one of Rick’s better lines (also improved on Blu-ray), but also have complicated establishing the character’s peaceful nature.

Either introduction is a far cry from the comics, in which Rick returned to his old home to find Morgan still living next door (somewhat akin to the character’s appearance in Season 3), but was Morgan’s full-time reinstatement best left for Season 6? What should we expect from the character visiting The Kingdom in Season 7?

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