Overview

• Burton’s surprise cameo in the June 15 episode saw Negan hallucinatorily reunited with his late wife following a head injury on screen
• The key sequence was filmed just six days after Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s father, Richard, died on July 2, 2024, intensifying the actors’ performances
• AMC’s crew granted Morgan time off to say goodbye in California before he returned to set in Massachusetts to shoot the scene
• Morgan’s children, Gus and George, supported him on set by spending time in his trailer and with the camera crew between takes
• In the finale Negan briefly lapses into his former brutal persona even as his redemption arc continues and Burton hopes to reprise Lucille