‘The Walking Dead’: Norman Reedus, Michael Rooker talk Merle Dixon exit

People may not have liked some of the things Merle Dixon did throughout his time on “The Walking Dead”, but one things for sure, you never knew what he was going to do next.  When Merle decided to snatch Michonne and deliver her to the Governor in hopes of ending the battle between Rick and the Governor, it was very much something Merle would do, but we were a little surprised to see him decide to let Michonne go back to the prison while he went and took care of the Governor himself in a suicide mission.  It was clear from that point that Merle didn’t stand a chance, but we liked that he found a way to try and redeem himself.

The scene that has everyone talking from Sunday’s episode is the final scene between Daryl and Merle.  The Dixon brothers may not have always seen eye to eye, but they did love one another, so when Daryl was too late to save Merle and found him as a walker, the heartbreak Daryl felt translated perfectly through our television sets and into our own breaking hearts. So now that Daryl’s brother is gone and he has no family left in this world how will Daryl deal with this pain?  In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly Norman Reedus said that Daryl will likely become more introverted and hardened.  He said: “I think it shuts him down a little bit more. I think it hardens him a little more. That rage is still there and I don’t think stabbing him over and over again is releasing that rage. It’s just opening a new door. I would expect Daryl to become more introverted and be a more hardened person. He just grew up a lot right then.”

Ever since season 1 fans have been wondering what happened to Merle after being left handcuffed up on the roof of that building in Atlanta, so when he returned in season 3 viewers couldn’t have been happier to see him.  Michael Rooker spoke to TV Guide about Merle’s exit from “The Walking Dead” and said that he felt his exit came too soon and that fans probably aren’t happy with waiting so long for him to come back to be taken out so early (we couldn’t agree more).  He said: “That’s kind of a shame. I thought it was unfortunate, and I did not necessarily agree with the choice to do this. It was a big build up and you really didn’t get the true payoff. We had a great through line for this season, but the fans want more. They’re not very happy. I don’t think a lot of the true Walking Dead fans are happy with this.”

The finale of “The Walking Dead” season 3 airs on Sunday, March 31st at 9 p.m. on AMC – Will you be watching? Were you upset to see Merle leave the show quickly after waiting so long for him to return?  Leave us a comment and tell us what you think.

Photo: AMC