Warning: SPOILERS for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live episode 5.

Summary

• Screen Rant interviewed Gabriel actor Seth Gilliam about joining The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live
• The episode showcases a touching continuation of Gabriel's bond with Jadis through flashbacks, honoring the world of The Walking Dead as a whole.
• Seth Gilliam was excited to reunite with Pollyanna McIntosh and praised the depth of character development in their relationship on screen.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live has brought Seth Gilliam’s Father Gabriel Stokes back into the fold for an emotional episode that utilizes the character in a truly unique way. With Rick and Michonne running from the Civic Republic Military in a beeline to Alexandria, Gabriel’s appearance in itself wasn’t unexpected—the twist was that his involvement had nothing to do with those characters. Instead, Gabriel’s return to the world of The Walking Dead had everything to do with Jadis, helping to make that character’s biggest episode moments hit even harder.

Gabriel’s involvement in the spinoff show is mostly confined to flashbacks that detail a touching continuation of his relationship with Jadis—Anne—after her exit from Alexandria. And though it is Rick and Michonne’s story, the focus on Gabriel in both the beginning and end of the episode proves the show’s commitment to honoring the world of The Walking Dead as a whole. It’s a move that can work in a standalone fashion, but also makes a great case for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live season 2.

Screen Rant interviewed Seth Gilliam about returning to the world of The Walking Dead in The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. Gilliam reflected on his relationship with Jadis actor Pollyanna McIntosh and played it cool when it came to discussing a future return, or The Walking Dead universe as a whole.

Seth Gilliam Details His Jadis-Centric Return To The Walking Dead Universe

Screen Rant: It felt a little punk that Gabriel was in this show in a way that had nothing to do with Rick and Michonne, and everything to do with Jadis. I loved it. How did you feel about that being your “in” back into this world?

Seth Gilliam: I was excited by it. I was excited by it, because I loved working with Pollyanna McIntosh on The Walking Dead, and I thought the time I got to work with her was too brief. It was an intense relationship that the characters had, but it was brief timewise for us as actors to play it, so I was excited to get back to it and feel like we had our own episode within an episode. Not only is it "And Seth Gilliam as Father Gabriel,” it’s “Seth Gilliam is Father Gabriel in The Ones Who Live, as…" You know what I mean? Little extra things.

There’s that line, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Did you have any sort of hesitation about joining this again, or were you in from the get-go?

Seth Gilliam: [Scott Gimple] called me up, we talked for quite a while, and he told me his idea about it. That got me excited to go back in. I didn't have many questions. He was pretty specific and detailed in what he was going for, what he wanted to do, how he wanted to bring the character back, and how it would make sense in the world that I had played him in. That excited me about doing it. And quite frankly, I was flattered that he would think of bringing the character back in that way.

I love the way that Gabriel's interaction with Jadis was shown. One of the first things he says is, "Are we back?" as in the two of them. Then, every time you see her, another year has passed. How is it to track how feelings change over time in that way?

Seth Gilliam: I got the feeling that between those two characters, though time passes, there is no lapse in time. It's kind of like when you know somebody or you are so drawn to somebody that you watch them and study them, and you see yourself being watched and studied in return. Whenever you run into them, there's almost an “I see you, you see me, we see each other,” kind of relationship. Though they were going through very extreme things during that time, they get back together again, and time was never a factor.

I was part of a round table—one of the ones that you did for the last season of The Walking Dead—and I remember you talking about the last scene you did with Andrew Lincoln on that show. You said you brought up to him that it was your last scene and then the two of you got a little too emotional on the next take. Did you have a similar thing with Pollyanna knowing that this was going to be the end of Jadis?

Seth Gilliam: No. No, I didn't. I get the sense that I’ll see Pollyanna more than I was going to see Andrew Lincoln, because he lives in London and I live in New York. Pollyanna is all over the world all at once, so I had the feeling that I'd run into her somewhere.

There Was No Rick, Michonne & Gabriel Reunion Offscreen

Did you get to see Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira at all during this?

Seth Gilliam: No, it was just long text exchanges. The schedule was such that they couldn't be there. I think we were shooting simultaneously on two of the days. Then, another day, Andrew had, like, 1,001 different obligations to the show and the network—he and Danai both did. It was really just a lot of "Oh, I heard you were great. Sorry I missed you." It was like, "Yeah, I guess I'll see you in another five years or so. It's okay."

Seth Gilliam Details His Favorite Episode 5 Moment

Do you have a favorite moment from this episode that you got to do?

Seth Gilliam: Yeah. It's pretty selfish, but one of my favorite moments was the aerial shot, looking up--the Gabriel reveal. I thought, “This is going to be really cool.”

Seth Gilliam Doesn't Have Info On Alexandria, But Is Open To Returning

In speaking to other people who have done these shows, everyone is very quick to praise how Scott has this encyclopedic knowledge of The Walking Dead. Did you get any insight from him about how Gabriel's doing, how Alexandria's doing, and that side of the world?

Seth Gilliam: Well, I didn't want to make his head explode. It probably would've. He would've had to then tell me about every character who's in Alexandria.

As someone who has watched so much The Walking Dead, it was very cool to see you. It felt very rewarding and exciting to see Gabriel back in action. To anyone who wants more of that after this episode, do you have any words of encouragement or discouragement?

Seth Gilliam: Well, I mean, she didn't pull the trigger when she pulled the gun on him. He's still alive, so anything's possible.

About The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live presents an epic love story of two characters changed by a changed world. Kept apart by distance. By an unstoppable power. By the ghosts of who they were. Rick and Michonne are thrown into another world, built on a war against the dead… And ultimately, a war against the living. Can they find each other and who they were in a place and situation unlike any they’ve ever known before? Are they enemies? Lovers? Victims? Victors? Without each other, are they even alive — or will they find that they, too, are the Walking Dead?

Check out our other The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live interviews:

• Lesley-Ann Brandt, Terry O'Quinn & Craig Tate
• Matthew August Jeffers (episode 2 breakdown)
• Pollyanna McIntosh (episode 3 breakdown)
• Michael Slovis (episode 4 breakdown)

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live finale airs March 31 on AMC.