Josh McDermitt talks Eugene’s journey on The Walking Dead season 11

The Walking Dead was quick to grapple with the COVID-19 crisis and get back to work even as other sets were shutting down. They were on top of the safety game with electronic tracking devices that ensured every cast and crew member was standing far enough away from each other. Just curious: is that something we can all get our hands on? I’d love to have a device that told me I was too close to someone; wouldn’t you?

Because of all the COVID-19 restrictions, however, filming on the eleventh and final season has been a bit less boisterous than usual. Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) is known for messing around with his fellow cast members — remember the glitter debacle of Comic-Con 2016 with him and Andrew Lincoln (Rick Grimes)?

Moments like these aren’t possible under COVID-19 restrictions, and The Walking Dead star Josh McDermitt (Eugene) misses them. “I mean, I don’t know how many times Norman’s licked me or licked someone else over the years,” McDermitt told Entertainment Weekly.
And, all of a sudden, he’s got his tongue on a leash and you’re like, ‘Okay, I guess Norman is not licking me this year.’ And, honestly, in our final season, I miss that.”

If you’ve followed this cast, and particularly Reedus over the last decade or so, you know it’s just another day, another prank. Despite these moments of silliness being taken away from them, McDermitt has nothing but praise for the the crew has worked to ensure everyone’s safety. “The great thing is we’re doing this with the same crew every year, the same people, and that helps,” he said. “We obviously have all the protocols in place and that’s keeping everyone protected and that sort of thing. Health and safety of the cast and crew is the number one priority, and I think everybody has that in mind.”

And while McDermitt may be reminiscing about days of licking past, his character Eugune is facing quite the predicament heading into the final season of The Walking Dead.

Will Eugene find his courage on The Walking Dead?

This may be The Walking Dead’s final season, but we’ve still got 24 episodes to look forward to, so don’t get down yet. And they could be a rough 24 for Eugene, considering he’s currently in the clutches of a new community called the Commonwealth. With their Stormtrooper-esque soldiers, the Commonwealth looks awesome…and ridiculously intimidating.

How will Eugene tackle this obstacle? “He’s full of anxiety,” McDermitt said. “He doesn’t really know the fate of the people back home in Alexandria. He left during the war to get help. Obviously, he had other motives as well, but he doesn’t really know in his mind what’s happening back home. And so, there’s a lot of anxiety of like, ‘Oh crap, I have to make this work.’ The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been. And he’s been in some really high-pressure, high-stakes situations, and he always comes out on top. And I think he always has that confidence to come out on top.”

"And so, right now, we’re starting to see that maybe that confidence isn’t there. Or is it going to elude him? Will he be able to regain it and recapture it? And that’s just kind of where he is. He’s in this weird, in-between, anxiety-ridden place that he’s never really found himself before. Does he feel extra pressure and that there’s a lot riding on him in terms of how things go with the Commonwealth. After all, this is his mission, this is his idea, this is all on him.Yeah. It’s interesting, when he has ideas for something, a lot of times he’s having to convince people, “Hey, my way is the right way. This is the way. Trust me, trust me, trust me.” And when he kind of went off on this journey, everyone was like, “Yeah, go.”"

Will Eugene find that confidence when it matters most? After watching so many seasons of Eugene grow as a person and come out of his shell, I’d guess yes. He may not always seem like the bravest guy in the room, but Eugene’s ability to think on his feet that will get him and his team out of the Commonwealth’s grasp.

Still, Eugene will have to work through his issues first, particularly the pressure that came with the other community members actually supporting his plan. “So I think that’s throwing him a little bit too,” McDermitt said. “It’s like, ‘Wait, you guys didn’t push back. Oh, man. Now I really have to make sure this works.’ It’s not even just to save face like he would normally. It’s like, ‘Oh, you guys didn’t push back on this. Is this the right call?'”

"Plus, he’s a risk-taker, obviously in his own way, and he’s kind of making these decisions for other people. A lot more people are impacted by these decisions. So I just think that we’ve seen his growth over time to get to the point where he’s really thinking of other people a lot more than he’s thinking of himself. And kind of that selfishness isn’t there–where before any risks that he was taking was really to make sure that his oxygen mask was secured on his face before he helped other people. Now he’s just like, “Let’s just get as many of these oxygen masks on everyone’s face as possible.” I don’t know why I went to a plane reference, but that’s kind of what he’s thinking in his mind is just like, “I just got to do this.”"

Now that observation about Eugene is spot-on. He used to be incredibly selfish, didn’t know how to act in a group, and sort of just took care of himself. But now he considers these people his family. He’s ready to go above and beyond to protect them, which I think will help him get out of this situation in the end.

Tune in to see what happens with Eugene, the Commonwealth, and the rest of the group every Sunday on AMC!

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