Fans of The Walking Dead comics will know all about Sebastian, the rude and entitled son of Commonwealth leader Pamela Milton. He can be a real nasty piece of work, and he was introduced into the show in the season 11 episode “Promises Broken,” where Eugene and Stephanie immediately found themselves on the other side of one of his tantrums. According to showrunner Angela Kang, this is just the beginning of Sebastian being a “little shit” to our group.
Merely seconds into his first appearance in the show, Sebastian (Teo Rapp-Olsson) gets into a heated argument with Eugene (Josh McDermitt) and Stephanie (Chelle Ramo) after they save him and his girlfriend from being eaten by walkers. Seriously! They literally save his life and he berates them for it. Clearly he’s out of touch with what life is really like outside the walls. As a result, Eugene — not knowing who Sebastian really is — punches him in the nose. Even though it’s pretty hilarious to see Eugene’s violent side, he is ultimately thrown into prison.
Just this one scene with Sebastian was enough to make fans collectively loathe him, and this is just the beginning. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Angela Kang is super happy to finally have Sebastian in the show. “This character, in the comic book, he’s a little shit,” she said. “And so we just thought that’s kind of a fun element to have, the spoiled rich son of the leader of this place.”
Sebastian is a hugely important character on The Walking Dead
The series has something of a recurring theme when it comes to the children of leaders. Kang recalls Deanna’s son Spencer, who was once willing to kill Rick Grimes and join forces with Negan. “Clearly [Walking Dead comic book creator Robert Kirkman] has a problem with the children of people in power, as we found out with Deanna’s son too.”
Kang is particularly impressed with Rapp-Olsson, who is lovely in real life but is fantastic at playing a patronizing, entitled kid. “But this actor, Teo Rapp-Olsson, again, think he’s great. And again, such a sweet guy, really, really fun having him. But he’s just good at putting on this thing of like, ‘I think I’m better than all of you.'”
"So it’s just this weird thing, there’s kind of the patheticness, but he’s also quite dangerous in the way that he’s just willing to use his position to do whatever he wants to do."
We need only look at the comic book to see how brutal Sebastian can be. (WARNING: COMIC SPOILER AHEAD) On the page, it’s Sebastian who ultimately kills Rick Grimes. Given that Rick (Andrew Lincoln) has left the show and will appear in some movies, it’s pretty unlikely we’ll see Sebastian kill him, but we could see him kill off another beloved character. Let’s proceed with caution.
The Walking Dead season 11, episode 8 “For Blood” is currently streaming for AMC+ subscribers. For everyone else, it will air on Sunday. After that, the show goes on a temporary hiatus until 2022.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and sign up for our exclusive newsletter.
Get HBO, Starz, Showtime and MORE for FREE with a no-risk, 7-day free trial of Amazon Channels