‘The Walking Dead’
Pollyanna McIntosh plays Jadis on ‘The Walking Dead.’ AMC

“The Walking Dead” season 7 episode 10 saw Rick almost getting killed while trying to get recruits. Rick and company are hoping that the new junkyard group, headed by the stoic Jadis, will aid them on an all-out war against Negan and the Saviours. But it’s also pretty ironic that they’re asking the help of a community whose leader’s motto is “We take, we don’t bother.”

Spoiler alert: This preview contains plot details about “The Walking Dead” season 7. The season premiered Oct. 20. The series is available for Australian viewers to watch on Foxtel every Monday, 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Pollyanna McIntosh, who plays the junkyard group’s leader, said that Jadis’ very distinctive and unusual manner of speaking is “a way to bring her own group closer together through the uniformity of their speech.” Jadis doesn’t really make it a point to fully form lengthy sentences, but only because leaving out excess words “makes it direct.”

“She’s very clear about what she wants,” said McIntosh about her character. “It’s also a way to keep a distance from outsiders; a sort of intimidating oddness.”

It’s also worth noting that Jadis and her group aren’t featured in Robert Kirkman’s comic book, but that didn’t keep them from making a solid debut on the AMC series. Jadis immediately made her presence felt by throwing Rick down into a pit to fight a helmet-wearing spiked walker named Winslow to see if the Alexandrian leader isn’t just all talk.

“It was definitely a test for him. She wants to see what this guy is made of, and he definitely proved himself,” said McIntosh in an AMC interview. “I think you can tell a lot about a person when they’re in a crisis and what better way to see the measure of a man than to put him up against Winslow?”

Now that the junkyard leader and Rick have seemingly reached an agreement, fans can expect a more jubilant Jadis in the upcoming episodes. According to McIntosh, her character takes delight in brokering and orchestrating deals above all things.

“My view of the character is that she wasn’t somebody who was in a position to be making deals in her previous life, and now, it’s fun for her in the new world,” said McIntosh. “I think we can expect a bit more of that gleeful bargaining from her.”

“The Walking Dead” season 7 episode 11 will have an extended runtime, just like the first two episodes of the season’s second half. The instalment, which is called “Hostiles and Calamities,” will run for 68 minutes.

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