The Black Panther star waxes lyrical on Pollyanna McIntosh’s “singular” performance as complicated villain Jadis

(Image credit: AMC)

In The Walking Dead universe, main characters dying isn’t something that’s out of the ordinary, so it should come as no surprise to fans that the latest spin-off The Ones Who Live sees a longtime figure from the franchise kick the bucket.

In episode 5 of the Rick and Michonne-centered series, Pollyanna McIntosh’s Jadis – or Anne, as she’s often known – gets bitten by a walker and ultimately executed by a merciful Rick (Andrew Lincoln), after she threatens him and Michonne. After the pair’s escape from the Civic Republic Military’s compound, Jadis had been hellbent on catching up to them and forcing Rick to return and take over from recently deceased Lieutenant Colonel Donald Okafor (Craig Tate). If he comes back? She’ll let Michonne live and keep her promise not to give up Alexandria’s location to the CRM.

In the chase, she’s mortally shot, and later tries to convince Rick and Michonne to help her as her death, be it from her wounds or not, would result in the CRM being given a dossier that’d tell them where to find Alexandria. But when she tries to double-cross them, the survivors reveal they’re already one step ahead and Jadis gets chomped on the neck by one of the infected.

Confessing that her actions and blind loyalty to the CRM were born out of her heartbreak of losing people in the past, Jadis decides she’d rather die as ‘Anne’ and tells Rick and Michonne where to find the file at Cascadia Base. She gives Rick a wedding ring that Gabriel had found for him, too, before asking Rick to shoot her before she turns.

(Image credit: AMC)
“[Pollyanna] is great, I’m just sad that me and her didn’t really get to work together much,” Gurira tells GamesRadar+. “She’s incredible and she really carved out such an original character from the minute she was a part of The Walking Dead, so the fact that she was given this incredible arc is no surprise. It’s always sad to see the great characters die, but you know, she’s a fantastic actress and a fantastic person. What she brought to the story and how she played that role, I thought, was always very singular. There’s no-one like her.”

Having been introduced in The Walking Dead season 7 back in 2017, Jadis/Anne was last seen in the main show when she ferried a gravely injured Rick off in a CRM helicopter in season 9. She made a brief appearance in the second season of spin-off The Walking Dead: World Beyond, but according to The Ones Who Live showrunner Scott Gimple, she was always destined for something greater.

“She’s the reason Rick winds up where he does, and we envisioned her as a very big part of the story,” he previously told SFX magazine. “Jadis’s story was a long time in the works.” As for the CRM, Gimple said, “In some ways, that was initially planned to come out maybe after this. And to be, in some ways, different,” he adds, noting how the many delays in production shifted some ideas. “Timing got really twisted there. It was supposed to be another look at aspects of this; a smaller look, to tell you the truth. But with all the shows, I always look for those threads to connect. You never know how things will schedule, how things come together, and the stories go. What works, and what doesn’t.”

After premiering in the US back in late February, The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live is now finally streaming on Sky and NOW. For more, check out our handy guide on how to watch The Walking Dead franchise in order or our list of the most exciting new TV shows heading our way.