How The Biggest Scene On Sunday's 'The Walking Dead' Was Faked

Kirsten AcunaNov 17, 2014, 12:04 IST

Sunday night's episode of "The Walking Dead" revolved around two fan favorites, Daryl (Norman Reedus) and Carol (Melissa McBride). The two headed out on a rescue mission to save a kidnapped group member, Beth (Emily Kinney), from another unidentified group of strangers. Along the way, the two come across a van hanging off a bridge which leads to one of the episode's huge practical effects. Last chance to head back before spoilers.

To avoid an oncoming group of zombies, the two jump inside the unstable van, strap on seat belts, and decide to dive headfirst off the bridge while hoping for the best. Here's how the scene plays out in the episode. You can clearly see the van starts to flip in this first GIF.

AMC/The Walking Dead

However, the scene cuts and in the next shot, viewers see the van crash right side up on all four wheels.

AMC/The Walking Dead

What happened? The van was clearly ready to flip over, right? Yes, it was. According to "The Walking Dead" after show "The Talking Dead," the series used a total of four identical vans to complete the scene, two of which made the 50 foot drop. In a behind-the-scenes featurette on the episode, "The Walking Dead" crew shows how they faked the van crash to make it look like the duo landed pretty safely. The first time they dropped the van from the bridge, the team attempted to just roll it off after loading the vehicle with a lot of extra weight on the rear end. That didn't go as planned. The van flipped 180 degrees onto its top.

AMC/The Walking Dead

"The drop itself was a bit of a challenge," explained co-executive producer Denise Huth in the featurette. "The first drop we did the van landed upside down which we did not want it to do."

The team tried it out again a second time in order to get the look they wanted. During a second drop, another van was dropped from a cable.

The second drop gave the crew the shot they needed for Carol and Daryl to survive the crash.

AMC/The Walking Dead

Here's what you end up seeing on the show.

AMC/The Walking Dead

In case you were wondering, while Carol and Daryl did do some filming in the van, the actors had their own stunt dummies on board for the actual crash to show their point of view.

AMC/The Walking DeadThat's not the real Daryl and Carol in those seats.

You can watch the entire featurette below.

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How The Biggest Scene On Sunday's 'The Walking Dead' Was Faked