'The Walking Dead' writers did some crazy verbal gymnastics to make a character's monologue safe for TV
For those who may not be familiar with the character, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has quite the colorful vernacular. In the comic series, he drops the f-bomb quite frequently. How frequently? You can't turn a page in the comic without a handful of them from Negan.
Take a look:
His mouth is so foul that it was unclear how "The Walking Dead" crew could go about adapting the character faithfully for television. Part of the answer was to start filming two versions of big scenes with Negan's character moving forward for the fans.
INSIDER received a review copy of the new season ahead of its release, and after watching it side by side with the regular finale, it's definitely worth the watch and almost helps make up for the frustrating finale.
And while the cliffhanger ending is still annoying (sorry, there are no hints as to who died if you watch with the captions on), the ever-so-slightly longer finale strikes a bit more terror, fear, and - if you're a fan of the comics - excitement over watching one of the series' fan favorites in all of his uncensored glory.
The two monologues that Jeffrey Dean Morgan delivers aren't too different. There are a few minor tweaks here and there. The biggest additions are 23 (yes, I counted) glorious f---s, including these two gems which are slight changes (and I think improvements) from the comic:
- You killed my people, a whole f---ing damn sh--load of them. More than I'm comfortable with. And for that, well for that you gotta f---ing pay. So, now I am gonna beat the holy f--- f---ing f--kedy f--- outta one of you.
- So, if someone comes to your door you f---ing let us in. We own that f---ing door. You try to f---ing stop us and we will f---ing knock that f---er down.
See I wasn't kidding about the language.
For those who are a little mystified by Negan's affinity for the word, these lines are taken straight from issue #100 of the series. The dialogue mirrors it pretty much word for word with a few deviations to accommodate for character changes and parts that didn't make it into the show.
However, the funniest changes are seeing how "The Walking Dead" writer's room dealt with adapting some of Negan's colorful language. It looks like they had to go through some serious verbal gymnastics to make it work for television.
For instance, take a look at this line:
"But the word is out. You are not safe. Not even close. In fact, you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want."
If you watched the season six finale when it aired back in April, you probably didn't think much of the line. After seeing it side by side with the uncensored line, it's pretty funny:
| Censored Version | Uncensored Version |
| In fact, you are pegged, more pegged if you don't do what I want. | In fact, you are f---ed, more f---ed if you don't give me what I want. |
For those who are curious, I've transcribed Negan's monologues from both the censored and uncensored versions of the season six finale below, side by side, with the minor tweaks and changes highlighted.
