WARNING: THERE BE MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!
One of the biggest fuck ups that AMC’s “The Walking Dead” is guilty of was killing off Andrea in the third season. Those who have read the comics know that she is integral to the story and is actually one of the most badass characters in the storyline. Therefore, her loss shocked dedicated fans who were excited to see where her arc would take her.
Actress Laurie Holden, who played Andrea, was at the Walker Stalker convention in New Jersey this past weekend and spoke about her character’s premature death, stating that it was never supposed to go down like that. In fact, quite the opposite was supposed to happen.
Well I had an 8 year deal, I was supposed to be there until the end. I was supposed to end up with Rick. I was supposed to save Woodbury on a horse, and I was buying a house in Atlanta. I got the call at 10 o’ clock the night before, while I was shooting, from the show runner who is no longer a part of The Walking Dead, saying that they couldn’t write the episode and that he was killing my character. So we all got the script everybody on the set was sobbing. I felt like I got shot. None of it was supposed to happen the way it did. [Source]
Holden isn’t bitter, however. She told the audience, “I think The Walking Dead is in a really good place now with Scott Gimple. It wasn’t the ship that it is now. I’m very grateful how it was written that I went out with grace and with a stellar cast. It wasn’t the way that I wanted but I loved the way I went out.”
Personally, I would’ve loved to have seen her stay around. Holden is a wonderful actress who puts a lot into her roles (I loved her as Cybil in Silent Hill) and I know she could’ve taken Andrea on some amazing journeys. Alas, we’ll never get to see that.