No, we're still not over about Sunday's premiere of "The Walking Dead" Season 7. In fact, it might take weeks before we can recover from those earth-shattering deaths of our beloved Abraham and Glenn. But amidst all the heartbreak and gory skull-smashing scenes, there were few subtle moments viewers probably missed including Abraham's gut-wrenching goodbye to the love of his life, Sasha. If you haven't watched the episode, now's your cue to turn back.
If you have seen the premiere, it's pretty obvious by now that Negan's first victim was Abraham. However, what you probably didn't notice was Abraham's agonizing goodbye to Sasha. Since Abraham had to keep his eyes straight on Negan the whole time, he has no other means to say farewell to her lady. But, the brilliant mind of Michael Cudlitz himself came up with a last minute idea that will totally make you feel the pain Sasha's feeling at that moment.
Just when Lucille was about to make its way through his skull, Abraham sent Sasha a blink-and-you-miss-it gesture: a peace sign. The scene happened pretty quickly but you can definitely see Sasha's painful realization upon seeing it. It is as if she knew in an instant that it's over for her and Abraham. We definitely feel the pain girl, we definitely do.
my heart broke into a million pieces when he did the peace sign like that was their thing #TheWalkingDead pic.twitter.com/V098B4iRqc
— The Walking Dead (@WalkingDeadYas) October 24, 2016
So why a peace sign? Turns out, it was a gesture very special to the couple even way back their awkward friend-zone phase. It all started in Season 6 when Abraham was drinking on the porch after Pete's and Reg's deaths. He flashed a peace sigh to Sasha as she walked by. Sasha returned the gesture. Another instance when the two shared that special sign was when Sasha brought the news that she and Eugene were switching patrols thus, they would no longer patrol together for a while.
Michael Cudlitz revealed the meaning behind the most heartbreaking peace sign himself in a recent interview, saying, "For those paying attention, the peace sign is something that was between me and Sasha throughout the series. It was an unspoken, very loaded peace sign. We had to find a way for Abraham to connect with Sasha for him to say good-bye specifically to Sasha. We had already established in the finale of last year that eye contact was not broken. He got knocked down, he came back up. We could add dialogue, but there was no way for him to turn away or nod nothing to Sonequa. Going back into it, we had to figure out a way to tell Sonequa, tell Sasha, that everything would be okay and to say good-bye. That was what we came up with."
Director Greg Nicotero also shared that it was all Michael Cudlitz's idea, which makes it more heartbreaking, to be honest. "So that was something that Michael added, and it was a beautiful little moment," Nicotero said. "That little peace sign was to her."
Yes, and only to her. "It was Sasha. Nothing is to the audience ever, I think. Everything is for the audience, but nothing is to the audience." Michael Cudlitz clarified.
So yeah, that's how Abraham bids his goodbye to Sasha. I know, more Kleenex, please.
