The Real Reason Laurie Holden's Andrea Died In The Walking Dead Season 3

Oh, Andrea. If there's any character who "The Walking Dead" television series fumbled worse, I can't think of them. The Andrea of comics was one of the longest lasting and most beloved characters in the series, whereas Laurie Holden's version of Andrea in the TV show was despised. It's easy to draw a line from the dislike of her character to her early death in the season 3 finale, "Welcome to the Tombs."

Andrea's "Walking Dead" season 3 arc was invented for the show whole cloth, and a major departure from the comics. She winds up at Woodbury, the seemingly normal town run by the Governor (David Morrissey). Andrea clings to the illusion of the pre-apocalyptic world, so much so that she spends a whole half-season refusing to return to her friends. Her loyalty to Woodbury bites her (literally, in the neck, by way of a zombie the Governor locks her up with). She gets a goodbye to Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Michonne (Danai Gurira), then shoots herself in the head so she won't become a zombie after death. 

 In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter after "Welcome to the Tombs" aired in 2013, former "Walking Dead" showrunner Glen Mazzara said: "I thought it was important that we always show that no one is safe. It's also important to show the effect that these deaths have on our other characters." Andrea's death, which happened because she tried to prevent a war between Woodbury and her old group, was what convinced Rick to welcome other Woodbury citizens. It was "an ultimate sacrifice that was worthy of the season finale" in Mazzara's words.

"The Walking Dead" creator Robert Kirkman had no objections, per his own THR interview. In general, Kirkman was in favor of the show making changes to his, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard's comics. Kirkman saw the show as a chance at do-over for the character Shane, whom he killed too early in "Walking Dead" issue #6. Hence, Jon Bernthal's Shane got to last about twice as long as the character in the comic. Kirkman also liked show-original character Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus) enough that he introduced a character quite similar to Daryl — the two-faced, crossbow-wielding Dwight — into the comics.

Andrea's death was another change he didn't mind, and he cited the same storytelling reasons as Mazzara. "To a certain extent (changes in the show are) somewhat risky but at the end of the day I like the idea of there being big differences that key in to this is the show, this is the comic. I like that there's some kind of separation there," said Kirkman.

Frank Darabont, the original showrunner of "The Walking Dead" during season 1 and early production on season 2, wrote Andrea with Laurie Holden in mind. He'd previously worked with Holden on films "Majestic" and then "The Mist," and she was one of the several "Mist" alumni that Darabont brought over into "The Walking Dead."

As Darabont told /Film in 2022, he never intended to send Andrea into an early grave. He planned for her to have the same May-December romance with Dale (Jeffrey DeMunn) that she'd had in the comics. Instead, Dale also died much earlier, in "Walking Dead" season 2 episode 11, "Judge, Jury, Executioner." (DeMunn quit the show in protest of Darabont being let go.)

"Laurie's role in 'The Walking Dead' was intended by me to have a substantial character arc that never transpired. She would go from being a mentally jangled, super self-absorbed, badly traumatized and angry girl to the opposite end of the spectrum: their most reliable soldier, an ace sniper, and a grown-ass woman who becomes all about self-sacrifice and protecting the group."

Darabont wanted Andrea to grow into her comic self, and was making her immature at the beginning so she'd have a more obvious transformative arc. If Darabont hadn't been let go from "The Walking Dead" after season 1, there's a good chance fans might've warmed to the new Andrea that sprouted up.

The domino effect of killing off Dale might be what sent Andrea to Woodbury; in the comics, Andrea and Dale's relationship takes up most of their page time in the prison arc. Holden, who said she signed onto "The Walking Dead" with an eight-year deal, told TV Guide that she found Andrea's season 3 arc and deluded loyalty to the Governor to be "complete and utter nonsense."

Holden was still willing and eager to ride out that full eight years, and optimistic about redeeming Andrea. But, as she recounted at the 2016 Walker Stalker convention (via Bloody Disgusting), Mazzara abruptly changed plans. 

"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 showrunner 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 [and] everybody on the set was sobbing."

As for Holden herself? "I felt like I got shot."

Holden has at least had kind words for Scott Gimple, who rewrote Andrea's death scene and ultimately took over as "Walking Dead" showrunner from Mazzara in season 4. "I love Scott Gimple for giving me a gorgeous death with redemption so that you understood, and [Andrea] wasn't a victim — she died on her own terms," said Holden to TV Guide.

In the TV Guide interview, Holden maintained disappointment at not being able to play the Andrea who Robert Kirkman wrote for over 160 issues, both in the screentime she had and future storylines the show had to cut. "I think the departure from book Andrea to the screen was a mistake. I mean, it's not like I couldn't pull it off," Holden said. She may not have Andrea's freckles, but she can totally play hard-as-nails.

Andrea was a big fan-favorite in the comics, and overall the third most important character in the book after Rick and his son, Carl. From the very first volume, she's a natural with a gun and one of the group's toughest members. Andrea quickly becomes the group's sniper and sharpshooter, saving the others time and time again. She loses her kid sister Amy (Emma Bell in the show), but while TV Andrea never really recovered from that, comic Andrea became a survivor.

In issue #17, during the prison arc, she's ambushed by knife-wielding serial killer Thomas Richards and escapes with only a scar across her cheek. Much later, in Issue #113, Andrea is ambushed by Connor (one of Negan's Saviors) while she's perched in Alexandria's clocktower. In the distance, Rick sees someone fall from the tower and despairs it's Andrea. Nope! She beat Connor and threw him over.

But from the beginning, "The Walking Dead" TV show took the wind out of Andrea, even twisting her comic self's gun skills to make her look worse. Laurie Holden's Andrea is introduced in the second episode, "Guts." After Glenn (Steven Yeun) rescues Rick, Andrea points a handgun in Rick's face, unwilling to risk her group's well-being for a stranger. But as Rick tells her later, the safety on the gun was still on. Later, in the season 2 episode "Chupacabra," Andrea snipes and almost kills Daryl after mistaking him for a zombie. Andrea comes off less as a markswoman-in-training, and more like a little girl trying to play with toys she shouldn't be. Darabont intended Andrea to grow past this, sure, but Mazzara never let her.

Then there's the other part of Andrea's story the show never touched: her romance with Rick. In the comics they hook up during the Alexandria arc. Since that arc takes place long after Andrea's death in the show, Rick instead gets together with Michonne, Andrea's best friend, who thereby absorbs her role.

Andrea first kisses Rick in "Walking Dead" issue #90. They've lived through Hell together, sharing a mutual care and understanding like few have. Rick is reluctant, because he's convinced everyone close to him dies. But with her typical defiant attitude, Andrea says they'll keep surviving together and deserve to be happy. Many issues later, Rick admits that he loves and trusts Andrea more than he ever did his late wife Lori.

Holden has said the show would've paired Andrea and Rick eventually, though Darabont claimed he never intended Andrea as Rick's love interest. (Holden might have said she was "supposed to end up with Rick" because that's what happened to Andrea in the comics.)

Now, in the comics, Andrea does eventually die. She's bitten by a zombie in issue #165, and passes away in issue #167. The double-page 40-length issue is absolutely heart-wrenching. One page is 16 panels of every living cast member, major or minor, saying goodbye to Andrea.

Image Comics

Though losing Andrea of course impacts Rick, it's not a "woman in refrigerators" moment. Andrea spends her last day telling Rick he can't succumb to mopey self-pity without her. When Rick sobs that "[he] loves [Andrea] so much," she grins back, "Yeah, you do," because she's as cool as Han Solo.

Of course, the inevitable comes, and Andrea reanimates as a zombie. Even as the former Andrea tries to bite him, Rick hesitates. He's killed thousands of zombies, but suddenly it's like he's back in the early days of the apocalypse, when people wondered if the dead could still be saved.

Andrea dying after staying around so long left a hole in "The Walking Dead." Reading it, you feel like Rick, wondering how things can go on without her. The comic ended only 26 issues later, so maybe in the end, it couldn't! For the first time ever, Kirkman penned a eulogy and detailed explanation for a character death, because Andrea deserved that much.

Image comics

Andrea's death in "The Walking Dead" TV show felt like the series cutting off a diseased limb. But when she died in the comic, the story was tearing out its own heart.