Morgan Jones: #6

 Morgan Jones

Favourite Quote:

Morgan Jones: Hey, your boy, is he dead?
Rick Grimes: No.
Morgan Jones: No? He will be. See, 'cause people like you, the good people, they always die. And the bad people do, too. But the weak people, the people like me... we have inherited the earth.

Actor Biography

Morgan Jones is played by an actor named Lennie James. He was born October 11, 1965 in London, England. James had a rough start to his teenage life, as his mother died when he was 12. He lived in achildren's home until the age of 16, when he was fostered with a social worker. Lennie went to school and graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1988. Soon after this time, Lennie began writing plays. One such play, called Storm Damage, was broadcasted by BBC in 2000. It was good enough to be awarded the Royal Television Society award in 2001. In 2010, he was cast as Morgan Jones in The Walking Dead and has performed magnificently thus far.

Who is he?
We are first introduced to Morgan and his son, Duane, in the first episode of the show. After Rick leaves the hospital and returns to his neighborhood in search of his family, he encounters Morgan and his son. And not in a pleasant manner. As Rick sits out front of his house dismayed at his families disappearance, Duane creeps up on him and, mistaking him for a Walker, hits him in the back of the head with a shovel, knocking him out. When Morgan gets close to Rick to examine him, he realizes he is still human. Morgan decides to take Rick back to his hideout and bring him back to health.

After Rick wakes up, Morgan discovers that Rick has been in a coma for a month and has no idea what has happened to the world. It is Morgan who informs Rick of the epidemic that has consumed the world, as well as the news that the government had sent out a broadcast telling people to gather in the major cities. It is this piece of information that makes Rick decide to travel to Atlanta in search of his family.

Personality and Progression

While Morgan's character has only been seen in two episodes thus far, we see two dramatically different people. In the first episode, we see him as a caring father who will do whatever he can to protect his son. In the second episode, about a year later (in the timeline of the show), Morgan is a man who has nearly no resemblance to the sane and caring father he once was. His progression down the path of insanity has made him one of the most interesting characters on the show.

First time we see Morgan

When we are first introduced to Morgan, it is only about one month into the Apocalypse. There is still a strong sense of the world before. Morgan's life is centered around protecting his son, Duane.When he takes Rick in to bring him back to health, we are shown that he has barricaded himself and Duane in a house. He has boarded up all of the windows and doors and keeps anything from getting inside.

Even in an Apocalypse, Morgan strives to create normalcy for his son. Each night, the two pray before meals, and Morgan still corrects Duane's grammar.

"Rick Grimes: You shot that man today.
Morgan Jones: Man?
Duane Jones: It weren't no man.
Morgan Jones: What the hell was that out your mouth just now?
Duane Jones: It wasn't a man.
Rick Grimes: You shot him in the street out front, a man.
Morgan Jones: Friend, you need glasses. It was a walker. Now sit down... before you fall down."

Despite seeming well off for a father and son during the end of the world, the two have still suffered loss, just like everyone else. Morgan is haunted by the loss of Jenny, his wife who died and came back as a Walker. What makes it even more unbearable for the two is that she seems to regularly return to the house they are living in. When Morgan looks out into the street, he sometimes sees her stumbling about with all the other Walkers.

At the end of this first episode, Morgan finally decides that he must kill his dead wife. He wants to put an end to the horrific nightmare that haunts him and his son.

Morgan's undead wife, Jenny.

As Morgan tells Duane to stay downstairs and read his comic books, he walks upstairs to the attic. From there, he takes his rifle and sits down in front of the window.  He takes a photo he has of Jenny and sticks it to the window frame. He aims his rifle, and after shooting a couple of Walkers to lure all in the area into the street, he spots his undead wife and focuses in on her. With his finger quivering on the trigger, he cannot bring himself to kill her. He attempts several more times, but he just can't pull the trigger. He can't bring himself to shoot his wife, regardless of the fact that she is not who she once was. It is an intense and emotional scene that rips you apart when you watch it.

After this episode, Morgan and Duane are not seen again for the rest of the season, and their whereabouts are unknown.

Second time we see Morgan

The next time we see Morgan is two seasons later, about a years time for the characters in the show.
When Rick goes on a run for supplies, he comes across Morgan.Upon sight, Morgan goes into a frenzy and tries to kill Rick, first with a gun and later with a knife. As the two are fighting hand-to-hand, Rick tries to help Morgan remember who he is, saying "You know me!" but gets the response of: "I don't know anyone anymore! You don't clear!".When Rick tries again he says, "Do you know who I am? Do you see who I am?" but Morgan responds with "People wearing dead people's faces".

 Rick is eventually able to tie Morgan up and help him remember who he is. We learn that Morgan has been consumed by the guilt of his son's death. His son was bitten and killed when the two were searching a house for food. What made Morgan truly go insane, however, was the fact that Duane was bitten by his undead mother. The undead mother whom Morgan didn't have the strength to kill, as seen in the first episode. It was only after seeing his son get killed by her that Morgan is finally able to kill her, too late to save his son.

Morgan's booby-trapped town

The guilt and loneliness consumes Morgan. After Duane's death, Morgan started to lose his sanity, and began to believe he had the mission to clear all the walkers from the town. To do this, he booby trapped the entire town and spent every hour of his time trying to "clear" the town.



I strongly recommend you watch the video below. It's a scene from the episode titled "clear", where Rick and Morgan talk. It beautifully portrays two things. One, it shows how crazy and guilt ridden Morgan has become (Lennie James's acting in this scene is superb). The second is what it portrays for Rick. When Rick sees what Morgan has become, he sees what he himself could become. If Rick continues to push all of his friends away and do everything alone, he will slowly descend into the same hellish insanity as Morgan.

Click here!

The episode ends with Rick going back to the prison his group is living in. He tried to convince Morgan to come with him but Morgan refused, saying he had to "clear". I hope this is not the last we see of Morgan, as there is so much potential for his character. Will he be able to come back from the insanity he has fallen into? Or will he continue to fall into darkness?

I can't wait to find out.

-Ben Ferguson