Even A 'Walking Dead' Star Is Suspicious Of That Huge 'Error' On The Show

Sometimes TV show errors are hard to spot. Sometimes they’re plain to see. And sometimes they’re just an actual plane. 

As we learned in a recent interview, even a “Walking Dead ” actor seems suspicious of a possible catastrophic error in the Season 7 episode “New Best Friends.”

After the episode debuted, one particular moment captured the internet’s attention. During a scene in which Rick (Andrew Lincoln) stands on a trash heap in front of what looks like an obvious green screen, an object flies across the sky behind him. It made people wonder:

Was there an airplane in “The Walking Dead”?

Many fans thought the object was an actual jet, as it appeared to move too fast to be a bird. Here’s a smattering of their reactions:

Having an airplane in the show wouldn’t be the end of the world. After all, there was that helicopter  earlier in the apocalypse. But that was very early. Ignoring an airplane at this stage would be difficult.

Of course, it could be a hint at “fowl play.” Other flying specks in the background were definitely birds, so we weren’t ruling out the possibility that it could be an unidentified feathered object until we spoke with actress Pollyanna McIntosh, that is.  

McIntosh’s character, Jadis, the leader of the junkyard people, made her debut in “New Best Friends,” and though she wasn’t able to tell us much about the moment in question, the actress seems leery of the object, too.

“I can’t say anything. You either talk about a studio screw-up or you talk about a possible thing that might be part of a story, so either way I’m not doing the show justice,” she said.

“I certainly will tell you as an audience member when I watched it, I didn’t notice it, and it’s only when the internet went buzzy about it that I thought, ‘Hm, what’s going on there?’ So the fans are informing me as much as I’m able to inform the fans.”

Was it a plane? Was it a bird? Regrettably, the world may never know for sure.

But it’s definitely an airplane, right? 

Besides chatting about the UFO, McIntosh clued us in on the other interesting and weird things going on with her mysterious character.

What is the official name of your group?

I call them the Heapsters, because we’re very proud of our heapy home, that we can call the place The Heap. And also we do dress a bit like the original Berlin black-wearing hipsters. ... I also love [that] the fans have come up with the Garbage Pail Kids. That makes me very happy.

What happened to Jadis and the Heapsters at the end of the Season 7 finale, when Negan’s group gets surprised by the Kingdom and Shiva the tiger ?

She definitely came prepared for any eventuality, but I don’t think she expected a tiger. Actually, the tiger coming in, Carl not getting killed it’s not such a bad thing for her. It’s not like she wants everybody to suffer all the time. I took no enjoyment out of her watching Negan do that. The disappointment, though, is she loves her people, and of course she didn’t get her deal with Negan because she was out of there.

Jadis sounds a lot like Judas. Do you think that connection is on purpose since she does betray Rick?

[Showrunner Scott Gimple] would have to answer that question, but I certainly thought about it when I got the role. I thought about what it could mean, and it’s also interesting that it’s the ice queen from C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia. 

You’ve got a lot of unusual names in your group Jadis, Brion, Tamiel. Do you think those are their actual names or did they pick them?

You know, it’s funny. I wonder about that, too. ... It’s definitely possible.

Do you know your character’s backstory?

I was told some backstory, but obviously that’s hopefully for discovery later down the line [so] that the fans enjoy that. But there’s a lot I don’t know as well. I’m being kept somewhat in the dark, too.

Is there anything about Jadis or her outfit that might tell us more about her?

If you look closely with the wardrobe, she’s got this wonderful knife on her coat, and it’s from an old railroad spike, so I think that tells you that she doesn’t waste anything, and she’s very adaptable. She likes to make use of things in unexpected ways. She does that with people as well as with materials. 

I think she dressed to obviously avoid walkers touching her skin so she wears gloves and what not. I also think it reveals she doesn’t need to get her hands dirty. She has people that can do that for her, and it adds this regality to the character, which she certainly has in spades, and then the long coat shows her regal nature as well. On the suit you’ll also see this electrical wire used to add on a buckle, which again is her not wasting anything. And last thing, I think the fact that it all goes together and makes an intimidating look, which makes an outsider not sure what they’re dealing with here because they might be wary. ... She’s got a certain love of aesthetics about her, and I think if somebody can uphold that in this time, and see the value of it, that also tells you that art is important to her, and it tells you she’s kept some part of herself.

What can fans expect from the rest of Season 8?

They can expect an explosive season. They can expect to cry. As ever, someone’s gonna die, so their heartstrings will be pulled as always. But hopefully the enjoyment, the excitement and war element of the show this season, they will not be disappointed. We’ve been leading up to this for a while, and Season 7 was thoughtful and brilliant, but we’re ready for war now.

“The Walking Dead” Season 8 airs Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on AMC.