A lot of the basic rules of society fell apart when the zombies took over on AMC’s The Walking Dead, which is why some characters on the show suddenly feel like it’s alright to wear dirty clothes, go a long time without shaving, and occasionally murder and eat fellow human survivors. Still, Rick and his friends have managed to avoid one hallmark of a thoroughly impolite society: cussing. Even with the arrival of Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan—a character who says “fuck” every other word in the Walking Dead comics—everybody has avoided dropping a dreaded F-bomb. Unfortunately for the ears of selectively sensitive Walking Dead fans, though, that’s now going to change.
Walking Dead spin-off Fear The Walking Dead was actually the first one to break what we’re going to call the “fuck barrier,” with Frank Dillane’s character saying the F-word in a recent episode, and Fear showrunner Dave Erickson tells ComicBook.com that AMC recently agreed to let his show get away with two F-words per season. This new rule apparently applies to regular The Walking Dead as well, and though Erickson doesn’t know when this policy was put in place, he seems happy to benefit from it and has promised that Fear will use another “fuck” at some point. Meanwhile, other popular AMC shows have been enjoying their cussing for years, with Preacher, Breaking Bad, Halt And Catch Fire, and Mad Men all getting some chances to say “fuck.”
Still, at least Rick and the gang will now have another weapon they can use in their never-ending fight against the undead. Who knows, maybe a good “fuck you, zombies” is all they needed to turn things around for humanity.