The Walking Dead: Pollyanna McIntosh says Jadis is the wild card in season 8 

Alexandrians and Hilltoppers and Kingdomers = good. Saviors = bad. But what about Jadis and those enigmatic Scavengers on

? The big twist of the season 7 finale was when the folks from the trash heaps switched sides in favor of a better deal, joining Negan to turn the tide (albeit briefly) in the first skirmish between the communities.

But does that mean Jadis is now firmly in the Negan camp, or is there a better deal or change of heart that might sway her yet again? Could another Rick and Jadis union — and not in THAT way, Richonne, shippers — be in the works coming up? That is one of the many intriguing plot points to watch in season 8 when the show returns to AMC on Oct. 22. We spoke to actress Pollyanna McIntosh to get the inside scoop on what to expect from Jadis in season 8, and while her character may not have a whole heck of a lot to say, McIntosh was actually quite loquacious and liberal in the use of her words.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The Scavengers cut a deal with Rick. Then they cut a better deal with Negan. Does Jadis have any allegiance to anyone or is it all about securing the best deal?

POLLYANNA McINTOSH: It’s all about securing the best deal. Jadis has allegiance to her people and her people first and that’s really all the allegiance she needs. You know the whole we take, we don’t bother. The whole kind of not really being seen like when Tamiel took Brother Gabriel and she’s in her hood and she’s sneaking in the shadows. I like the fact that Rick’s group, and especially Rick, wants to imagine the best, and what has been fun is seeing a lot of fans coming up and saying, “I didn’t see it coming.” That was really encouraging, so I hope that we continue where you don’t really know what she’s going to do and you’re always surprised by her twists and turns.

She certainly doesn’t have respect and allegiance to Negan. I think that was pretty clear in the season finale the way that their conversation went down — that she doesn’t, nor does he frankly, have any respect for her as far as the way he was talking about her and her group. So I think definitely out of the two she recognizes Rick’s potential and that group’s potential and she’s seen what Rick can do, and she sees how cohesive they are. So I’d like to think there’s a chance for them to work together in the future. But she really is going to do what’s best for her group and that’s it. It’s not going to be about feelings. It’s going to be about effectiveness.

Is their deal with Negan at this point still intact or was that a one-shot thing and they fulfilled their side of the bargain so thank you very much, goodbye?

Well, she didn’t get what she wanted from that deal and she’s seen that his plan also failed, and so she can make what she likes of that situation moving forward. But at the same time, you wouldn’t really want to mess with the Saviors, would you? They’re pretty vicious and they don’t have the same moral structure as Rick’s group do. So I can’t say what’s going to happen, but I think it’s really fun for the audience to kind of plot in their own heads: What would they do if they were in her position? I know that she doesn’t have a strong allegiance to the Saviors group so she’s really free to do what the hell she wants.

So after everything that happened, does Jadis still want to lie with Rick? How does she view him now? He didn’t give her the better deal. She turned on him. But she does have some respect for him, right?

I definitely think she has respect for him, though respect is not lives saved necessarily, but I think he’s still intriguing to her. It really depends on what move he makes from this point forward, what move she then makes. She’s always watching and listening to figure out the way that people work. That’s what throwing him down in the pit with Winslow was about. She was still overseeing that situation with Negan and Rick when Negan was threatening to kill Carl and she was watching the measure of the man then.

So she’s got new information since they last made a deal. I think she’s not only smart about getting the best deal for her people but she also enjoys the interplay with Rick. I think that was evident with the whole

And I love the fact that she went to Michonne about it. As if Michonne could just trade him to her the way that she does with people. There’s a bit more fun to be had there for sure.

So what else can you say about season 8 in terms of tone or pacing or action?

Season 8 is going to be action-packed. It’s going to be fast-paced. The characters that we’ve grown to really love and understand, we’re going to see them go through new situations where we’re going to be with them all the way. There’s more challenges set for our heroes of the piece. It’s going to be really satisfying because season 7 I thought was wonderfully written, but it was much slower paced than 8 is and there was a lot of teasing towards the action, and now the dogs are off the chain. It’s going wild.

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