After watching The Walking Dead season 4 premiere, we are know aware of the "threat from Mother Nature" that the new season will focus on. New executive producer Scott Gimple discusses what will be explored through that conflict and other new elements on the horizon in episodes to come with
THR.
On a clue that viewers may have missed, Gimple sheds a bit of light on foreshadowing that occurred early in the season premiere concerning the zombies gathered at the prison fence. "It is safe to say Patrick died of what ever that was. The walker that was at the fence that we saw was rather fresh; he's not very rotted. I would intuit that because it's a fresh zombie, that the person who died recently was by the same method Patrick died." So with this 'flu,' it's possible that 'safe areas' are now going to become incredibly dangerous and the prison could become overrun methinks.
The threat is pretty extreme, as Gimple reveals the survivors can contract the virus/flu from the walkers as well. "In refugee situations, when people are in close contact like that, bad things health-wise have usually happened. In a third-world situation like this, the effects can be even worse. If that zombie died of the same thing that Patrick did, and Patrick said he was feeling ill, that would mean you'd want to stay away from those zombies as well. So standing up against the fence and smashing and stabbing them in the face, there's a great deal of blood flying everywhere. It's very bad news and presents potentially a very difficult situation beyond the simple difficulty of being around other people, which you have to be."
There was also the revelation that Michonne periodically travels far and wide, searching for The Governor. That facet of the new season will be explored in forthcoming episodes, particularly with Daryl, who also has reason to hate The Governor. "God knows that Daryl has his beef with the Governor [over his brother Merle's death] and it's a pretty big one. We'll learn more about Daryl's involvement in how Michonne was doing this in later episodes, especially episode four. Obviously people are cool with it, but Daryl doesn't seem to think it's a good idea, and he's who would be most sympathetic."
Gimple seems to all but confirm that Maggie and Glen will have some form of child-rearing/pregnancy issues this season, despite the premiere's false alarm. "Right now it was a small exchange and theoretical discussion [about potentially having a baby]. Things are about to get much less theoretical. What they expressed to each other is going to test both sides of the argument through events that occur."
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"The Walking Dead, the most watched drama in basic cable history, will return for a sixteen episode fourth season on October 13, 2013.
Based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard and published by Image Comics, The Walking Dead stars Andrew Lincoln, Steven Yeun, Norman Reedus, Chandler Riggs, Lauren Cohan, Scott Wilson, Melissa McBride, David Morrissey, Chad Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green and Danai Gurira . The series is executive produced by Kirkman, Scott M. Gimple, Greg Nicotero, and Gale Anne Hurd." |
Running Time: 60 minutes (45 min actual air time)
Release Date: October 2013 (Season 4-premiere)
TV Rating: TV-MA for sex & nudity, violence & gore, profanity, alchohol/drugs/smoking and frightening/intense scenes
Starring: Andrew Lincoln, David Morrissey,Chad Coleman,Sonequa Martin-Green, Steven Yeun, Chandler Riggs, Emily Kinney, Norman Reedus
Creators: Frank Darabont (show) Robert Kirkman (comic)
Written by: Frank Darabont, Charles H. Eglee, Jack LoGiudice, Robert Kirkman, Glen Mazzara, Adam Fierro, Charlie Adlard, Tony Moore, Evan T. Reilly