With the end of the second season, The Walking Dead promised a huge movement for the upcoming season. While comic fans know exactly what the setting and situation will entail of, they don’t quite know what the series has in store, as various elements of the story have obviously shifted. Now, showrunner and producer Glen Mazzara has revealed a little bit of not just what the show has in store for Season 3, but the fourth season as well.
In a conference call yesterday, Mazzara revealed that the upcoming plot revolving around The Prison will span two seasons, meaning it will be the longest setting for the show thus far. ”Right now, I do see the prison storyline lasting through both Season 3 and 4. I do think that is a major storyline. I know we were on the farm, perhaps, longer than people wanted. There were reasons for that. What we want is for that prison to not feel claustrophobic. I think the farm played a little claustrophobic for some people. Now that the entire landscape has fallen victim to the zombie apocalypse, zombies are literally at the gates of this prison. That prison is a very small safe corner.”
“There is a lot of danger around. It won’t feel like we are bottled up, the way we were on the farm. I do think that prison is a significant storyline, but we are also interested in opening up this world. The Governor has the world of Woodbury. There are other factors out there, other groups. I do think that Rick’s group is stumbling into a much larger world.”
The season spanning two seasons is something we ourselves even speculated early on when initial casting of The Governor began. And honestly, it makes a great amount of sense. The storyline that revolves around The Prison is an extremely major plot in the comic books, and the longest arc of the series in print form so far. With some things occuring within the book that may shock viewers if it is adapted into the series, it only seems liek two seasons to pack everything in would be a great way to go.
But, just because it’s in the book doesn’t mean we’ll see it in the show. Mazzara himself says the same thing, “There is a lot of great material from the comic book. This show would have to go on for twenty years to get to all of it.”
However, Mazzara says we’ll still be getting some of the characters introduced in the comic, as well as some unseen (such as Daryl). “I think the Tyreese character is someone we are interested in introducing at some point. We still have Morgan and Dwayne, who are out there from the pilot. We are interested in them. There are new characters that will be original to the series. Not coming straight from the comic book.”
Tyreese certainly seems like an interesting choice, especially as it seems like T-Dog is just a slight variation of his character. Granted, Tyreese has some more depth to him, but T-Dog could easily meet a similar fate as Tyreese does in the comics as well. As for new characters, Daryl has met a massive amount of popularity, so it seems like a stupid decision to not include new roles. Whether or not they’ll be embraced as easily will have to be determined.
As for the criticism of the second season, Mazzara ended by saying, “I think the first two seasons have served as a prologue. Now we are hitting the ground running. I see Season 3 resetting the show in terms of what I really hope to convey.” As to what kind of reset, Mazzara doesn’t go into details. However, if it’s anything like the end of the season finale, with high octane tone, and plenty of uncertainty, I think fans are in for some massive rewards after the so-so second year.
The Walking Dead is presumed to hit this October on AMC.
