[TV] AMC's The Walking Dead Season 3

rimrocker · Mar 21, 2012

Xerobull said: ↑

All of the Carl hate is clearly by non-parents. It's up to the parents to keep an eye on their kid. In any situation I keep a sharp eye on my son. Lori and Rick are horrible parents.
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Well, I'm a parent and a Carl hater.

rcoleman15 · Mar 21, 2012

The Walking Dead Showrunner Glen Mazzara Talks Season 3, Michonne, and the Prison!

Link:
http://www.movieweb.com/news/the-wa...azzara-talks-season-3-michonne-and-the-prison

Showrunner Glen Mazzara took a conference call this morning to address some issues and shed some light on this fall's impending return of The Walking Dead. He promises that the pacing of the final three Season 2 episodes will stay in play throughout Season 3, teasing, "We will be throwing you curveball after curveball."

So far, the plot outlines for Episodes 1 through 6 are completed, with the next 8 episodes already pitched to AMC. Glen Mazzara also broke the news that acclaimed writer Frank Renzulli (The Sopranos) will be penning one of the most important, and scariest episodes of this upcoming run.

He then addressed a lot of concerns about the show from fans. First up is the character of Michonne, played by the recently announced Danai Gurira. Some are worried that she may be a little too comic bookish, and unrealistic in the landscape that has been set up thus far in the series.

"Michonne is one of the lead characters in the graphic novel. We are excited to finally introduce her. She is a loner. She is a very kickass character. She is very dynamic. We really see her as an important addition to the cast. She is a significant character, and she will be carrying a lot of the story. We are excited about her, and we are excited about Danai Gurira, who is going to play this role. We are lucky to have her, and we look forward to seeing what she does with it.

The reason the character was cloaked at the end of the episode was because we'd not cast the actress. That was a cheat there. It's interesting. We have been thinking about this character during the casting process. We wondered, "How theatrical is Michonne?" That is quite a theatrical entrance, and it wasn't something we realized at the time. Then yesterday, we were in the writers' room, talking about her backstory, and a lot of the writers had very heightened pitches, so to say. My sensibility is to keep the show grounded. To keep it gritty. That is where I am comfortable as a writer and a storyteller.

So, I do think that is an interesting character. She comes from the comic books. She feels like she stepped off of those pages and into our show. That is exciting. It is a challenge for us. But...Knowing me as a writer? I am going to keep it real. I am going to keep it grounded. Because if it doesn't feel real, the audience won't be able to put themselves in the immediate circumstances of the story. I think people keep watching because they can say, "Oh, I'd be dead now." Or, "I would kill that guy!" Or, "I would shoot him in the leg and get away." That's what's fun about the show. We are very conscious of not keeping the show too serialized. Not having an over developed mythology, so that it is accessible to people in the way a good horror movie is. I find the best horror movies to be simple. That is something that is very important. I think, overall, my intention is to keep the show grounded, real, and Michonne is going to be a great challenge."

Season 2 ends with an establishing shot of Georgia's West Central Prison. It will serve as the backdrop for most of Season 3, and maybe even Season 4, which Glen Mazzara touched on a bit.

"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."

Next, Glen Mazzara touched on IronE Singleton's role as T-Dog, and the fact that he didn't do much in Season 2. Will that change in Season 3?

"I've been surprised at this. I have worked on shows before that have characters in the background, and they have been on a slow burn. With T-Dog? I will admit, he has been off to the side and all but forgotten. Part of my job as showrunner has been to really address and develop Rick's character. And some other stuff. Poor T-Dog was left by the fire. Now that he has survived the finale, we're going to correct this. I think IronE Singleton has done a fantastic job of establishing a character, and making people interested in him, with very little to say. That is a strength of the show moving forward. That is a character we are looking to develop in a significant way. We haven't done our work with T-Dog yet, but we are going to roll up our sleeves and get through it."

Glen Mazzara also talked about the character of Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies), explaining that they don't plan to make her any less irritating in the future, which may not sit well with fans.

"I think Lori is a compelling, interesting character. I think she is realistic in a lot of ways. She is a character that people are talking about. I don't find her irritating. I find it interesting that people are so focused on her. I think the work ahead of that, in Season 3...We really have to look at the Rick/Lori relationship. What it means that she put Rick and Shane in motion to try and kill each other. That is an interesting place to start. We will really examine this character. I don't know if we really need to start creating false leads to make her more likable. That is not part of the show."

Now that The Walking Dead is finally getting to Michonne and The Prison, are there any other aspects of the comic book that Glen Mazzara wants to bring to life?

Well, certainly. 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. I think the Tyrese 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 too the series. Not coming straight from the comic book. 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."

Those worried that the zombies might take a backseat to the human threat that is always looming need not fret.

"Zombies will never take a backseat. We will always have the human drama, and we would like to introduce a significant human threat, but we love writing the zombie material. And now, those zombies are fully interrogated into this world. We're not waiting for the zombies to reach us. They are there. They are in our eyesight all of the time. They are part of the landscape. We expect to still have a balance of zombie and human threat. The zombies won't take a backseat on this show. I don't want to rule out [an episode with no zombies], but there is no safe place from the zombies. We try hard to tell our drama, but right now, we don't have an episode like that in mind."

Finally, Glen Mazzara ended his conversation talking about the virus and what it means going forward in the series.

"The virus is something we will continue to play. Andrea doesn't have the information (that everyone has the virus), which is interesting. This is a new element to play with. We're not really interested in going back and explaining how the infection started. Or having a lot of science fiction elements. We won't be talking about finding a cure. That's not part of the graphic novel. That is material we will stay away from. We will look at how our characters deal with this knowledge. What does it mean? I am sure Lori is wrestling with some questions. What if she dies in childbirth? That is a horrible situation. This is something that is really important to our characters. It is something that will play out in surprising ways. We are just writing out the material now. So it all remains to be seen."

The Walking Dead Season 3 is set to debut this October.
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NewRoxFan · Mar 21, 2012

rimrocker said: ↑

Well, I'm a parent and a Carl hater.
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I am a parent and both my daughters want to help me kill Carl. The 13 year old will then dance on his grave. The oldest will then hunt down Lori.

We're a loving family otherwise...

Chuck 4 · Mar 21, 2012

Maybe if I hadn't read the comic, I would have more disdain for Carl. But he really doesn't bother me on the show. Rick and Lori's parenting duties on the other hand, THAT pisses me off.

Xerobull · May 24, 2012

AstroRocket · May 24, 2012

It's funny the huge difference in personality and perception between TV Carl and Comics Carl. Everyone (rightfully) wants TV Carl to die, whereas when Comics Carl

got shot in the head and looked like he might die,

all the fans (including me) were up in arms and pissed. Comics Carl is awesome.

Raven · May 25, 2012

I wasn't happy with season two, but I have hopes for season three. As far as what and what won't be in season three, please remember the show has a tight budget, and we've seen how the writers have been constrained by this.

For example, Merl would have a stump on one arm, and that's going to look fake unless they use CGI, but CGI would be too expensive. I predict Merl makes a cameo, but not for long.

As far as Michonne, I predict almost universal loathing.

Xerobull · May 25, 2012

Raven said: ↑

I wasn't happy with season two, but I have hopes for season three. As far as what and what won't be in season three, please remember the show has a tight budget, and we've seen how the writers have been constrained by this.

For example, Merl would have a stump on one arm, and that's going to look fake unless they use CGI, but CGI would be too expensive. I predict Merl makes a cameo, but not for long.

As far as Michonne, I predict almost universal loathing.
Click to expand...

Hollywood has been doing convincing non-cgi stumps for a while now.

GRENDEL · May 25, 2012

If done right, these next 2 seasons should be epic and extremely dark, we'll see how they do it.

cloudng8 · May 25, 2012

Hope This season is just as good as the last 4 episodes of season 2... also i do you ever find out what happends to the black guy and his son on the very first episode?? I always think hes gonna pop up and save someone but no luck.

ubigred · May 25, 2012

When does it start?

cloudng8 · May 25, 2012

ubigred said: ↑

When does it start?
Click to expand...

sometime in OCT.

CheezeyBoy22 · Jun 11, 2012

Some new stuff I ran across today...

http://io9.com/5917161/walking-dead-set-photos-take-us-inside-woodbury

cloudng8 · Jun 11, 2012

New pic from season 3... rick with a new gun.

Blatz · Jun 11, 2012

I hope dishnetwork will still be carrying AMC this fall. They've already kicked the channel to the nosebleed section.

cloudng8 · Jun 11, 2012

Blatz said: ↑

I hope dishnetwork will still be carrying AMC this fall. They've already kicked the channel to the nosebleed section.
Click to expand...

They would be dumb not too... i mean i would kick off wayyyy more channels before AMC they got decent stuff on that channel.

if they do though im gonna be pissed!

MadMax · Jun 11, 2012

cloudng8 said: ↑

New pic from season 3... rick with a new gun.

Click to expand...

I thought Rick wasn't coming back...that they were writing him off the show...did I make that up?

Xerobull · Jun 11, 2012

Not really related; I recently caught up on the comic after not reading it for about a year. It's in serious ass-kicking mode again and about to hit issue 100. Good stuff.

Ziggy · Jun 11, 2012

MadMax said: ↑

I thought Rick wasn't coming back...that they were writing him off the show...did I make that up?
Click to expand...

Yeah.

GRENDEL · Jun 13, 2012

Spoiler for next season....

Link and photo....

http://spinoff.comicbookresources.c...ing-dead-set-photos-reveal-season-3-surprise/

Photo

<a target='_blank' title='ImageShack - Image And Video Hosting' href='http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/528/walkingdeadmerle.jpg/'><img src='http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7047/walkingdeadmerle.jpg' border='0'/></a>

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[TV] AMC's The Walking Dead Season 3

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