The “‘berrrrrr” months are nearly upon us, and that means that the second season of The Walking Dead is as well. This show has been through a lot just this summer, including a changing of the guards after showrunner Frank Darabont was fired. His replacement, Glen Mazzara, has an interview on the AMC web site in which he talks about how the second season will draw greatly from the graphic novel by Robert Kirkman and its storyline concerning the character Herschel. He also discusses how it feels like he’s turning Rick into a bad guy and confirms the appearance of the Governor. Seriously, October cannot come soon enough.
When we next meet our merry band of survivors, they’ll be arriving at Herschel’s farm, a setting that was featured in a few issues of The Walking Dead comic, but the story for which will be expanded upon throughout this season. And while Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) & Crew do not become full-on villains, they’re going to to cause a lot of problems for farm owner Herschel that, had they not already been our established protagonists, would otherwise cast them in a very negative light. Says Mazzara:
Our approach to our group of survivors when they reach Hershel’s farm is that they are a plague unto themselves. Nothing goes right for Hershel once Rick and his band show up. They make the zombie apocalypse look like kids in a candy story. What’s interesting is that if this was a show solely about Hershel, Rick and his band would really be the antagonists. And that’s been really surprising because every action that Rick and his band take is completely logical, but you’ll certainly sympathize with Hershel.
Kirkman is very involved in the writing of the show, and Mazzara is happy to bow to his influence. But when asked about what he is looking forward to the most this season, Mazzara said he’s really itching to “meet the Governor.” Kirkman has actually written a spin-off novel about the Governor — called The Walking Dead: The Rise of the Governor — which will be available October 11, just ahead of the Walking Dead‘s premiere date on October 16.
And no, he does not discuss Darabont’s departure. This, however, is something to look forward to.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 16 at 9:00 PM EST.
(AMC via Entertainment Weekly)
