Five Things To Expect From The New Season Of The Walking Dead

There are some spoilers below. Look out, behind you!

–

The Walking Dead, a zombie drama with outstanding moments undermined by completely infuriating moments, has returned for a fourth season. Although it debuted overnight to massive ratings, the new season’s not without its concerns, mainly due to the fact that the show now has its third showrunner in Scott M. Gimple, after Frank Darabont and Glenn Mazzara both exited controversially.

Gimple’s task with Season Four is daunting. Mazzara’s Season Three was faster and bolder than anything before, and critics and fans alike approved of writing that hit the right “mix of intriguing and involving character beats, zombie horror and action”, as IGN put it. The A.V. Club even conceded that the show had become “fitfully successful” and the ratings broke cable records to top America’s competitive Fall season.

But it still had gaping issues. The back end of the season was marred by confused plotting and characters who lost their complexity and motivation. Perhaps the creative differences that ultimately drove Mazzara out were taking their toll. It all ended with season-long villain The Governor going ‘full retard’ and murdering a bunch of his own people, leading hero Rick to shepherd the survivors back to the not-so-secure jail his tribe calls home. The final few scenes depicted an exhausted group of people trying to come to terms with all they had been through in the war with The Governor.

So, with three showrunners in as many seasons and a devoted following expecting Gimple to finally help this rough diamond reach its potential, what can we expect from Season Four?

–

1. To stay or to go?

The epic trailer released at Comic-Con earlier this year indicated that a major source of conflict for the characters this season will be whether to bunker down in the jail that the group found last season or move on to something safer.

In this season’s first episode, Michonne (Danai Gurira), the terse samurai sword-wielder, fingers the city of Macon on a map in her search to find The Governor. This, tellingly, is a big nod to events in The Walking Dead’s companion video game, which I don’t have time to play because I am very busy and important (or watching YouTube).

–

2. Gazing at navels

Media snippets and moments from last night’s premiere confirm that Season Four will be more inward-looking. Robert Kirkman, who created the original comic books, is heavily involved with the show and has stated that this season is “much more of a character study than anything we’ve done”.

On the surface, this is terrifying for TWD fans. Season Two suffered because it consisted of characters sorting through repetitive domestic shit while trying not to die. Viewers stopped caring about the laboured love triangle between eventual douchebag Shane, group leader Rick and his wife Lori long before the writers did. By the end of Season Two, it was clear that the walker threat combined with constant in-fighting just wasn’t meaty enough to sustain a 16-episode season.

Season Three, meanwhile, was truly effective because Mazzara understood that to drive the story forward, the writers had to insert a powerful force that would act upon the group and place them under threat. The Governor (a beloved baddie from the comics, played by David Morrissey) was the perfect solution: a complex villain whose war against the group was an engine that developed character, increased tension, and moved the damn story forward.

The Governor’s actions also put greater emphasis on the moral ambiguity that has always underscored this grim show. A sickening scene with Maggie, where he threatens sexual violence, forced the audience to examine who the real monsters are in a world teeming with the undead. As such, descriptors like ‘inward’ or ‘character study’ will be met with caution by fans until they can be seen to generate some forward moving conflict.

–

3. Rick is now a backwoods farmer

Former Sheriff Rick (Andrew Lincoln), ostensibly the groups’ leader since Season One, appears to have returned from his brief trip to Crazy Town in the wake of his wife Lori’s death (Lori died early in Season Three while giving birth to baby Judith). It was the final straw for Rick, who began seeing visions of Lori in a white dress.

While I think we are done with the hallucinations, that trauma and the overall burden of leadership has clearly taken its toll. Episode One saw Rick gardening, caring for kids Judith and Carl, and refusing to use his gun even on a moss-covered crazy woman (just… go with it).

There was also mention of a ‘council’ in the episode, who now make the decisions. This is much more lame than Rick’s previous ‘My way or I kill you on the highway’ attitude, but he has clearly taken a big step back from any leadership role.

Enter fan favourite, Daryl (Norman Reedus). This unbearably endearing hick is in the midst of an enormous personal journey, from self-preserving racist to bad-ass champion of the weak. While he is stepping up in Rick’s absence, Daryl is not a natural leader, considering he hates most people and their whining.

The season trailer depicts a moment where Rick toys with his old sheriff badge and I think we all know he will pick it up again, although with an awareness that it will drive him into the ground.

–

4. A rat in the ranks

As stated, Gimple needs to weave in a new threat to the group’s stability, which he may have done by adding a threat from within. Considering these people are on the brink of death every day with only each other to keep going, the discovery of a traitor could induce the kind of paranoia that makes people do stupid, rash things.

My money is on Rick’s teenage son Carl (Chandler Riggs) as the mole. The mysterious and apparently alcoholic newcomer Bob Stookey will be an easy red herring, but Carl shot a person in cold blood in the closing minutes of Season Three, indicating a possible morph into a murderous little prick.

There’s plenty of hate in the ether for Carl, but he’s been through a lot of shit without the deep well of happy memories the adults can draw from to stay sane. For kids his age it should be ‘But mom, I don’t want to clean my room!’ rather than the kinda thing he endured during Lori’s death, which basically amounted to ‘But mom, I don’t want to dig a baby out of your belly, watch you bleed out, and finally shoot you in the head!’

–

5. The romance front

Yes, there are walkers. But if Buffy taught me anything, it’s that there’s always room for ill-fated romance during the apocalypse! Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan), who’ve been together since Season Two, are the reigning super couple here. Glenn even ripped off a walker’s finger to give her a pretty wedding band, which is basically the definition of love. As is this video:

At this stage, it would seem more prudent to put some of the newer characters together purely to rip them apart later (literally). For new characters like Tyrese and Karen, I don’t think it will be happily ever after.

Fans also went nuts over a quick flash of aforementioned favourite Daryl engaged in a ‘moment’ with Maggie’s sister, Beth (Emily Kinney). Beth’s character has been left sadly under-developed, other than that she sings nicely and Carl has carried a giant boner for her. Fans aren’t really enthused about this pairing though; they much prefer the awkward and furtive bond developing between Daryl and poor old Carol (Melissa McBride), who is due for a bit of happiness.

–

The Walking Dead airs on Foxtel’s FX on Mondays at 8:30pm.

–

Lisa Down is a freelance writer living in Sydney. She is a television addict and also passionate about reading, yoga and good pinot noir.