Editor's Note: This preview contains plot details and information about the show from previous seasons.
AMC's long-awaited horror adventure, The Walking Dead, is set to return this Sunday night for its fourth season.
Last season ended with former deputy Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln, Made in Dagenham) overcoming his fear of outsiders and bringing the remaining Woodbury survivors into his fiercely protected prison.
The trailer for the upcoming season showed a much larger group attempting to rebuild civilization with the undead prowling on the other side of the fence. It seems that the original gang is using its experience with the deadly walkers to lead groups on supply raids, manage everyday tasks and turn every resident of the prison into a hardened apocalypse survivor.
Familiar scenes of Rick dramatically pointing his revolver and people surrounded by legions of zombies dominated the trailer, so the main question fans ask is: Will this season follow a similar path as the last few?
Scott Gimple is set to take over for Glenn Mazzara as leading writer for the series. If any fans out there are worried, they shouldn't be.
The show is in good hands.
Gimple was the writer of several acclaimed episodes from the second season, like the one in which Shane (Jon Bernthal, Grudge Match) began his decent in insanity by shooting good old helpful Otis (Pruitt Taylor Vince, The Mentalist) and leaving him to be devoured by walkers, and the episode with the dramatic close of the search for Sophia (Madison Lintz).
Other new exciting members of the crew include Michelle MacLaren, director of several episodes from the brilliant series Breaking Bad, and David Goyer, the co-writer of The Dark Knight. If that is not enough to excite fans, then I don't know what is.
There have been additions to the cast, as well.
Fans of the hit TV seriesThe Wire will be ecstatic to learn that Larry Gilliard, Jr. has joined the cast as former Army medic Bob Stookey, a man who wishes to prove himself to his new comrades.
Christian Serratos, of the Twilight series, will star as Rosita Espinosa, which will please fans of the Walking Dead comics in which she was an important player. Lori Grimes (Sarah Wayne Callies, Prison Break), Andrea (Laurie Holden, The Mist), Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker, Brother's Keeper) and T-Dog (IronE Singleton, The Blind Side) will not be returning as they were victims of the massacre of lead characters in season three.
Gimple and his crew will have to work hard to fill the void with new characters to which the audience can feel attached - a tough job.
The two characters I am most excited to see are Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs, Terminus) and the Governor (David Morrissey, The Field of Blood). Last season, the writers did a wonderful job of transitioning Carl from a frightened boy who was a liability, to a survivalist and a reliable part of the group. Despite his age, Carl managed to hold his own and displayed leadership qualities akin to his father, Rick. Yet, every fan remembers when he shot a Woodbury prisoner in cold blood after a firefight; the legacy of Shane is still intact.
It will be interesting to see how his character progresses and changes and how the apocalypse will shape his morals. The Governor is a man who went through a great deal of trauma last season; he lost his eye, his daughter, his friends and his town. He dropped deeper into pits of insanity, and I cannot wait to see what diabolical course he plans next after he went off the grid last season.
What I expect to change is the amount of zombie action.
Last season focused more on the human side of the apocalypse - a factor that had to be explored. But Gimple cannot forget what makes the show great: the intense zombie vs. human battles.
He needs to emphasize that conflict in order to resonate the excitement from the early episodes of the show. Norman Reedus, who plays everyone's favorite redneck, Daryl, told Entertainment Weekly, "The fear is back in season four."
When a man who made a necklace out of zombie ears says there will be fear, we had better believe him.
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