TELEVISION: 'The Walking Dead' takes a bite out of pop culture

'The Walking Dead' takes a bite out of pop culture

However, the action in this season's first two episodes is focused squarely on the prison glimpsed at the end of last season after Rick and son Carl took down a zombified version of Rick's best friend, Shane, who continually clashed with his buddy about how to exist in a world where "walkers" ---- the show's preferred term for zombies ---- seem to lurk around every corner.

After making it through the winter, the survivors attempt to transform the well-secured prison into their new homestead. Callies, whose Lori is further along in her pregnancy this season, said the addition of Woodbury and the prison adds a new dimension to the storytelling, especially now that the characters are accustomed to taking down walkers.

"There's a sense of what it would've been like if Shane had run the show from the beginning," said Callies. "It's two mature visions of what this world can look like now: one with Rick's group; one with the Governor's group. They stand in stark contrast to one another, and you get a real clear sense of what each leader's decisions have cost their people."

Kirkman, who serves as an executive producer on the show, promised the third season, which will be split in half, will feature some surprises that even the most die-hard "Walking Dead" fans won't see coming. (The series has continually veered from the source material, whether it's drawing out story lines or killing off characters earlier than in the comics.)

"We challenge each other," said show runner Glen Mazzara. "We ask each other questions. If something feels too big, not plausible or like a jump-the-shark moment, we have to figure out how to do it."

"The Walking Dead" masterminds are also pushing their realistic take on the zombie apocalypse into other avenues: an episodic game from Telltale Games based on the comic; a first-person shooter game due from Activision focusing on Daryl, who doesn't appear in the comics; and mazes at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights in California and Florida.

How much "Walking Dead" is too much?

"I turned down the perfume," joked Kirkman, who wrote two Woodbury-centric "Walking Dead" novels. "I look at like, 'If it's cool, that's fine.'"


