The Walking Dead premiere will air next week, picking up six months after the story wrapped on screen in April with Andrea (Laurie Holden) killing herself after getting bit by a walker. Rick (Andrew Lincoln), having taken dozens of Woodbury residents into his community at the prison, must take responsibility not only for his growing group but for his son Carl (Chandler Riggs), who’s grown ruthless coming of age during the zombie apocalypse.

With the addition of the Woodbury residents, the prison group will be hard-pressed to have enough supplies for everyone, Lincoln told Entertainment Weekly.“ There’s around about 50 new characters, which puts obviously an enormous amount of pressure on the group with the practical necessities of food and water,” Andrew told EW. “It is a third-world environment that we’re existing in now.”

“We were a band of maybe 10 characters at the end of last season, so the character relationships and the group dynamics have changed radically,” Lincoln added. “There are always going to be tensions within the group … and you find us in a place where people are trying to wrestle with those problems as well as, obviously, the pressure of the walkers and survival.”

As for the Governor, he’ll be an unseen threat for the early part of the season and won't be in the premiere, but will show up when viewers “least expect it,” according to executive producer Robert Kirkman. He might not be in the first couple of episodes of season four, but he will face off against Rick at least once more. “We're going to meet again," Lincoln told TV Guide. "And there will be blood, as they say.”

While “there will be blood,” as Lincoln, says, there will be a lot more internal strife and evaluation than external conflict and violence in the AMC show’s upcoming season. "The theme for this season is, 'Are we too far gone?'" executive producer Scott Gimple told TV Guide. "'Can we go back to the people we were? Can we enjoy life, have close relationships, and can we even love anymore?' Even though they've found some kind of stability, they have a lot of challenges."

"It's not as kinetic or action packed — it's a much quieter season and very much more about the character development," Lincoln further explained. "Don't get me wrong: We've still got some insane action sequences, but they're being driven a lot more by story."

Also coming to season 4 of The Walking Dead will be characters present in the comic books that have yet to present themselves onto the small screen adaptation. One of those characters will be U.S. Army vet Bob Stookey, who will be played by Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (The Wire).

The Walking Dead’s season four premiere will air on AMC Oct. 13 at 9/8c.

– Chelsea Regan

Get Uinterview's FREE iPhone App For Daily News Updates here.

Get the FREE Uinterview iPad app here and watch our videos anywhere.

For More 'The Walking Dead' News:

‘The Walking Dead’ To Get A Spinoff Series

‘The Walking Dead’ Course Offered At University Of California, Irvine

New 'The Walking Dead' Spoilers: Michonne Rides A Horse, Wants Revenge For Andrea's Death

'The Walking Dead' Spoilers: Rick Aims To Be A Better Father; The Survivors Are Under Attack

Leave a comment

Read more about: