Photo by Matthew Welch
Shane Walsh (Jon Bernthal) has anger issues, as any fan of "The Walking Dead" might have picked up on.
"The Walking Dead" will rise again to complete its second season Sunday, Feb. 12, on AMC.
With the return, the tension between Rick and Shane will be a driving force in the drama.
"That rivalry is certainly at the heart of the show," says producer Glen Mazzara. "... Certain people feel Shane was right to break open that barn.
"Rick proved himself to be a leader. He's the one who stepped forward and put down Sophia. So you have these two alpha males jarring for position or sparring.
"We get a lot of great story out of that. And it puts everybody else in a difficult position on the farm."
The tension has already caused fans to be split. The pivotal point of it being when the survivors finally confronted the walkers kept in a barn — and the revelation Sophia, one of their own, was among those zombies.
Eventually Rick and his fellow survivors shot the zombies in the barn, though their keepers were opposed to that.
"That mid-season finale was ... just kind of the come to blows of having to make that choice and really being faced with the fact that you, as an individual, as the characters' individuals, have to finally decide and not just lean on whatever someone else tells them to do," co-star Steven Yeun, who plays Glen, says.
Also, Carol (Melissa McBride), who has lost her husband and her daughter to the zombies, will have to chart a new path for herself in the second half of the season.
Her budding relationship with Daryl will open new ground for her.
"Carol has always depended on other people, and what's been very interesting is that the Daryl character really became her knight in shining armor," Mazzara says.
"He took up that quest to find (Carol's daughter). The fact that that quest failed, that she wasn't saved, I think really affects their relationship and forces, forces Carol to learn to stand on her own."
The writers don't want Carol to remain a victim.
"It's one of the traps with that character ... to make her the grieving mom, just to hit that one note," Mazzara says."Moving forward without that child in jeopardy storyline, who is this character?
"How do we find something new to say with that character? I think people will hopefully respond."
As for the comic book series, from which the television program is based, will soon hit its 100th issue. Writer Robert Kirkman says the comic book will also veer off into a new direction. "They'll come off the road," Kirkman says of Rick and his band of survivors and adapt to trying to live a better life.
And from that point, "The Walking Dead" will be about making contact with pocket of survivors, Kirkman says.
Terry Morrow may be reached at 865-342-6445 or morrowt@knoxville.com.
© 2012, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
- |
Comments » 1
trollhair writes:
Countdown to February 12th...
Share your thoughts
Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them. You agree not to post comments that are off topic, defamatory, obscene, abusive, threatening or an invasion of privacy. Violators may be banned. Click here for our full user agreement.