‘The Walking Dead’ Season 4 — Five Things Fans Need to Know

One of the frustrations of fans was that the story had become dull as it was basically just the group moving from one location to the next.

Comic book creator Robert Kirkman told ScreenRant that season 4 of 'The Walking Dead' will begin at the prison. Some thought the group may take shelter at Woodbury but that's not the case. "They see the prison as something that is much more easily defended than Woodbury." he said.

While the season may not end where it started, it's nice to see the group finding a home, even if it is temporary.

According to Kirkman, we will see a totally different Rick in 'The Walking Dead' season 4 and we couldn't be happier.

“It’s going to be different in a lot of ways. We’ll see a very different Rick Grimes for one. His experiences against the Governor and with the various things that happened to him in season three are informing his character in huge ways. We’ll see a lot of familiar elements from season three: we’ll see the prison, Rick and his group are still in the same place but those elements are all going to be radically different. I can’t really get into it but season four is going to be extremely different than season three in some very startling and cool ways.

This is the moment where Rick takes a turn; he’s no longer going to be pushing people away, he’s no longer going to be doing what ever he can to protect these people in ways that hurt other people. He’s not going to be the guy who would leave that guy on the side of the road — the backpack guy in Episode 12. He’s letting the people of Woodbury in and trying to tell Carl that these people are like us, you have to be open to this and the only way to survive in this world is to have people and be in a community. That’s going to be a big part of season four.”

If you were worried that this might be the final season for 'The Walking Dead,' fear not.

According to AMC Networks CEO Josh Kaplan, he plans on the show to still be around in a decade. "We'll be sitting here at the Barclays conference in 2022 discussing the fact that Walking Dead is not over" he said.

Seeing as how it's been the highest-rates basic cable scripted program of all time, this shouldn't come as a huge surprise.

If you thought The Governor would quietly fade into the darkness after his last encounter with Rick, guess again. It doesn't look like he'll be hunting and terrorizing the group of survivors as persistently in season 4 as he was before, however, in an interview with IGN Robert Kirkman said this on the future of The Governor:

"Yeah, he’s still very much in the mix. That’s certainly not the last that we’ll see of him. When we see him again and where we see him again, that’s the big question. It’s not going to be like it was in Season 3; it’s not going to be Rick and the Governor on a collision course with a conflict between them. He’ll be used in very different ways next season."

Has The Governor reevaluated his priorities? It's doubtful, but it should be interesting to see what role he plays in the upcoming season.

According to Spoiler TV, three new characters have been added as "recurring" characters in season 4 of 'The Walking Dead' which could mean they'll be around for a while. Here's a brief synopsis of each:

Laura, who is a nurse and single mom. Of course a nurse should come in handy with the amount of carnage that takes place constantly within the group. We don't know if her children will be traveling with her or if they've even survived.

Melody, who has been described as "tough and funny." As dark as last season was, a bit of humor may be a nice change of pace for the gang.

Don is a grumpy older man between the ages of 50-70 years old who also has a granddaughter. It appears as though numerous children will be added to the mix.

'The Walking Dead' season 4 premieres in October on AMC.