The Walking Dead continued its strong Season 3 beginning with "Sick" this week.

The Walking Dead: “Sick” Review

Fans of Robert Kirkman's comic series have not only been waiting for the prison set-piece for a while now, but also the prisoners waiting within. And seeing as how things get changed and switched up on the TV series, part of the fun is checking out what's different and what's still intact.

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode "Sick" and slight spoilers for the comics.

We could all probably predict that Rick would face some strong-headed opposition, like he did in the comics, but how would he deal with it on the TV show? Well, as you saw, a little bit more directly. And savagely. I had a chance to talk to Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman about the TV series prisoners, Lori's admission of being a bad wife and mother, and more.

IGN TV: Most things from your comic series wind up on the AMC series, but some things get dropped. What was behind the decision to keep the surviving prisoners?

Robert Kirkman: We just thought it was a really cool element for Rick and the rest of them to get into this prison and to think that it's a safe sanctuary and then to be shocked to find out that it's not and that there are actually people there. And that it's going to be way more complicated than they even originally thought. There's an extra element of danger despite the fact that they thought there'd only be zombies. And on top of that it creates a really cool conflict in the story and there'll be some really great character moments that come from dealing with the prisoners. And there are things that we'll be able to tell really cool stories with. So I think they'll be a great addition and there's a lot more fun stuff to come with them.

IGN: Do you think this episode pairs up well with Season 1's "Vatos" with regards to showing how much Rick has changed when it comes to strangers? I mean, now it's first-strike rules. And one of the prisoners, who didn't do all that much, got left out to die.

Robert Kirkman: Yeah, I suppose that is a very clear way to show the evolution of this character. How he went from being accommodating and very understanding in the first season to where he is now. He is just very harsh and very strict and pretty deadly. And the prisoners of Tomas and Andrew represented a clear danger to Rick and that's how he handles danger now. He doesn't let it grow. He doesn't let it fester. He's not going to allow it become a serious problem. He's definitely not going to live in a prison with a threat looming on the horizon. That's just not something he's going to allow to happen. not after having to deal with Shane undermining him for so long and be a danger that he wasn't even fully aware of. This is a new Rick with new rules and he's not taking any s**t.

IGN: Even Lori supports the idea of killing folks who might cause problems. she also freely admits to being a terrible mom and wife. Was part of that due to the negative fan reaction Lori received during Season 2?

Robert Kirkman: I don't necessarily see it as a response to the fans, or the fans who didn't approve of some of the things she did. I think it's just a natural take on what's been happening with that character. She would definitely blame herself for a lot of the things that have happened. She's an intelligent person and she sees what's going on around her. She's not a character who's not going to be evolving. And so while she used to be very anti-killing and was very overprotective of Carl to almost a ridiculous degree, now she's letting Carl run with the wolves, so to speak, and letting him help out Rick and Daryl. And she's also acknowledging that it's a different world and there are different circumstances and we can't really live by the same rules. And that's a really cool thing.

IGN: Poor Hershel got put through the "Allen treatment," but he didn't suffer the same fate as Allen. Why keep Hershel around? What do you feel he adds to the group?

Robert Kirkman: I think Hershel has become a very key character to the television show and Scott Wilson is a fantastic actor who really adds a lot to the mix and is somebody that we have big plans for this season. So people should be on the look out for that.

IGN: Michonne and Andrea got left out of this episode. How soon will it be before we see them again?

Robert Kirkman: They may or may not be appearing in episode 3. I don't want to ruin anything, but it's pretty likely that they'll be showing up very soon.

IGN: There was a clearly a prisoner who represented the Dexter character from the comics, and he got chopped in the head. How closely do the prisoners on the show match up with the ones in books?

Robert Kirkman: Well, Axel, the guy who says "Holy s***!" at the end of the premiere is from the comic book. So he's the same. And so you'll actually see him do some of the same things throughout the season, so be on the lookout for that. Those characters were pretty much the characters from the comic book series, although I will say that we're not going to be doing the serial killer storyline, so don't worry about that.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com