Frank Darabont « HORROR BOOM

Spoiler Alert, sort of: if you click on the episode titles, you’ll be taken to the IMDB page for that episode, which lists cast. I personally got accidentally spoiled on the return of a recurring character for the upcoming episode this Sunday; though it’s certainly no bombshell, we still thought you should have a heads up. WARNING: there IS a big bombshell of a character return in the form of an acting credit on “Prey”. It could be a fake-out, but if it does turn out to be legit, I’ll really wish I hadn’t seen it.

Okay. So. As of this writing, there’s only four more episodes to go and Season Three of AMC’s The Walking Dead will have slammed to a close. If you’d like more details on the titles and credits, read on!

S3, Ep13, “Arrow on the Doorpost” airs March 10th. Directed by David Boyd, written by Ryan C. Coleman.

S3, Ep14, “Prey”, airs March 17th. Directed by Stefan Schwartz, written by Evan Reilly and Glen Mazzara (yay!) Happy St. Patrick’s Day – we’re sure you’ll SEE something green in the episode.

S3, Ep 15, “This Sorrowful Life” airs March 24. Directed by Greg Nicotero (Hurray!), written by Scott M. Gimple. Sounds upbeat…

Finally, the Season 3 finale (Ep.16) is titled “Welcome to the Tombs” (another cheerful finale title, though honestly, it beats a quirky, contrived one) and airs March 31. Directed by Ernest Dickerson. There’s no writer listed as of yet; we’re hoping for Kirkman, Mazzara, Scott Gimple, or Frank Darabont (who got a writing credit–albeit a generic, blanket one– for “Clear“, so hey, you never know). We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear anything!

Speaking of “Clear”, do you recall seeing the above cringe-inducing official photo released for that specific episode at ANY point in the show last week? Because if so, we missed it, and think that we probably would have recalled that memorable of a shot. Hmmmm, deleted scene? If you saw it, please comment below, ’cause now it’s driving us nuts (click on image for a full-page version on the IMDB).

Scott Gimple Promoted To Showrunner Of ‘The Walking Dead’, Replaces Glen Mazzara (m.deadline.com)
‘The Walking Dead’ Season 4 Begins Filming in May, Premieres in October (screenrant.com)
Kirkman, Hurd Discuss “The Walking Dead’s” Season 4 Surprises, Threats (comicbookresources.com)
‘The Walking Dead’ is suffering from AMC’s fiscal austerity: How to kill a good thing (deathandtaxesmag.com)
AMC Confirms Scott Gimple As ‘Walking Dead’ Showrunner, Ups Two Others To EP (deadline.com)
Amerisleep Produces Walking Dead-Themed Infographic, “Live & Sleep Safe When The Walking Dead Take Over” (prweb.com)

People would still watch this show with a shitty show-runner, but our enthusiasm just dimmed a little. Kudos to Mazzara for handling his exit so gracefully and professionally. We weren’t thrilled about the way Frank Darabont was treated, but we had faith in Mazzara as a show runner after his work on The Shield.

Guess we’ll have to wait and see –this show has a huge built-in fan base; we’re of the opinion most viewers will watch no matter who the show runner is, but the quality of the show could suffer . Though if for whatever reason, they ever part ways with Greg Nicotero unless it was TOTALLY VOLUNTARY on his part, then I will officially quit watching. Nicotero is a pretty gracious guy, though, so he’d never say anything, but some inside sources would probably hint around like they did with Darabont, who was also classy about it. The same goes if they treat its creator Robert Kirkman like shit to the point he completely gets so fed up that he has to sever all ties with the show (but I don’t this they’re that stupid-same goes with Nicotero).

At least we have Glen Mazzara for the second half of Season Three of TWD – which picks up where it left off in February 2013. Oh, and if they tried to get creative and kill off Michonne for shock value (she’s been alive for almost a decade in the comics and is still going strong), we’re fucking outta there (and this time we wouldn’t be the only viewers). It’d take a lot to get rid of that kick-ass sister, though!