Fear The Walking Dead: Exec. Producer On Season 2, Walkers At Sea, And Negan
WC: Will most of the season be spent at sea, or are things not that simple?
DA: Theres a lot of stuff involving the ocean, involving the boat and what happens with that. How do you find resources on the ocean? In The Walking Dead, weve always talked about these pockets of survivors as being like islands, and now we get to play out that metaphorical concept literally.
WC: Are walkers going to be a greater threat in Season 2?
DA: This may sound silly, but we really try to keep the zombie apocalypse as realistic as possible. I know it sounds crazy. But you dont all of a sudden go from zero to infinite zombies, right? A lot of pop cultural references to zombies come from very unlikely, sudden scenarios. We wanted it to start slowly, in the same way as the spread of the Zika virus. To start, theres nothing of it in the United States, then somebody comes back and next thing you know, in Puerto Rico theyre worried for 80% of women. It went from 0-80% in months. In Fear The Walking Dead, were in that place now where mass infection has occurred. This season youre going to see way more walkers. There are going to be a tremendous amount of them in the season because of where were at with the timeline.
WC: Could you boil Season 2 down to just a few themes?
DA: One of the things we always like to grapple with in this world are the obligations of people to each other. What are the obligations of people to their family members? Thats the most intimate and the most obvious area for them, but what happens when you pass a family in need? What happens when theres a good samaritan? What happens when the basic framework of society starts to break down and how do you start to trust people? Were going to see the growth of civilisation in reverse. The rules we have in society today, those rules are turned upside down. Theres a scene in the premiere where theres a bunch of refugees on a boat and people on 'our' boat want to go help them because theyre good people and thats what wed do. Today if you saw someone in need, youd go and help them. In this new world, what is the obligation? What is the right thing to do based on the situation? Coming to terms with that will be the heart of it.
WC: Will some characters struggle to adapt?
DA: Oh yeah. Look, Strand is a capitalist beast and it looks like he was prepared for this world even before the apocalypse hit. In some ways, hes going to be unleashed on this world and this is what hes been training for his whole life, even though he wears fancy tuxedos and really nice cufflinks. The other people are going to face a really hard time. For example, youve got a really sensitive teenage girl mourning the loss of her boyfriend. Shes looking for a real human connection and shes going to have to figure out what it means to be a good person all over again.
WC: Meanwhile in The Walking Dead, we're pretty far down the line. Do you have a message for the fans ahead of the Season 6 finale?
DA: Yeah I would recommend getting some diapers and tissues. Theres going to be a huge impact, and were going to take a big swing at things this coming weekend...
Fear the Walking Dead returns 11 April on AMC, exclusive to BT (UK) at 2am, simultaneously with the US premiere and repeated at 9pm.