The Walking Dead: New Behind-the-Scenes Details from “Killer Within”

2013/02/16 21:29:45 +00:00 | Jonathan James

Last week, I started publishing parts of my interview with The Walking Dead's Glen Mazzara. Not only did we talk about what's coming up next in the third season, and his plans after The Walking Dead, but I also learned some interesting behind-the-scenes details from episode 304, Killer Within. **Spoiler Warning: Don't read this article if you haven't watched Episode 304**

After the release of Killer Within, I began hearing that Carol was originally supposed to die instead of T-Dog. While that has already been confirmed, I was interested in learning when the decision was made and why they decided on T-Dog over Carol. Glen Mazzara was more than happy to provide details, and mentioned they had gone as far as telling Melissa McBride that her character was being killed off:

"The plan was to kill Carol and I had actually informed Melissa McBride that her character would be killed. We started asking more questions in the writer's room as we continued to explore that. What effect would Carol's death have on Daryl? Would that make Carol too much of a victim? She just lost her child last year, and her husband before that. Any of these questions stepped on Lori's death. They didn't compliment Lori's death and complicated it in a negative way.

So, we came to the decision to kill T-Dog. Part of the reason I wanted a death to precede Lori's was that audience would relax and feel that T-Dog was the only death for the episode. Lori's death was very important and needed the maximum impact. I was convinced that we needed another death.

T-Dog's death was originally supposed to be off-screen for various reasons, but Tom Luse, our line producer said: 'This is his last scene. Can we give him a hero's moment?'

We started thinking about it, and I knew that IronE played football. I thought we should see him just clothesline these walkers, and to go out a hero with him dying on his feet as he's hitting them. It was very important to me that he dies on his feet as a hero and saves Carol. After that, Carol had to live because T-Dog couldn't die in vain. We also didn't want Carol crying after T-Dog's death, because it would conflict with Lori's death. That's why we made the decision that Carol was locked in a cell and not found for a few episodes.

This is the level of critique, storytelling, and questions that we spend on every single shot. We analyze it for ages and really explore what's best. I believe the best material fights to get on screen. I've said it many times, and am very happy with Killer Within. I think it's a classic episode of the series."

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Next week, I'll publish the last part of my Glen Mazzara interview, where he talks about his favorite moments on the show and life after The Walking Dead. Keep an eye out for more coverage on the newest episode of The Walking Dead later today and tomorrow. You can catch up on our recent coverage by visiting the following links: