| The Walking Dead | |
|---|---|
| Season 3 | |
 Promotional poster and home media cover art featuring Rick Grimes | |
| Showrunner | Glen Mazzara |
| Starring | |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Release | |
| Original network | AMC |
| Original release | October 14, 2012 – March 31, 2013 |
| Season chronology | |
The third season of The Walking Dead, an American post-apocalyptic horror television series on AMC, premiered on October 14, 2012, and concluded on March 31, 2013, consisting of 16 episodes.[1][2] Developed for television by Frank Darabont, the series is based on the eponymous series of comic books by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard. It was executive produced by Kirkman, Glen Mazzara, David Alpert, and Gale Anne Hurd, with Mazzara as showrunner for his second and final season. The third season was very well received by critics. It was nominated for multiple awards and won two, including Best Syndicated/Cable Television Series, at the 39th Saturn Awards.[3]
This season adapts material from issues #13–39 of the comic book series and introduces notable comic characters, including Michonne (Danai Gurira), Axel (Lew Temple), The Governor (David Morrissey) and Tyreese Williams (Chad L. Coleman). It also marks the return of Merle Dixon (Michael Rooker), the volatile older brother of Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), who went missing in the first season, and also features the return of Morgan Jones (Lennie James), the first survivor Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) encountered and befriended, who he lost contact with in season one. As in the comics, this season is mainly set in both an abandoned prison and an active rural town of survivors.
Set eight months after the killing of Shane Walsh and onslaught of the Greene Family Farm, with the world growing increasingly more dangerous and Lori's (Sarah Wayne Callies) pregnancy advancing, the season continues the story of Rick Grimes, who has assumed a dictatorial-like leadership over his group of survivors as they survive in a post-apocalyptic world infested with flesh-eating zombies, dubbed "walkers". After discovering a potential safe haven, the group takes refuge and inhabits a large fortified prison, but this security is threatened by a nearby community — Woodbury — led by a nefarious man known as The Governor, who takes an interest in Andrea (Laurie Holden) as she remains, after the burning of the farm, separated and unaware of the main group's status.
- ^ Masters, Megan (July 13, 2012). "Walking Dead @ Comic-Con: Season 3 Premiere Date Revealed!". TVLine. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
- ^ Neuman, Clayton (January 14, 2012). "AMC Announces 16 Episode Order for The Walking Dead Season 3". AMC. Archived from the original on May 12, 2015. Retrieved January 15, 2012.
- ^ Cohen, David S. (June 26, 2013). "Saturn Awards: 'Avengers,' 'Breaking Bad' lead sci-fi-fantasy-horror pack". Variety. Retrieved June 26, 2013.