Glen Mazzara has got some pretty amazing things coming down the pipe for season 3 of AMC's top shelf drama. But I'm going to warn you up front: There are spoilers.

There’s nothing quite like sitting in on a conference call about a show you really enjoy.

How ’bout we up the ante a bit and make it a conference call that came after a pretty nifty season finale? Spiffy? You bet.

But wait … there’s more! We can top that by appointing none other than the showrunner of the program as the featured guest of the call. There’s your value added bonus right there!

And that’s just what I did last week, hobnob with showrunner Glen Mazzara of The Walking Dead. Below you’ll find not only the questions I got the opportunity to ask him, but a bevy of information concerning the just-concluded season 2 as well as some delectable tidbits for the upcoming 16 episode season 3.

But a word of warning: There are spoilers …

Michael: Glen, thank you very much for taking time out to speak with us today. It was a terrific finale. Question: Are there any places the writers won’t go when writing against the source material? There are some pretty dark places in the books and I wonder how far you guys are willing to go?

Glen Mazzara: Well, I know what you’re referring to and, you know, we have to put our own spin. I would say this: there’s no place we won’t go. Everything is on the table. This is a cutting edge cable drama. I’m comfortable with that material and we answered a lot of these questions on The Shield when I worked there, so I’m comfortable dealing with very, very edgy material.

That being said, you want to make sure things are not gratuitous, that things are not offensive for the sake of being offensive. I don’t ever want the show to get too bleak. I think we’ve done a good job of creating characters people care about. I think there’s a heart to the show.

So we will tackle issues in our own way but right now everything is on the table and I think if you take a look at those last few episodes we’ve been making some pretty bold choices … that’s where the show lives and that’s where we will feel we get the most entertainment value out of the story we’re telling.

Michael: On Talking Dead after the finale, Robert Kirkman assured everyone the pace set in those final three episodes would be carried through to Season 3. It kind of sounded — and I’m just winging it here — a bit like that may have been a shot at Frank Darabont, that those were episodes he wasn’t involved with …

Glen: No, no, no, no, no. That is not a shot at Frank Darabont. We respect everything that Frank has done. We would not be here if it wasn’t for Frank Darabont. We owe a great debt. I think his contribution to the show has been incalculable.

But … there is a difference between the story that Frank did — and Frank also wondered if we had pacing issues in the first half of the season, if there was enough story to carry us on the farm for an entire season. That was a question that we wrestled with the writers at the beginning of that season.

That being said, you know, it’s my intention that the show picked up the pace, you know. And I would say yes. You look at those last three episodes but I’m also very proud of the episodes that came before that. I’m proud of the pacing and the mid-season finale. I’m proud of “Triggerfinger” and “Nebraska.” You know, I thought that “Nebraska” — which did not have a lot of zombie action — had a very, very compelling last scene with Michael Raymond James. So, you know, we will continue to have fast-paced episodes. We will continue to have slower-paced episodes. You know, the episode in which Dale was killed was a little more thoughtful. I think we had a terrific ending there.

So week by week we want to keep throwing curve balls at the audience and so that you sit down and you never know what kind of episode you’re going to get. We are constantly playing with people’s expectations because that’s what horror movies do.

The minute you know exactly what you’re getting at the beginning of an episode, I think it becomes less scary and less entertaining. So I’ll just say this. I think … next year we’re just throwing curve ball after curve ball. That’s the goal.

Michael: Thanks for expounding on that. I really appreciate it. One final thought: I really like the way the pacing has been going … the drama. I don’t like all the zombie action week after week. The drama, the character studies … I really enjoy them and you guys are doing a great job. Thank you very much.

Glen: Well, thanks. We’re trying. Thank you, I appreciate that.

Throughout the remainder of the call, Glen gave his thoughts and answers on a myriad of topics:

Photo Credit: amctv.com