'The Walking Dead' star Andrew Lincoln warns 'brutal is the word for this season'

The Walking Dead type TV Show network AMC genre Thriller Where to watch Close Streaming Options

The Walking Dead has shown us some of the most disturbing imagery on television the past four years. But if star Andrew Lincoln is to be believed, we haven’t seen anything yet. And a lot of that is due to the fact that the man Lincoln plays, Rick Grimes, is pretty much done messing around.

“The show is the same story moving forward,” Lincoln told us about season 5 (which debuts Oct. 12 on AMC) after getting good and bloody for his EW cover shoot. “But because their leader is incredibly uncompromising, I think he is dragging a lot of those people into a place that is darker, more brutal, and there will be fallout from that. So it feels like it’s a more grown-up show. It fees like we’re heading into the heart of darkness. Brutal is the word for this season. It’s always been pretty intense, but this season I think is very hard hitting. People should be prepared for that, I think.”

This is the Rick viewers most assuredly need after watching him mope around on-and-off for two seasons after having very bad thing in the world happen to him. And it’s the Rick that the rest of the survivors need as well if they are going to continue to keep on keeping on. “Rick is probably at the most complete place he’s been ever since the apocalypse started,” says Lincoln. “He’s a man who doesn’t doubt himself anymore, and he’s accepted his brutality as much as his humanity. So I think he’s in an incredibly powerful and dangerous place.”

Of course, that could be bad news for Gareth and the Terminus gang, as well as anyone else who dares oppose Mr. Grimes. “You stand alongside Rick, you’re family. You stand in opposition to him, you’re a problem.” Click on the video below to see more from Lincoln, including the star swinging an ax and smearing blood all over his body in exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from his Walking Dead cover shoot for EW.

You can click here to buy any or all of Entertainment Weekly’s new ‘Walking Dead’ collector covers. And for more ‘Walking Dead’ intel, follow Dalton on Twitter @DaltonRoss.