The Walking Dead: Is Woodbury Still Populated?

In a newly-released interview, The Walking Dead executive producer Gale Anne Hurd admitted that she didn't know whether or not anyone had remained in Woodbury at the end of the recently-concluded third season of AMC's hit zombie drama. Following an episode which saw the able-bodied men of Woodbury all but wiped out and the town's children and elderly imported to the prison in the care of Rick Grimes's group of survivors, IGN raised the question of what happened to the women and anyone else left behind who wasn't specifically accounted for. "I couldn't tell you that, to be honest," said Hurd. "I think that's a decision we'll come to find out in the new season." Whether she means that she's not sure, because it's not something she's addressed with the show's writers or that the writers are actually trying to keep that reveal a surprise isn't clear. Certainly the question is an interesting one, and could speak to the nature of the Governor's part in the action for the upcoming fourth season. "The Governor is still out there with Shupert and Martinez," Hurd said when asked why Rick and company didn't just take over the comparably more comfortable Woodbury rather than returning home at the end of the season. "They've still got significant firepower. If they go to Woodbury, at this point, Woodbury's not as protected as it used to be. I think everyone was traumatized by what happened, and I think they feel safer in the prison." While they weren't headed in that direction the last time we saw them, it wouldn't be completely surprising to see the Governor, Martinez and Shupert return home, if only to see how they react when they discover the town has been abandoned. That may be the setting for a reveal, since anyone remaining would likely either hate the Governor for killing their friends and destroying their town, or have stayed home out of loyalty to him and a disbelief of the stories they were being told. In either case, a quick interaction with the Governor would be likely.