Season 5 of "The Walking Dead" is just over a month away, giving the show's stars and crew plenty to talk about.

In an interview with the AMC TV blog, David Alpert, "The Walking Dead" executive producer, discussed the theme of the upcoming season.

"I think with Season 4, [showrunner] Scott Gimple really focused on whether you can get away from the things that you've done. Can you turn your back on your past? I think Season 5 is a response to that, in that you are what you've done, where you've been and where you're from," he said.

Rick Grimes actor Andrew Lincoln seems to confirm this, saying his character is at the "most complete place" since the show started and has "accepted his brutality as much as his humanity."

"The show is the same story moving forward, 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," Lincoln said, according to Entertainment Weekly. "... It feels like we're heading into the heart of darkness. Brutal is the word for this season."

Meanwhile, Steven Yeun, who plays Glenn Rhee, and Lauren Cohan, who plays Glenn's love interest Maggie Greene, are exploring whether or not it would be safer for their characters to spend Season 5 together.

"Are they better together but in peril, or separately but free? I think that really Maggie and Glenn are better together," Cohan told EW. "Even if it's the most perilous situation you know that they'll find a way out of it -- or at least you hope that they'll find a way out of it. They spent a lot of time trying to find each last year -- it's like, no more!"

"I think the preference is to be together regardless of whether the circumstances are difficult," Yeun added. "At the least, you're with the person that matters the most to you in this world. At this point, what your world has become -- that is your world. Your world is who you're with. The world is the people that you love. If it's not with them, then what's the point of continuing on?"

Danai Gurirra has also been looking into her character, Michonne, ahead of the Season 5 premiere.

"She does yearn for something more stable in life," she told EW. "She really believes that Carl needs something more stable than where they are and what they have been experiencing, but also she's very committed to what has to be done. ... Is she trying to move away from how much of a warrior she is? But will the world allow that?"

While everyone's favorite "The Walking Dead" actors get ready for their characters' inevitable development, Alpert is waiting for the introduction of another character from the original "The Walking Dead" comic books: Negan.

"He is just like the coolest f***ing character on the planet. You thought the Governor was bad news?" he said. "... He's one of the greatest villains ever created. It's so exciting."

Season 5 of "The Walking Dead" begins on AMC on Oct. 12 at 9 p.m.

---

 Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.