The Walking Dead Season Four Opener Delivers and Promises to Deliver [VIDEO]

"Red shirts." That's what those new characters on AMC's The Walking Dead are being called in some circles because they are simply going to be there so that they can be killed by the "walkers"--the show's term for zombies.

The term "red shirt" comes from Star Trek. Anytime you saw a crew member from the starship Enterprise beam down onto a planet and you didn't know who he was, he was going to be killed. And those nameless characters always wore red shirts.

SPOILER ALERT: Well, in the fourth season premiere of The Walking Dead, we lose one of those "red shirts." His name is Zach and we are led to believe, when we meet him, that he is a possible love interest for the mournful Beth Greene. But, alas, it isn't meant to be. Let's just say, for Zach, supermarkets and helicopters don't mix and leave it at that.

The episode picks up a few months after the Governor's departure (he'll be back) from the prison. Sheriff Rick is now a gentleman farmer and, well, a gentler man. His son, Carl is far more mature than the children who now inhabit the prison. Michonne has a horse and is on a mission. A government is beginning to form. And there seem to be more "walkers" than ever before. Where they once traveled in herds, now they seem to move in swarms.

And there's an interesting development with regards to a pig and a new younger character. It could open up a whole new dynamic for this incredible series.

The Walking Dead is back, people!