***The following interview contains spoilers for 3X03***

Things are looking good in Dead City! As the hit AMC series moves swiftly through its third season, big changes are underway and the fan reaction is decidedly positive. The Croat (Zeljko Ivanek)/Dama (Lisa Emery) storyline has come to close, giving the writers space to focus on the show’s beating heart: the complicated relationships between Maggie (Lauren Cohan), Hershel (Logan Kim), Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), and their new friends and adversaries in New York.

In last night’s episode (303, “Emigrants”), Hershel’s loyalty is no longer in question. For the first time, he seems happy to spend time with his mom and is taking on new responsibilities in the community. When things go sideways (as they always do), Hershel steps up and does what it takes to save lives.

For actor Logan Kim, Hershel’s improved attitude isn’t about the demise of the Dama. Yes, she was a poisonous influence, but the conflict was always about Hershel and Maggie.

“In season one and two, you really get to see Hershel in a more vulnerable state,” Kim explained. “He's really just trying to find his connection with his mother. And when he doesn't find that, he moves to the Dama.”

In season three, Hershel has new responsibilities and a strong bond with Luis (Raúl Castillo). But most important, says Kim, is Maggie’s effort to reach her son.

Kim says viewers will get to see that Maggie understands her own faults. “[S]he starts understanding what Hershel's going through, and once they both start listening to each other, they can kind of come together and resolve that issue.”

Read the full interview below and tune in to The Walking Dead: Dead City every Sunday at 9:00 pm ET on AMC.


SCIFI VISION:   Hi Logan. Thanks for making time for us today.

LOGAN KIM:   Of course, nice to meet you.

SCIFI VISION:   Nice to meet you. We're talking through the first three episodes of the season. A big theme seems to be change: have Maggie and Negan changed? Is that change sustainable? Can they really do it?

I think Hershel has changed also since last season, and I wonder if we could talk about the ways he has changed, and are his changes durable?

LOGAN KIM:   Yeah, I think that in season one and two, you really get to see Hershel in a more vulnerable state. He's really just trying to find his connection with his mother, and when he doesn't find that, he moves to the Dama.

And now that we're in season three, he's kind of gotten reeled back in and kind of looked at himself from an outside perspective and really gotten…more comfortable in himself, more confident in himself. And he's used different mediums to get to this point. Like he loves drawing, just art in general.

And now he's found more responsibility in this hospital. So, we get to see him really grow in that aspect. And the fact that he finally can connect with his mother and talk more deeply with her and really understand her and find where she's coming from has been just absolutely so helpful to him.

It's also nice that he has a mentorship from Raul's character, Luis, and their bond also is there to help him. So, I think he just really needed people in his life to look up to, and I think he's found that.

SCIFI VISION:   Last season, I wondered sometimes, is he just an angry teen or is there something more that's making him susceptible to the Dama? Part of this, do you think, is just growing up?

LOGAN KIM:   I think just boiling down to “angry teen” is a little bit [of an] understatement because, you know, he's growing up in the apocalypse. I mean, nobody really knows what that's like. And the fact that his father's not there for him, he doesn't have a full family dynamic. So, he doesn't have that full support that a kid really needs. So, he's growing up and his mom just is kind of overbearing on him in ways that he doesn't understand why. So, he finds comfort in somebody else.

And we get to see that Maggie, she understands her own faults, and so she starts understanding what Hershel's going through. And once they both start listening to each other, they can kind of come together and resolve that issue.

SCIFI VISION:   She does. It's nice to see them closer.

For those of us who've been watching The Walking Dead on TV – 16 years, I think, since the original show appeared – that pocket watch means a lot to many of us who've been on this journey. Can you talk about that scene with Lauren?

LOGAN KIM:   Yes. So, from her dad, I mean, this is something that's been shown, like you said, like 16 years ago. I grew up watching The Walking Dead with my dad. I remember when I was like eight, I was too scared of it. So, I had to stop, and I came back to it later when I was a little older.

But now that Hershel's in a better state with his mom and he can really connect to her, she feels more trustworthy for him, and he trusts her more. So, they are allowed to have these deep conversations. And to really see in this season that they have a scene together where they get to bond over this family memoriam, I guess, this heirloom, it's really special. It's really special.

SCIFI VISION:   It is. It brought a little tear to my eye, really.

LOGAN KIM:   Yeah.

SCIFI VISION:   Changing topics, I'd love to talk about Hershel's new career as a doctor.

You know, we joke at SciFi Vision that every apocalypse show needs a doctor to explain why we're still alive. And in episode three, we see that Hershel's able to, he's practicing – I wouldn't call it Civil War medicine, but it's not much more, right? How was it filming what on the screen in the end is a very chaotic scene?

LOGAN KIM:   Oh, yeah. Man, that day I was kind of stressing about it, because I didn't want to look like a like an idiot, because my mom's a nurse. We used to watch random TV shows and whenever they did something wrong, my mom was like, “Oh, they don't do it like that. That's not how you're supposed to do it.”

So, I really was trying to make this cricothyrotomy look legit. We had an on-set nurse and she was really telling us what needs to be done in this procedure. And, you know, obviously, we don't have all the equipment there, and so it can't be perfect, but we try to get as close as possible. And I really cared about making it look authentic. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

But that was so fun. And for Hershel, he gets to kind of take on this big role and get under the wing of Luis and learn the steps into becoming a doctor like him.

SCIFI VISION:   Well, your mom doesn't have to worry about her patient being reanimated as a zombie.

LOGAN KIM:   Yeah, that's not a worry we have.

SCIFI VISION:   So, our fans will not forgive me if I don't ask you about the scene in episode two where Hershel is doing his anatomy homework with a zombie arm.

LOGAN KIM:   Yes.

SCIFI VISION:   How much fun was that?

LOGAN KIM:   Oh, it was great. There's like three dudes under the table, just like all manipulating the arm. Oh, man, I can't remember his name. Somebody was manipulating the arm, and I can't remember who was.

SCIFI VISION:   So, that's not [fully] functioning? Like when you're pulling on the tendon, those guys are moving the fingers?

LOGAN KIM:   Oh, yeah, they were moving the fingers. And he was getting so hot under there. He's like sweating to death. I felt so bad. But yeah, he's got his full hand in there.

And I don't know how they make it look so real, but it was really nasty. It was fun, too. We had a – I don't know if it's the final cut, but you could kind of see him kind of twitching with his fingers. I can't remember, but that was really fun.

SCIFI VISION:   And then, I'm not sure how old Hershel is on the show. I think he's maybe a little bit younger than you are, right? And He does a little joke. He makes the zombie give the finger.

LOGAN KIM:   Yeah. I think that was the first day of filming [when] we did that.

SCIFI VISION:   Oh, yeah?

LOGAN KIM:   Yeah, I think so. It was either the first day or the first week; I can't remember, but that was really fun to do.

SCIFI VISION:   How long did it take you to get that? What ends up being one or two minutes, how long did it take you to get that?

LOGAN KIM:   Well, in the background of the director would be like, “OK, one. Simulate the fingers.” And then we'd have, “OK, finger two.” And so I'd have to pull and he would have to move his fingers at the same time. So, we don't really sync that up. Took a few takes, but we eventually got it.

SCIFI VISION:   Yeah, that was really great. I know you can't spoil anything, but will we get to see more of Hershel's medical journey…going forward?

LOGAN KIM:   Well, you know, just got to keep watching the show, I guess.

SCIFI VISION:   You had most of your scenes with Lisa Emery – well, a lot of scenes with Lisa Emery last season. I don't think you got to be with her in the in the early [part of this season].

LOGAN KIM:   No. This season, honestly didn't really even see her. I saw her maybe once on set. So, that was kind of sad. But I think honestly, Maggie wanted to keep it that way, to be honest.

SCIFI VISION:   Are you guys still doing going away dinners for all the actors who move on?

LOGAN KIM:   Oh, we've had cast dinners for sure. We've had times where we are wrapping and all that. Nothing specific, like when Emily [Kinney] came by, we didn't all have a dinner then. But definitely for wrap, we all got together.

SCIFI VISION:   I know that people have asked you this [next] question many times, but this is your first interview with SciFi Vision, so I've got to ask.

You're a young person early in your acting career, and you are starring on a show with Lauren Cohan and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. Can you talk a bit about working with these two  super experienced, fantastic actors? What it means to you as a younger actor?

LOGAN KIM:   Oh, it's incredible. It's like having a little masterclass. I can kind of learn from them and figure out what I want to do and how I want to grow. And I already have, honestly, been working with Lauren for so long, especially since I've had so many scenes with her. I get to see her process and how she does everything. And I'm like, “Oh, my God, that's so good.” And so I want to incorporate all that.

A big thing I got is music; music was a thing that she uses, and I was really into that. And I thought that was a great way of tapping into my emotions. Just having those little things, that has been super helpful as an actor and also just seeing how they deliver lines.

And every scene is always different. Every take is always different. It's so interesting. They never rehearse in one specific way, so they're always moldable.

It's just really helpful for me, honestly. And, you know, I'm so lucky. I'm so blessed to be able to be with all these people and learn from them, because everyone's had way more experience than I have. And so I'm just like, “Hey, guys, you do your thing and I'll just watch from the corner here.”

SCIFI VISION:   I think we're about out of time. Last question: if you have a Hershel playlist to help you get in the zone, what's on it?

LOGAN KIM:   OK, we got a lot of Alice in Chains. We got a lot of Deftones and probably My Chemical Romance. Little MCR.

SCIFI VISION:   Wow. That explains a lot, I think.

LOGAN KIM:   Yeah, it does. It really does.

SCIFI VISION:   Well, thank you very much for being with me today. We really appreciate it.