It sounds like the “bottle episodes” fans of The Walking Dead loathed in the show’s seventh season won’t be a problem in Season 8.
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The Walking Dead showrunner Scott Gimple has been surprisingly open about the events of the upcoming season, including the widespread focus on more characters fans can expect when the show returns. The “bottle episodes,” as fans call them, which have a singular focus on certain characters and eliminate screen time for other fan-favorites won’t bog down the series after Episode 100.
“Because of the narrative that we’re following … the story this season is really spread out among all of the characters,” Gimple told TVLine. “And the story shifts quite a bit in single episodes between lots of different characters on a consistent basis, which is a little more unusual for the show.”
Season 7 of The Walking Dead was burdened with balancing a huge number of communities and characters. Rather than tell their stories simultaneously through each episode, the series elected to visit one location per week, often leaving Rick Grimes and other major characters off the show for weeks at a time.
One week after Negan made his entrance by killing Abraham and Glenn, the series dedicated an entire episode to the Kingdom community and the introduction of King Ezekiel. A week later in Episode 7×03, audiences were taken to the Sanctuary to watch Daryl endlessly humiliated for The Cell episode. While the content of the episodes certainly wasn’t the issue, the frustration came from missing out on the rest of the characters whom the show is built upon.
Not to mention, the week after Carl hid himself in the back of a truck on an apparent suicide mission to Negan’s hideout, the following episode exclusively followed Tara in a new location for Episode 7×06 (Swear) which was the final straw for some fans. As a result, the episode was voted the worst of the series by fans at IMDb.
During The Walking Dead‘s Season 8 preview special on Sunday night, however, Gimple did tease a Carol-centric bottle episode is a possibility going forward but is not in the immediate plans.
The Walking Dead‘s sibling series Fear the Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9 pm ET on AMC. The Walking Dead will return for its eighth season on October 22, 2017. The Season 8 premiere will mark 100 episodes overall for the popular AMC series. For complete coverage and insider info all season long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.
