‘The Walking Dead’ Season 9 Premiere: A New Beginning

On Sunday night, AMC will premiere the ninth season of The Walking Dead with an extended episode.

The Walking Dead Episode 9×01 is titled, “A New Beginning.” The official synopsis for A New Beginning reads, “Rick and his group make a run into Washington D.C. and search for artifacts they will need to build the civilization he and Carl envisioned.” The episode is directed by Greg Nicotero on a script from Angela Kang.

Season Nine of The Walking Dead marks a pivotal year for the AMC zombie drama. For the first time in years, Scott Gimple is no longer in the showrunner position as Kang steps in to helm the show’s day to day creative choices.

“I also was such a fan of the pilot and so I wanted to kind of try to, aspire to, recapture some of that feeling of the silences and those beautiful wide landscapes, and just the loneliness that can be in the world,” Kang told ComicBook.com. “Except now, we’re in a part where we really see that the characters have found this group and they’re very tight with each other. So, you get to feel that the warmth between them while there’s also conflict.”

Furthermore, the season will be the last for Rick Grimes as Andrew Lincoln wrapped production on the series during the first half of Season Nine (which kicks off after an 18-month time jump from the Season Eight finale). Rick’s fate, however, remains a mystery. In his final season, Kang’s love for the early years of The Walking Dead will shine through as it offers feelings similar to Season One.

“Without a doubt,” there are vibes from the show’s first season, Lincoln said. “I think there were a lot of the pilot episode that was reminiscent of this opening episode and also a couple of other episodes, too. We have a few surprises as we both know but we’re not allowed to talk about.”

Working under Kang has Lincoln and the cast quite enthusiastic about the coming episodes. “We loved it,” Lincoln said. “We have to talk about Angela Kang if we talk about this season because she is the creative force this season. She’s been on the show since Season Two and I think she’s breathed new life into it and given us a collaborative feel on set and also just an energy. A real positive energy. It feels like the show that I always thought we would get to when I shot the pilot in Atlanta nine years ago.”

The Walking Dead returns for its ninth season on Oct. 7, 2018 at 9 pm ET. For more updates and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter!