Why Sunday's 'The Walking Dead' Episode Is Very Important

Sunday's episode of The Walking Dead is co-written by Angela Kang, the series' future showrunner, making it important for fans to tune in for a taste of her storytelling.

Kang has written a number of episodes of The Walking Dead in the past, including a few more memorable episodes such as Still, Sing Me a Song, and, most recently, The Big Scary U. As vastly different as those three episodes are, each one comes with dialogue heavy character development. Episode 8x10 will be no exception.

The upcoming episode is titled, "The Lost and the Plunderers." In it, Rick Grimes will deal with the aftermath of Carl's death but will hardly be the only focus of the episode. Michonne, Enid, Aaron, Negan, Simon, Jadis, and others get significant screen time. Some of those characters will see some considerable development, as dialogue and events reveal details of some which fans never knew or would have predicted. It will be a sign of Kang's writing style and possibly how she will oversee the AMC when she becomes the showrunner for Season Nine.

"I don't know if there's any sort of shift in storytelling or any of that kind of stuff," executive producer Greg Nicotero said on ComicBook.com's After the Dead. "Listen, Angela [Kang] has been with us since Season Two. She's written some unbelievable episodes. You know, I worked with her on the episode where Dale dies. It was one of the first that she had written, and one of the first that I had directed. So, she's got a great sense of story."

As noted, Kang has a grip on story through characters. "She knows the characters, she knows the actors, she really respects them," Nicotero adds. "We're excited about this. It's a new change, and I think everybody is kind of ready to get back to work. We really want to see where this season is going to go. We're excited about it."

Former showrunner Scott Gimple takes a step back from directly having his hands in the creative beats of The Walking Dead for more of a grand scheme with the brand. "Scott has sort of taken this role as the Chief Content Officer, which I think is a fancy title," Nicotero said. "Basically, anything Walking Dead-related from here on in, Scott will have his fingerprints on it. I think it's a good opportunity to preserve the brand, and to keep it vital for years to come. And that's something that's important to us."

The Walking Dead airs Sunday's at 9 pm ET on AMC. Fear the Walking Dead will debut its fourth season after The Walking Dead concludes its eighth, at 10 pm ET on April 15. For complete coverage and insider info all year long, follow @BrandonDavisBD on Twitter.