Seven years ago, The Walking Dead made its premiere on AMC and instantly became a pop culture phenomenon. This October, the show will be returning to AMC airwaves for its eighth season, and the next new episode that plays out on TV screens will be special for another reason beyond the fact that it's the season 8 premiere: that first episode is also episode 100 of the series.
As a fan of the show, I'm not sure how to feel about that. I'm glad that it has been around for 100 episodes, but an episode 100 also sounds like the perfect time for the show to do something devastating. Something like Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman did with issue 100 of the comic book series the show is based on. The consolation here is that the character death that shocked Walking Dead readers in issue 100 already happened on the show, in the season 7 premiere, so chances are that the season 8 premiere will be less shocking and disturbing than that one was.
Showrunner Scott M. Gimple has said that viewers can expect the first episode of the season to be action-packed, and the action will continue on for several episodes. Gimple told Entertainment Weekly:
I had us embrace a really action-heavy story for several episodes in a row. And even what I would call the quieter episode, which is episode 5, even looking at that, it still doesn’t feel chill and introspective. We’re pushing ourselves to structure the stories in different ways, or at least, different ways than we’ve done in a long time. It’s action on action on action."
While that sounds good to me, I'm still nervous to see if any beloved characters are going to be killed in the war that is breaking out on the show.
I'm approaching episode 100 with a mixture of excitement and trepidation, but the cast have reacted to the filming of it with happiness and appreciation for the show's fans, as you can see in the video below.
The Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, October 22.