The Walking Dead‘ season 5 will come to a temporary midseason conclusion “Coda“ this coming Sunday, but the franchise’s past and future weigh heavily on creator/executive producer Robert Kirkman. Not only has a recent interview brought to light the creator’s “regret” over a past season finale, but so too do we have an update on the shifting locations of ‘The Walking Dead’’s spinoff companion series.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Kirkman expressed regret over the season 1 finale “TS-19,” which saw Rick and the group taking brief refuge within the Atlanta CDC walls, as maintained by Dr. Edwin Jenner (‘The Americans‘ star Noah Emmerich). Their safe haven proved ominously short-lived, though Jenner would share with Rick a terrifying truth that wouldn’t come out until season 2 finale “Beside the Dying Fire,” that all dead will reanimate into walkers, regardless of bites.

Having established the same principle in the comics through different means, Kirkman has since re-thought the episode, which provided some scientific context for the virus, and alluded to continued efforts of scientists around the world, including France:

If I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have done the CDC episode. It possibly gave away too much information and was such a big change very early on in the series. I feel like there might have been a better way to wrap up the first season.

It ended up being a fun episode. I love the character of Dr. Jenner and thought Noah did an amazing job. But there were things in that episode that I think seem very much not of The Walking Dead world.

That said, Kirkman also specifically referenced the France name-drop as something potentially better explored with the 2015 companion series, which looks to take place at an earlier date in the zombie apocalypse, and almost certainly outside of Atlanta:

I’ve been careful in the comic series to not say what’s happening in other parts of the world. It’s something that’s going to be fun to explore in the spinoff series. But the fact that France is mentioned in that episode and other things like that, I probably would have steered away from that stuff if I had to do it all over again.

‘Walking Dead’ executive producers Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert will all take part in the new series, while ‘Sons of Anarchy’ and ‘Low Winter Sun‘ vet Dave Erickson will both co-write and executive produce, with Adam Davidson directing the pilot. We know that the series won’t be set in Georgia, but could potentially cross over with the main ‘Walking Dead’ cast in time, as Kirkman previously offered up a few thoughts as to what might bring the series together.

What do you think? Could ‘The Walking Dead’’s first season finale have been handled better? What might you like to see when the companion series debuts in 2015? Preview this Sunday’s midseason finale below, and give us your thoughts in the comments!

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