The ongoing second season of The Walking Dead is unquestionably better than the first, if a little unambitious. One of the biggest mysteries in recent TV history is why AMC canned the big name behind their biggest hit ever and what exactly he wanted to do that rubbed them the wrong way. A recent email exchange between Ain’t It Cool News and Frank Darabont himself may shed a little light on that, as he laid out his plans for a sweeping season opener with almost no participation from the already huge ensemble cast. It’s a pretty great idea, but it sounds really expensive, and it’s pretty obvious that executives already jittery about their big hit being off the air for nearly a year would want to hop right back in with the characters the audience already identifies with.