With season 8 of “The Walking Dead” all wrapped up, it’s not a secret that this season wasn’t the show’s best year onscreen. With the announcement that Scott Gimple will be replaced by writer Angela Kang, fans are optimistic about a potential new direction for the show, especially after the prolonged “All Out War” with Negan came to an abrupt end in the season finale. Here are some things viewers would rather see in season 9 of the hit AMC drama.

1. Stick to the storyline

For the past two seasons, writers have thrown major curveballs at viewers, with the most recent being Carl’s tragic death introduced in the mid season 8 finale. Despite killing off a main- and one of the few original characters left- he isn’t killed in the comics by author Robert Kirkman in which the show is based. Additionally, in the season 7 premiere last year, writers decided to axe Abraham along with Glenn despite Negan only murdering Glenn in the comics. Although it’s understandable that writers want some kind of shock value or surprise – especially because views are plummeting- killing off a character that plays an essential part in the comics means that writers are going to have to get creative with the storyline; the writers of the show should stick the books that fans all love– maybe viewers will think twice before changing the channel.

2. More intimate moments between characters

One reason why the earlier seasons of “The Walking Dead” was so magical was the fact that characters made friendships, laughed, and cried together despite the world falling apart. Little moments reflecting the normality of everyday life- such as Lori and Andrea preparing lunch in the farmhouse way back in season 2- showed that these characters were simple and normal human beings, leaving fans hoping that they would make it out of the apocalypse alive. Watching this season felt like watching a whole different show- all of the dialogue and interaction between characters were just “We’ve got to fight” with long, drawn out pauses between them to build tension and intensifying the danger awaiting their fate. Additionally, many shots were of the characters just running with weapons in hand, sneaking up and wiping out the enemy. The show treated these people more like rigid, heartless soldiers than longtime friends and family suffering tragic losses almost every other day.

3. More screen time with Maggie and Rick

What both Maggie and Rick have in common is the fact that both have suffered serious losses within the last two seasons. Despite these major life-changing experiences, it’s almost as if the writers just glossed right over Rick’s and Maggie’s grieving periods. The death of a child and an expecting father should mean that these characters should be beside themselves and the writers should acknowledge these emotional moments in their lives. Although fans don’t want to see their favorite heroes in agony, it adds a deeper, more emotional level to a show that for the past season has mainly focused on exchanging gunfire instead of condolences. Two separate times fans have seen what they call “Crazy Rick” when Lori and Glenn died in seasons 3 and 7 respectively. This is an open opportunity for writers to show a longtime friendship grow closer because both are suffering unimaginably.

4. Diverse dialogue

Like mentioned before, conversations between characters- especially the minor characters that writers think viewers care about- have been very dry. Characters say maybe a couple of words between each other, but most of the time they’re just monologues about how “Negan must die” and “we’re gonna get through this”. What might be the most infuriating thing about the dialogue in this show is the fact that King Ezekiel and Morgan talk in inverted, 18th century style English that is hard to believe is used in casual conversation between friends and acquaintances. Writers should ditch the drawn-out monologues and instead make the show- although unbelievable based on its plot- a lot easier for viewers to relate to and and enjoy like the earlier seasons of “The Walking Dead”.