The world's a fascinating place right now.
That's one of the benefits of having many seasons behind you, is you have this wealth of characters that you can reintroduce, and that have a history with your current regulars, so you don't have to start from scratch.
The writing, acting and the directing all complement each other and make each other better. It's one of those amazing instances where everything seems to come together.
One of the things you learn very early in writing for television, especially, is that compressing the story is always a good idea.
