DEN OF GEEK: So this episode certainly continues your tradition of coming back from a break in a crazy, different sort of way. It makes sense to get some distance after the big moment you go out on in episode nine with Gail, but was this flashback idea always the plan? Was anything else, like a Lewis backstory episode considered?

ANDY BOBROW, Executive Producer: We really had not planned on doing a standalone guest-star episode this year. In fact, the next episode up, episode 311, was intended to be our mid-season premiere. We shot it (and it’s a great one, you’ll see) and we had it slotted for the mid-season premiere up until pretty recently. It was late November when we learned that Kristen was actually interested, but the whole thing kept threatening to fall through over money or scheduling. By the time we had a signed deal with Kristen, it was Christmas and we were already shooting 315.

When we decided to pursue Kristen, the plan was to use her to end the season somehow, so we scheduled her to shoot the final production week of the season. And then as we were getting closer to a deal, like late early December, we decided if we really get this actress, we should give her a whole episode and air it first, like we did with Jason last year. It was very freeing when we decided to just rip ourselves off and do the standalone trick again. Now, I guess you could say the solo-surprise-guest-mid-season-premiere is our thing. I’m happy to do one next year if we get the chance.

Where did this idea of this whole Pamela Brenton character come about and how much of her was coming from Kristen?

MAXWELL KESSLER, Writer: It was more of a writer’s room thing, I think. We developed this idea of a rich, out of touch lady having to deal with the reality of the apocalypse—someone who’s always had the ability for others to solve her problems for her suddenly unable to even spend her money. The idea provided joke after joke, so that’s how we knew there was something there.