Photo : Gene Page ( AMC )

AMC has a minor problem on its hands with its upcoming season of The Walking Dead, with the much-publicized news that star Andrew Lincoln is leaving the series after nine seasons threatening to completely overtake any other stories the show might want to tell. (Like, has anyone ever asked if man is the real monster here ? J ust a passing thoug ht.) So far, it looks like the series is hoping to tackle the presumed departure of gizzled “ Carl!” -shouter Rick Grimes head-on, though, with a combination of obfuscation and distraction, revealing a poster today suggesting that the series is getting a pretty serious change of venue sometime soon.


So while, obviously, we’re all very invested in Rick’s new haircut, and what it might mean for his possible mortality , the real takeaway here seems to be the fact that the gang is headed to Washington, presumably to do some sightseeing among the gore-covered cherry blossoms. And while there’s a little voice in the back of our heads steadily chanting “ZOM-BIE CON-GRESS, ZOM-BIE CONGRESS, ” we’re also a little distracted by that ominous helicopter hovering in the background, and this tweet from the show’s official account:


(That one might be about Lauren Cohan, though.)

The long-running zombie series is dealing with major changes behind the scenes, too; this’ll be Angela Kang’s first season as showrunner, taking over for Greg Nicotero. The series debuts its ninth season in October.