There’s already high praise coming in for The Walking Dead season 4 via someone very close to its production.

The Walking Dead special effects supervisor Greg Nicotero says in a new interview with AMC that season 4 of their hit zombie show is “the best season yet.” Nicotero directed The Walking Dead‘s season 4 premiere episode.

In this new behind-the-scenes video covering the first few days of The Walking Dead’s season 4 production, the crew discuss new showrunner Scott Gimple as well. Crew members note that before getting the job of showrunner, Gimple wrote two of the show’s critical episodes: “Clear,” in which Rick finds Morgan, as well as the episode in season 2 where Sophia comes out of the barn as a zombie.

For the season 4 premiere, Gimple wrote an action sequence that co-executive producer Denise Hill thinks is “going to be really really spectacular.”

The crew also tell a great story of how they offered Nicotero the directing job for season 4, episode 1 but he mistakenly missed their big announcement.

“We have an obligation to our audience to keep it fresh,” says Nicotero later in the video. “We have some new people coming in I’m really excited about. There’s some great character turns, some really good twists, that will really delight the fans.”

Some of the new characters, as alluded to in the b-roll of the below video, include those who weren’t series regulars in season 3 but now are in season 4. Namely: Tyreese, Sasha, and Beth.

The Walking Dead season 4 begins airing this fall on AMC. The cast and crew will hit San Diego Comic-Con next month to talk about the show with fans. It’s expected they’ll share an exact premiere date and first-look trailer.