 " Vatos " was directed by Johan Renck and written by Robert Kirkman ; this episode became Kirkman 's first writing credit for the series . " I was pretty happy that the first death in the show was in an episode that I got to write , " he stated . " That was kind of cool . " The episode 's script was heavily modified by Kirkman and series creator Frank Darabont prior to airing . Neil Brown , Jr. initially collaborated with producers on directing the episode but eventually pulled out of the project . 
