While the beginning of spring brings life and renewal into a new year, for us “Walking Dead” fanatics, it also marked a bitter end. It’s hard to believe that we’ve been waiting since the end of March for Season 6 of the record-breaking zombie drama to begin. Though truly appropriate that now the leaves are starting to wither, die off, and fall from the trees, this favorite show has been reborn. Last night’s episode, “First Night Again,” reminded us all why this is such a bloody great show. Here are ten takeaways (**SPOILERS AHEAD**).
1. Rick is in charge, but…
It’s taken some casualties from their side and his, but Rick’s managed to get the residents of Alexandria to wake up and follow his lead about life in this new zombie-ridden world. That will include weapons training and dangerous missions to eradicate walkers (and living threats), which is where we find our large co-mingled group at the start of this season’s first episode. He’s got a set agenda and a take no-prisoners philosophy, but Daryl and Morgan, allies for sure, have opinions of their own, which will likely come to clash with Rick’s, setting up near-future conflicts.
2. There will be blood.
Lots of blood-splattered faces last night which the wearers seemed in no hurry to wash off. Human blood, zombie blood, it doesn’t really matter. Gore awaits our cast this season, and episode 1 is just a red-faced preamble. The gang may have moved far away from that creepy hospital from last season, but we expect them appearing in many future episodes as if they’ve served in some war-torn emergency room dripping from head to toe.
3. Daryl is fearless.
Last night’s episode featured a bold plan that turned from a dry run into an active mission very quickly. We’ve seen herds of walkers before, but never like this, proving that if you want to avoid legions of the undead during a zombie apocalypse, stay away from quarries. And while the sheltered residents of Alexandria wanted to turn tail when they realized this was no longer a drill, Rick’s crew kept them on task. At the head of that crew was fan-favorite, Daryl, leading an arena’s-worth of zombies away from their homestead on his slow-moving motorcycle. And while we were sweating from the edge of our seats, Daryl was not, looking like a chill grand Marshall of this parade from hell from the perch his unprotected chopper.
4. Carol is taking her homemaker act as far as it takes her.
So many great characters in this great show, and Carol is one of the greatest. When the gang settled into Alexandria last season, true heroine Carol immediately presented herself to her new neighbors as a timid woman to appear unnoticeable and be underestimated. (Except for the little boy she threatened to toss out to the zombies if he squealed on her for stealing guns.) That act continues, even with all that has transpired in the short time they’ve been taken in. But Morgan is also on to her, which will set up an interesting dynamic between both this season.
5. Carl is a goner.
Chandler Riggs, and his character, Rick’s young son Carl, have taken a lot of beatings by critics and fans alike. While Carl has been lambasted for his naive recklessness that has led to others’ peril, Riggs has endured a lot of negative attention about his acting range. As this bad press intensified, Carl’s screen time has visibly diminished. He was barely given anything to do last season, while Beth, who we thought would be forever relegated to the background, developed a juicy storyline before she ultimately got shot in the head. Carl was conspicuously missing again from last night’s action. And since ‘The Walking Dead’ always needs to kill off someone big each season, Carl’s demise will fill that gap nicely.
6. Eugene will continue to delight.
While Carl’s recklessness has earned him derision, Eugene’s fearfulness, deception, and inherent troublemaking has only further endeared him to fans. Maybe it is the hair. Eugene’s antics could have isolated him from the group as well as the audience, but there’s something about that guy, maybe because he kind of sounds and looks like Elvis(?), that makes us love him more and more. Even though he lied to do it, and then sabotaged a bus that would get them there, the gang wouldn’t have ventured out to Virginia if it wasn’t for him and found the potential safety of Alexandria.
7. Maggie might be pregnant.
Glenn didn’t want Maggie going on the mission so they could keep a representative from their group around Alexandria and also for something unspoken and vague. While that can be interpreted as his simple worry over her well-being, it might have something to do with a bun and an oven. Unexpected pregnancies are usually poorly timed, but none so much as those during a zombie apocalypse. And in addition to morning sickness, tense drama would be another unpleasant side effect here. Sure, Lori’s pregnancy brought us the adorable Judith in Season 3, but it didn’t do good things for Lori.
8. ‘The Walking Dead’ would have looked great on TV in the ’60s
Last night’s episode was a non-linear back and forth between the present and the recent past. In order to delineate between the two, the past was presented in black and white. Though we don’t get to see that un-pigmented presentation much anymore – maybe some foreign films or if the remote gets stuck on TCM at midnight – it certainly made a statement. And with black and white zombie attacks like the ones we saw in this episode, ‘The Walking Dead’ would probably have out-rated the similarly hued bygone broadcast offerings – like ‘Perry Mason’ or the first season of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ – as it does to its technicolor network counterparts today.
9. Best laid plans will always, always go awry.
While preparing for episode one’s mission may have bonded the Alexandria group with Rick’s and shown the sheltered townsfolk that the new guy is on to something and they need to reevaluate and toughen up to survive this new world order, the lesson to expect the unexpected quickly comes to bear in full force when their drill turns into the real deal right before their unprepared eyes. Now they’re on the move, driving thousands – thousands! – of zombies away from their town and even though this all happened a lot sooner than they expected, not counting a manageable glitch here and there things are finally going just according to plan, right? Hell no! Someone’s got bad intentions and a very loud automobile horn and the care the group took to quietly lure then zombies away has been summarily thwarted. And consequently, next week things look like they’re about to get even worse.
10. Do not let Rick’s group into your camp.
Remember life on the farm? A noble veterinarian and his lovely family were living the good life in the wilds of Georgia, unseen by any zombie except the ones they’ve precariously and secretly kept locked up in the barn? It was simpler times then. But as idyllic as possible during the end of the world. Then Rick Grimes and his funky bunch show up and in no time this haven is overrun by walkers and literally ablaze. Remember life in the prison? Some ignoble convicts have managed to keep themselves safe behind their previously despised bars while the rest of the free world has fallen? Then Rick/funky bunch show up and within just a few episodes, they are all dead. And let’s not even mention Father Gabriel’s church. Sure he’s got a great crew with great intentions but an awful track record for keeping their hosts’ sanctuary impenetrable. Alexandria now seems no different with thousands – thousands! – of zombies poised to pay them an unwelcome visit.
