The Walking Dead: First Time Again (6x01)

This was a very solid opening episode. It managed to pick up where we left off, but also skip forward into something new and invigorating. I'll start with a few concerns, but for the most part I'm happy!

Cons:

There are a lot of characters in this show, and this premiere added even more. There's a group of people who belong to the Alexandria community that come back from a scouting trip. They've been absent since before Rick and his group arrived, so they are strangers to our main cast of characters. That's a totally fine idea, but I still feel like I'm reeling from all the new characters from last season, so it's a little difficult to keep track of yet more newbies. Hopefully things will slow down at some point soon, so we can spend some time with all of these new characters.

On a similar note, the overcrowding means that we got pretty much no Carl, and very little of Michonne, Carol, Maggie, etc. It's frustrating to come back after such a long time away and not get to spend time with many of my faves.

Pros:

This entire episode is structured through flashbacks. We see the time right after the catastrophic Alexandria meeting, where Rick killed Pete, and Reg lost his life. As Rick and Morgan (who has finally caught up with Rick) go outside of the gated community to bury Pete, they discover an enormous group of Walkers blocked by a couple of huge trucks. If this quarry stops being blocked, the hoard of Walkers will head straight towards Alexandria. Rick goes back to the group and comes up with a plan to draw the Walkers away. There's a lot of resistance, since it seems risky, but Rick manages to convince Deanna that they need to lure the Walkers away, or eventually they will get through and swamp the town.

Interspersed with these scenes, we see the "present day," where Rick and the others are executing this plan. It involves Daryl on his motorcycle, and Sasha and Abraham in a car, herding the Walkers away, while Glenn takes a group to dispatch other Walkers, so the noise doesn't draw the herd in the wrong direction. As the episode ends, a loud siren from Alexandria starts going off, and it causes the hoard of Walkers to start heading for Alexandria. Uh oh! All that planning for nothing!

I loved the plot. The juxtaposition between the black-and-white Alexandria scenes, and the color present-day scenes was really powerful. The entire episode had great focus on one clear objective - save the town from the Walkers in the quarry. But through that very simple premise, we saw a lot of complex dynamics coming out to play.

The character of Carter was one of the strongest parts of the episode. He leads the dissident group of Alexandrians who think that Rick's plan is crazy. I liked him because in a lot of ways, he's right. He and the other Alexandrians don't really have a lot of reasons to trust Rick. He's pretty intense. Eventually he helps Rick, but during the effort to herd the Walkers away, Carter dies. He gets bitten in the face, and Rick stabs him in the neck to stop him from making noise as he dies. Even though Carter wasn't on the side of the heroes, per say, I definitely understood his perspective. I'm sure he's not the only one who feels apprehensive about Rick.

Morgan and Rick! Reunited at last. It's so crazy to have a character with such longevity show up again. This was the first person Rick met when he woke up in an apocalyptic wasteland. The two of them explore the tensions in their relationship. They're stuck in that strange place between knowing each other and regarding each other as strangers. Morgan says he still sees inherent goodness in Rick, but that becomes more complicated when Rick stabs Carter. I can't wait to see how Morgan re-integrates into this show.

Sasha and Abraham had some good moments. Sasha is still angry and off-balance, but Abraham isn't exactly Mr. Responsible either. I liked the scenes with the two of them in the car, herding the Walkers away from the quarry. One of the advantages of having such a big cast is that we can explore a lot of really interesting relationships. Abraham and Sasha haven't had much screen time together before, unless I'm misremembering. Could be an interesting relationship.

Carol and Daryl didn't have a lot to do, and they were never on screen together (boooo), but I still appreciated the little moments that we did get. Carol is continuing to play timid, in order to garner trust in the Alexandrians. I can't wait to see how far she'll take this strategy, or if it will blow up in her face. Daryl gets into an argument with Rick about their future - Rick wants to protect his own, but Daryl says that it's necessary to keep going out there and looking for more people. I'm inclined to side with Daryl on this one, but as is often the case with this show, I really understand both viewpoints.

Humor shout-out: Tara awakens from her coma - thank God - and when she sees Eugene she comments that she's relieved nothing has happened to his hair. That was so precious!

Tara and Maggie had the sweetest moment ever. Maggie talks about how one of the Alexandrians had gotten Noah killed, and how he'd later tried to kill Glenn. They have this really powerful conversation, where Maggie reminds Tara that they were on opposites of the fence at the prison, when all that crap went down. Now, they're family. I loved this reminder of how much people can change.

There are a lot of plot threads hovering, undefined, in this episode. Rick's relationship with the widowed wife of the man he murdered, for example, could be interesting. Deanna and Rick trying to share leadership could be interesting. Morgan, Carol, Daryl, Sasha, etc... so many characters with so many interesting possibilities. I'm worried about overcrowding, but I'm mostly just excited to see where all of this goes.

8/10