S06.E01: First Time Again

[Tara Ariano]

In the Season 6 premiere, Rick and the group continue to have trouble assimilating into Alexandria; and a new threat could bring them closer together or drive them further apart.

[Nashville]

What immediately popped to mind upon reading the above.

Yeah, I'm a little insane.

But it's one of the good kinds.

[HalcyonDays]

Season 6 is here everybody! Oct 11th heralds the returns of the 6th season of The Walking Dead, and here is your episode discussion thread for your posting pleasure.

 

This season's threads will operate as last season - a speculation/live chat thread open up until the entire episode airs, then the actual episode thread will be open and available for discussion.

 

Here is a quick link to the first episode thread --->  S06.E01: First Time Again - Pre-Air Speculation and Live Chat

 

All of the same rules as last season apply - DO NOT post any comic spoilers. We have a separate comic thread for that. Also, as always, be respectful and civil in your posts.

 

Enjoy the new season of Walking Dead awesomeness!

[Ohwell]

OK, smartass, badass Rick.  What now?

[SimoneS]

Wow, great premiere! I hated the black and white flashbacks, but great episode. The plan was going so well for so long. I just know that the Wolves have been watching them and are blowing the horn to sabotage their plan. Damn them!

Edited October 12, 2015 by SimoneS

[mustbekarma]

Seriously, the fucking idiot who blew the horn really needs to be fed to Walkers. Oh well, at least it didn't look like the whole herd changed direction.

[AimingforYoko]

Hi, Carter. Bye, Carter.

Of course they were in sight of the finish line when it all went to hell.

[bmoore4026]

Too many characters but Carter's dead, so there's that.  Poor Eugene.

[raven]

Ethan Embry will be on TD.

Edited October 12, 2015 by raven

[Straycat80]

Great first episode! The Wolves are blowing the horn. I can't wait to see what happens next. And I like how they are showing the airplane scenes that will tie into FTWD.

[mightysparrow]

Really could have done without the black and white.

 

Looks like Morgan's got the job as Magical Negro.  He's going to heal Rick, see through Carol and make sure they're all better people before he dies in agony.

[minamurray78]

So, we had to wait an hour and half to see what we knew was going to happen right from the start, the plan going askew.

 

I still liked it though.

 

there was like, no time jump from  last season's finale and this episode, right?

[placate]

That was boring.  The black and white a poor attempt to be artsy.  The whole episode was basically just zombie herding.  Why have a 90 minute episode when only 5 are interesting?  I think this episode is some how worse than the one where Andrea runs away for an hour.  The only good thing about this episode was that Heath ended up being pretty cute.

[natyxg]

I liked it. The back and white flashbacks got tiresome, but I still liked it overall. Shit is really gonna hit the fan in the next episode. Good!

 

So, since when is Tara so important to Maggie? Is my memory that bad or did they pull that out of their asses? Made me go "mmmm".

[bosawks]

Further evidence that "horn honkers" are assholes.

Particularly those of the suburban D.C. variety...

[NorthstarATL]

"This is the horn my father left me." Ron's final note to the Alexandrians.

That was an awesome premiere! Hate the awful timing of Rick being the only witness to Carter's lone wolf ploy ending with a face bite, as that is so contrived! But, otherwise, all the character moments were well handled, and the action was cool!

[SimoneS]

Wow, Nicotera said there were one thousands walkers. It looked like a lot, but I did not realize that it was so much.

[NorthstarATL]

Further evidence that "horn honkers" are assholes.

Particularly those of the suburban D.C. variety...

It could have been worse: a car alarm.

[natyxg]

That was boring.  The black and white a poor attempt to be artsy.  The whole episode was basically just zombie herding.  Why have a 90 minute episode when only 5 are interesting?  I think this episode is some how worse than the one where Andrea runs away for an hour.  The only good thing about this episode was that Heath ended up being pretty cute.

 

I think they knew it would be boring to show it all in chronological order because it would take too long to get to the actual zombies, so they changed it. The black and white was to differentiate past from present, but to me it did get to be annoying.

 

Still liked the episode enough, though.

[The Mighty Peanut]

I kept imagining old timey piano music in the Instagram hipster filter flashbacks, but good episode overall. I kind of want a mini-soap opera about the protein bar, preferably with musical interludes and elaborate dance sequences. If that's wrong...I don't want to be right.

Edited October 12, 2015 by The Mighty Peanut

[bmoore4026]

It's just occurred to me that AMC does a lot of black and white for flashbacks or flashforwards.

 

I wish they wouldn't.  Makes me think the cable's on the fritz.

[tennisgurl]

Wow! Great premier! The black and white was kind of lame (did someone just figure out how filters work?) but still, awesome action, some nice character beats, and Rick being crazy and badass! 

 

After being thoroughly disappointed by Fear the Walking Dead, it good to be home in the mothership. Those were 10000 Walkers were like a present to everyone who complained about the lack of Walkers in Fear. 

 

Rick literally almost laughed in that guys face when he found plotting to kill him. Like, he literally looked like he was about to burst out laughing hysterically. Thats cute, wimpy Alexandrians. That`s adorable you think you could take on Rick and his crew. 

Edited October 12, 2015 by tennisgurl

[SharonH58]

I stayed up till 10:30 for that?  No one but Carter (who wore a red shirt the whole show I think) said anything about what Rick did to Pete?  And let's throw Ron and Sam's dad out in the woods to rot.  It was a freaking accident.  Pete didn't mean to kill what's his name.  Where was Aaron?    The only purpose for this 90 mins was to show lots of zombies. 

[ghoulina]

Yay! My show is back to clean the bad taste of FTWD out of my mouth. SO many thoughts, this post will be a frantic mess. 

 

Lennie James is in the main credits, can I get a hell yes????

 

Band-aid Face Rick is super distracting. 

 

I wasn't sure about the B&W flashbacks juxtaposing the current, but I ended up liking how it all tied together. 

 

Sooooo many walkers. Who knew? Makes a hell of a lot of sense as to why ASZ was relatively quiet for so long. Daryl as the Pied Piper of zombies was awesome. Daniel Salazar, eat your heart out. 

 

So many funny moments as well:

 

Morgan : "Michonne, did you take my protein bar way back in season 3?"

 

Carol: "Ooooh, this is all so terrifying, dearie me". 

 

Father Pee Pants: "I'll hel...." Rick: "Pass!!!"

 

Ummmm, Baby Judith, did you get into Daryl's hair dye?

 

I'm really not sure what to think about Glenn and Maggie opting to give Nicholas a second chance and not try to get him exiled....and then Maggie comparing it to Tara being with the Guv. NOT the same thing. At all. But I guess Nicholas is trying, so we shall see. 

 

I REALLY don't get the thousands of side eyes Rick is getting for his actions. Please tell me when he has been wrong. What was he to do with Carter? Try to amputate half of his face? Or is it just that they feel his attitude about it is too callous, not that they disagree with his actual actions? Whatevs. I'm Team Rick. 

 

Totally Unfair Wolves sabotage. They're so fucking unfair. They're why we can't have nice things.

[nodorothyparker]

So their big plan was to lead the herd 20 miles away and what? Just leave them there? I didn't need 90 minutes of that.

[Ohwell]

I was bored, kept switching back and forth between this and football.

 

I'm glad the Wolves blew the horn to screw up Rick's master plan.  At this point, I really don't much care who gets eaten.  

 

I hope this doesn't come down to Rick vs. Morgan with Rick "winning."  I'm sick of him now.

[Raven1707]

 

Lennie James is in the main credits, can I get a hell yes????

 

Hell yes! I started smiling the moment I saw that, and I haven't stopped smiling since.

Edited October 12, 2015 by Raven1707

[raven]

 

I kind of want a mini-soap opera about the protein bar. If that's wrong...I don't want to be right.

Loved that whole exchange; Morgan being casual about his crazy time.  I liked the little character bits they dropped in - Tara/Maggie, Morgan/Carol, Abraham/Sasha, Daryl not quite being on board with Rick's plan.

 

I love me some Rick but he needs to be challenged. 

 

Really liked this opening; it was a setup for the inevitable something-going-wrong, but it was a good setup. 

 

Oh and we had HUMOR!!  Yay!  Yes, people would still make jokes in ZA.  You would really need to.

 

*shiny object interlude* - Michonne DID take a protein bar they're saying on TTD?  I thought it was a bag of chips, maybe both?  They have a "Morgan's Protein Bar" on TTD LOL.

Edited October 12, 2015 by raven

[natyxg]

So their big plan was to lead the herd 20 miles away and what? Just leave them there? I didn't need 90 minutes of that.

 

Since they are a herd the plan was to lead them away and they would've kept walking away from them.

Edited October 12, 2015 by natyxg

[SnoGirl]

I'm actually glad their plan went askew. At least we know they'll actually need to thin that massive herd. I do not get why they don't ever go on the offensive and get rid of the Walkers. One less Walker means one less eating someone alive.

I actually liked the flashbacks. A lot of things were resolved quickly. And they said a lot of ridiculous things too. The hair game was strong tonight.

Loved the mini family of Glenn, Maggie, and Tara.

Whose all living in Rick's house now? Michionne, Carl, Judith, Rick, and now Morgan. Is Carol there?

[sluggish neko]

So this is original flavor TWD showing FTWD what a real zombie horde looks like...

 

I'm annoyed that Noah-killer Nicholas is still alive. I'm afraid Glenn (& Maggie & Tara) will regret letting him off so easy in the future. The guy just acts shifty all the time. Does Glenn really have time for a pet redemption project?

[ghoulina]

So, since when is Tara so important to Maggie? Is my memory that bad or did they pull that out of their asses? Made me go "mmmm".

 

I think Tara has been pretty important to both her and Glenn since Tara helped reunite them. They haven't shown much of it, likely due to the size of the cast, so it's hard to feel it. But I get it.

[tomsmom]

Why the eff didn't they just fire bomb the shit outta that quarry and burn them up??? Ahhhhh!

Edited October 12, 2015 by tomsmom

[natyxg]

I think Tara has been pretty important to both her and Glenn since Tara helped reunite them. They haven't shown much of it, likely due to the size of the cast, so it's hard to feel it. But I get it.

 

I remember Tara and Glenn being close, it was Tara and Maggie which surprised me, but maybe my memory is just terrible. lol.

[thuganomics85]

I laughed for a few solid minutes when Gabriel tried to volunteer for the mission and Rick was basically like "Nope!  Ain't going to happen!  Sit your ass back down, asshole!"  I am so with Rick on that.

 

I will keep my Fear bashing to a minimum, so I will just say that it's kind of funny that I'm more interested in this new Heath character, compared to almost everyone on that other show.  Granted, a lot of that could be because he was played the same guy who played Dr. Dre in Straight Out of Compton this summer.

 

Totally knew Carter was a goner.  Bummed that they didn't find a way to get a brief scene with him and Sasha, because Ethan Embry and Sonequa Martin-Green worked together on Once Upon A Time years ago.  

 

Speaking of Sonequa, glad she finally got bumped up to the credits, along with Lennie James!  Yay, Lennie!  I love Morgan and everything about him.  Can't wait to see what he brings to the group.  I'm already liking his interactions with characters like Michonne and Carol.

 

Wasn't a fan of the black & white effects for all the flashbacks.

 

I'm guessing it's the Wolves who fucked up their entire plan.

 

Nicholas is either going to redeem himself; probably by sacrificing himself to save the others; or Glenn is really, really going to regret giving him another chance.

 

Annoyed that they had Maggie stay back, but I'm guessing she'll be more involved in the next episode.

[ghoulina]

I remember Tara and Glenn being close, it was Tara and Maggie which surprised me, but maybe my memory is just terrible. lol.

 

I think there was a brief moment in the church last season. But yea, like I said, I don't think they showed it a lot - it just makes sense to me. Maggie loves Glenn so she's close with the person who helped bring him to her.

[SoSueMe]

Okay, as I mentioned on the pre-air thread, why didn't they leave them in the quarry pit and bomb them or something? I wish someone would ask on Talking Dead.

[Iguessnot]

I stayed up till 10:30 for that?  No one but Carter (who wore a red shirt the whole show I think) said anything about what Rick did to Pete?  And let's throw Ron and Sam's dad out in the woods to rot.  It was a freaking accident.  Pete didn't mean to kill what's his name.  Where was Aaron?    The only purpose for this 90 mins was to show lots of zombies. 

He came with Michonne's sword. He was coming to do damage to someone.

[lulee]

Overall, it worked for me, but I'm left so annoyed at how perfectly inconvenient the horn noise was. Are the Wolves (or other culprit) not only spying on Alexandria but also psychic?

[sluggish neko]

Why the eff didn't they just fire bomb the shit outta that quarry and burn them up??? Ahhhhh!

 

That was my first thought too. Rick's plan was crazy high risk. That's a lot of walkers to let loose into the wild for other people to deal with-- which is an assy thing to do to other survivors. If they're all concentrated in one place, why not blow them up or make a fire pit or just find a better way to contain them in the great zombie pit. Fill it with concrete?

[SoSueMe]

Why the eff didn't they just fire bomb the shit outta that quarry and burn them up??? Ahhhhh!

Sorry, great minds and all that.

[Portia]

Sonequa Martin-Green is FINALLY in the fuh-reeeking opening credits! Hells yeah!

[tomsmom]

Annoyed that they had Maggie stay back, but I'm guessing she'll be more involved in the next episode.

I think it's because she's pregnant.

[grumpypanda]

I get that because of filming the seasons a year a part they have to use another baby the play Judith but couldn't they find another blond baby. Maybe it was because of the black and white but baby Judy definitely looked brunette and I swear she was blond before.

Also, when did Maggie and Tara get so close? Maggie was acting like they were BFFs and I barely remember them interacting last season.

I thought it was pretty cold to take whats his face's body out to the woods. The guy was a dick but he had two sons that loved him so what's the harm in burying him with everyone else. Morgan was right, they are all killers.

Overall, decent episode but I didn't really care for the black and white stuff. I just kept waiting for them to get back to the action happening in color.

Edited October 12, 2015 by grumpypanda

[CletusMusashi]

One thing I liked about the black and white: toward the beginning there were actually some night scenes that I could see.

[kikismom]

I stayed up till 10:30 for that?  No one but Carter (who wore a red shirt the whole show I think) said anything about what Rick did to Pete?  And let's throw Ron and Sam's dad out in the woods to rot.  It was a freaking accident.  Pete didn't mean to kill what's his name.  Where was Aaron?    The only purpose for this 90 mins was to show lots of zombies. 

pete didn't mean to kill reg; no he meant to kill rick. He went into their house and stole michonnes' katana and if Carl and Judith had been there who knows what that drunken asshole might  have done. A guy in real life who gets fired and takes a gun to his workplace may only intend to kill the management who fired him; but that doesn't  make it an accident to all the other people killed

[natyxg]

I think it's because she's pregnant.

 

I thought so too. I just... didn't remember if it was referenced last season or if it's some subtext they will clear up later.

[ghoulina]

I think it's because she's pregnant.

 

Same here. She said something to Glenn like, "That's not the ONLY reason" (why she needed to stay back). Or he said it. Definitely getting that vibe.

 

I get that because of filming the seasons a year a part they have to use another baby the play Judith but couldn't they find another blond baby. Maybe it was because of the black and white but baby Judy definitely looked brunette and I swear she was blond before.

 

No, she definitely looked way darker. I'm pretty sure they used two sets of twins last season, and both her blondish. I know your hair can darken as you age, but not in one day! LOL  My thought was - "Well, she's definitely Shane's".

[Ohwell]

One thing I did notice that was interesting was that Doc Porchdick's wife (can't remember her name) didn't seem to be all gaga over Rick as he might have wanted when they were talking.  She actually looked somewhat annoyed with him.  Maybe she doesn't want to go from an abusive husband to a power-hungry nutcase.

 

Rick is turning into the Governor.

[candall]

I'm going to say it:  I thought B&W flashbacks were a good idea.

 

They really NEEDED to start this show out with a big holyfuckingshit bang after the snoozefest that was FTWD.  And interspersing past and present kept things much more interesting than a straight linear story with all the chit-chat at the beginning and all the action at the end.  

 

If there had only been two basic locations, it would have been simple to keep straight with one color scheme, but I'll admit I would have suffered some confusion as to which timeline we were on if people had been popping up and going back and forth between all the fifteen or twenty different sets they employed. 

 

Flashbacks For Dummies.  I'll take it.