The Walking Dead has an enormous amount of pressure to deliver
a quality television show. Each year it
seems the madness for the show grows and they have to keep upping the stakes to
keep everyone engaged. Season five’s first episode had some of the most gruesome and visceral moments ever shown on normal cable television. Not much could have
topped that viewing experience. The first episode of season six didn't quite
measure up to season five’s opening. It did however do a great job of being
entertaining and setting up the rest of the season.
The opening scene at the quarry set the stage for everything
to come. We were thrown into a chaotic scene and not given any reference for
what was going on. The use of flashbacks to show the buildup to the first part
of the episode was well done. The decision to show the flashbacks in black and
white was an intelligent way of informing the audience what events happened in
the past. If they would not have used this method the episode would have become
confusing. This simple device separated the past and present and allowed the
story to progress at a good pace. The action all happened in the present and
was displayed with color and vibrancy. The past was shown in black and white
which added a filter to the events.
The good character moments this week all happened in the
past. Most of the great interactions where between Rick and Morgan. They
started to see if they could co-exist and be friends with what they had become.
Morgan is now the more stable individual, while Rick is more like Morgan in
possibly my favorite episode of the series: Clear. The scene on the porch where
Rick talks to him and gives him Judith was pitch perfect. You think Rick had a
moment of sanity and humanity by not killing Carter. He actually just realizes
he doesn't have to pull the trigger, the world he now lives in will destroy
Carter. It’s a chilling moment, and shows just how much the world has destroyed
the man Rick once was.
Though we do see some humanity leaking back into Rick. He
doesn’t want to bury Peter, but does once he realizes what it will mean to his
son Ron. The man was trash, but he was still the boy’s father and Rick is still
a good enough leader to see the value in appeasing the boy. He also cares about
Jessie and wants her to learn to protect herself. You can almost see joy in
Rick’s face when Jessie says she is going to fight. It’s tinged with sadness
since he won’t be the one to teach her, but he’s still happy about her wanting
to fight.
Glen and Nicholas was the other big storyline of the episode.
Glen probably should have killed Nicholas for the crap he has pulled. He
deserves to die for trying to kill Glen and for being responsible for killing
Noah. However Glen can’t bring himself to do it, because unlike Rick, Glenn
still has his humanity. Maggie grounds Glenn, and he is probably going to
become the moral compass for the show. Which might mean he could shortly be on
the chopping block. I can see Glenn being the bridge between the people of the
town and Rick’s group. He might become the overall leader with his new connection
to Nicholas. The tractor store displayed just how loyal Nicholas has now become
to Glenn. Nicholas is going to listen no matter what, because of the debt he
owes to Glenn.
The other characters take a back seat this week. Daryl only got a few lines telling Rick they
should continue the search for other survivors to make the community strong. It’s
one reason I think they are going to repel the zombies now heading for the town.
The plan may have failed, but I don’t think they would have had Daryl make
these comments if the town was going to fall. I think they are going to survive
the attack next week in an all-out zombie kill fest. After this they will
regroup and discover where the horn came from. My thought is The Wolves have
been watching and timed the horn blow perfectly to disrupt the herd. The show
will switch gears in the third or fourth episode to build up the conflict with
the mysterious group.
The only part of the episode I didn't really care for was
the Sasha and Abraham story. The storyline seemed shoehorned and didn’t fit the
overall tone of the rest of the episode. It’s understandable to show’s Sasha’s
recovery with Abraham, but it just didn't flow or fit. It’s a small nitpick, but
I think the story could have been cut out and the episode wouldn’t have lost
anything. It almost seemed they were stretching for content to get the show to
ninety minutes. They should have just given us more zombie kills instead.
There wasn’t a shortage of gruesome walker kills though.
While not an over the top episode, the kills were well done. It was interesting
to learn during Talking Dead last night just how they made up so many zombies
for the episode. Some of the best kills where from the tractor scene and when
Rick has to defend Peter. Morgan gets in on the action by fighting off a few
walkers when the people of Alexandria aren’t able to defend themselves.
While this season’s opener didn’t have the high tension or gruesomeness
of some of the past first episodes, it was still and enjoyable ninety minutes
of television. I may have wanted just a bit more from the episode, but this is
just having high expectations for the show. The next episode should be nothing
but action and tension as the town has to repel the walker horde. This
installment set up the season and what’s to come. It had good character moments
and great special effects. In other words, just another entreating night of watching
The Walking Dead. Here’s too many more!
What did you think of tonight’s episode? Comment and let me
know. Share, subscribe, and like if you enjoy my long winded ramblings.
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