RECAP: #TheWalkingDead “The First Time Again” [Season 6, Episode 1]

AS IF the writers would rest on their laurels and pick up where we left off!  Instead, we are transported into what appears to be the near future.  Our remaining survivors, the ever masterful Morgan, and a host of new characters are in a quarry surrounded by thousands of walkers. Rick was pulling a dry run for an event that was supposed to be executed the next day.  As they are talking, someone begins yelling about a truck falling into the quarry.  Rick yells that they have to “do this now” when it is clear that the falling truck has cleared a path for the trapped walkers, who are now headed for Alexandria. 

The scenes alternate  between the dry run preparations (in color), and “current day” scenes of Alexandria (in black and white). 

ALEXANDRIA: We finally return to the night that changed everything and Deanna is not happy to see Fr. Gabriel. Her husband died at a meeting called because of the Father’s lie.  She is still in shock.  Abraham moves Reg’s body to the graveyard, pouring out a little liquor for him, later removing his ring.  Jessie and Pete’s sons, Ron and Sam, appear to be in shock.  An angry Ron storms off.  Tara is awake and gives us the first laugh of the night when she thanks God that Eugene’s hair is still in tact. Glenn and Nicholas return from the beat down in the woods to seek care at the clinic. In the end, all I can think of is poor Noah and his unkind end. It’s made worse when Tara asks for Noah, so that he can protect her from Eugene, who she jokingly says is freaking her out.   

There is sadness everywhere as Carl sits on a deck and  holds Enid hand. Looking at the map that led him to Rick, Morgan tells Rick he was right, it wasn’t over. Rick tells Morgan he doesn’t take chances, any more. Morgan tells him he shouldn’t.  Sasha passes by a plastered Abraham, who flashes her a peace sign.  It’s a new Sasha.  She flashes one right back.

DRY RUN: More running and a frantic pace. It’s hard to know what is happening, as everyone scatters and flares are going off. Daryl is up coming over a hill and we can hear the walkers behind him.  It sounds more like the roar of the ocean. 

ALEXANDRIA:  It is the day after Reg’s death. Rick and Daryl discuss the significance of the “W,” on the heads of the men Morgan met in the woods, and on the walkers at the Arno Foods plant. Rick thinks it is time to stop searching for people to bring back to town. Daryl does not agree, and looks displeased when Rick says that those outside of the walls have to take care of themselves, just like they did. 

DRY RUN:  Abraham looks worried about Sasha, who looks anxious. She wants to know why he got into the car with her if he was so worried about her behavior. She tells him that what they are doing now is living.  

ALEXANDRIA: Rick goes to see confined Morgan, who was taught to use a staff by a friend after parting company with Rick.  Rick apologizes for locking him away but Morgan understands and tells him they have to get to know each other, for the first time, again. As they are talking, a man named Heath, who has been on a run with his team, for the last couple of weeks, wants to be let into the compound.  Only after the threat of being beaten does Eugene allow him through the gates. Heath and grows increasingly uncomfortable as Eugene keeps rambling. We also meet Scott and Annie. As Heath walks away, Eugene compliments him on his “hair game” (braids ending in a long ponytail). He sees Heath as someone like himself.  Why am I loving this guy more this season?

Rick takes Morgan on a tour of the town and then to see Deanna when he hears shovels. Fr. Gabriel and Tobin were planning to bury Pete, as well, when Rick tells them that killers don’t get buried inside. Deanna agrees.  Unfortunately, Ron, is watching.  While loading the body in the car, Morgan reminds Rick that they are both killers.

DRY RUN:  We see a car and RV blocking a set of metal plates. Rick is sure the RV and panels will hold. While waiting for the walkers, Morgan asks Michonne if she took one of his protein bars when she was at his place (back in the small town) – he could have sworn there was one more peanut butter bar left.   Love the levity.  She clearly appreciates his humor. 

ALEXANDRIA:  Looking for a place to bury Pete, Rick thinks they should dump the body and go. Morgan tells him that’s not who he is, he knows Rick, but Rick asserts  that he doesn’t know him.  He even stops Morgan as they hear walkers in the woods. They walk until they come across the quarry.  Ron comes tearing through the woods with walkers following him. Rick tackles him to keep him safe and the walkers chasing him begin falling off the cliff. Rick and Morgan kill those who are still standing.

DRY RUN: Daryl leads his not so merry band of walkers down the road and is joined by Sasha and Abraham. 

ALEXANDRIA: Ron is there because he wants to know where his dad was buried. All three are amazed at the sight of the quarry. Rick realizes that Alexandria continues to exist because most of the walkers were trapped there. Rick stops Ron from walking back alone and reminds him of what will happen if the walkers catch him. The kid still looks torn, as if being a walker is a much better fate than being around Rick. They go back and bury Pete.

DRY RUN:  Glenn, Heath, and Nicholas have to clear out a building so that the herd inside doesn’t pull Daryl’s herd off the road. Nicholas trusts Glenn and tells Heath that unlike him and Aiden, Glenn knows what he’s doing.  (Glenn literally beat some respect into the guy).  Heath reminds Glenn it was supposed to be a dry run.  Glenn responds by telling Heath that he was supposed to be delivering pizzas (hey, did anyone remember that Glenn was a pizza delivery kid when the show started?).  Nicholas pulls the door to free the walkers a little at a time when they find that there is a steel door behind the glass doors. TROUBLE!  Daryl, Sasha and Abraham are fast approaching. 

ALEXANDRIA: Heath is explaining what he’s seen while out on the road, including people trapped in the quarry where they were camping before they turned.  Rick is warning all that when the trucks blocking the exits of the quarry go, the walkers will come straight for them.  The noise they make, now, is attracting more walkers even if they secure the trucks, as suggested by a resident named Carter.  Glenn wants Maggie to stay and help Deanna heal, for the community’s sake and because he wants to keep Maggie safe. Fr. Gabriel offers to help and is rejected.  Rick is labeled an untrustworthy wildman by Carter, but Deanna stands up for him and tells the others to listen.  Volunteers begin offering their support. 

Carter is still giving Rick grief about his plan -pointing out all  flaws. Eugene reminds them they have panels from the construction site.  Morgan reminds Carter that by helping Reg construct the walls, he has already done the impossible (#cheapflatterythatworks)  Carter  agrees to help build walls to control the march of the herd. 

DRY RUN: The panels work. Some of the walkers smash themselves into the walls – cracking their heads open, some get crushed under the heels of the herd, others follow as Daryl, Sasha and Abraham continue leading the parade of death. It is a tense time on the other side of the fence for Michonne, Rick, and Morgan.

ALEXANDRIA: The panels are going up, Rick is still eye-banging the newly widowed Jessie. That takes nerve. Daryl tells Rick that finding new people IS taking care of the group, but it’s his call. Carol is also reminding Rick that he is the person truly in charge. 

DRY RUN”  Glenn plans to work with Heath to clear out the dozen or so walkers in the building telling Nicholas to alert Rick if anything goes wrong and to try to  lure the walkers away.
ALEXANDRIA:  Maggie tells Tara about Nicholas, and the fact that Glenn won’t turn Nicholas in.  Tara is horrified but is reminded by Maggie about how she was once on the other side of the fence (at the prison) and now Tara is one of the most important people in her life.

DRY RUN” Heath and Glenn set the walkers free, in every sense of the word.  Nicholas, who was supposed to stay put, saves Heath, is then saved by Glenn, and finally takes out the last walker. Glenn looks like a proud papa watching Nicholas turn into a fighter, shedding his cowardly ways.

ALEXANDRIA: Morgan wants to know if Carol was a cop in ATL, with Rick. She is shocked by the question.  He tells her she is always watching, and seems ready to handle things — her homemaker smile and clothing doesn’t fool him.   

DRY RUN:  Abraham jumps out of the car when walkers start veering off the road. He runs through the woods to draw them back.  He runs back to the car and begins talking about Reg and Pete, he begins laughing because he  thinks he still has some of Pete’s brains in his ear.  Now it’s Sasha’s turn to look worried.  He gives her the “I’m living” line she fed him when she questions him. He lets her know he’s just grabbing the bull by the nutsack. #motherdick this guy’s dialogue! 

ALEXANDRIA: While watching the panels go up across the road, Rick gives his condolences to Deanna but she knows he wants more. He tells her that everyone needs to be armed, inside the gates. Just then walkers approach from the woods and Rick tells everyone to use their shovels, guns will attract more of them.  Carter and the Alexandrians become helpless. Rick’s group jumps to the rescue, last minute, following  Morgan, who  sees that Rick does take chances.

At the compound, Eugene overhears as Carter attempts to lead a mutiny. Carter wants to kill Rick before Rick kills them – Eugene is caught and Carter pulls a gun on him.  Just then, Rick, Daryl, and Morgan walk in.  Rick takes the gun from Carter, points it at his head,  asking  him if he thinks he’s going to take the community from him, Daryl, Michonne and the others.  Carter begs Rick to kill just him and spare the others (good thing Tobin already made it clear that he wasn’t in it with Carter).  Rick puts the gun away and asks that Carter tries working with them.  

DRY RUN:  Carter tells Rick he is right, the plan worked. Carter offers to keep watch on the front of the herd and is grabbed and bitten by a walker stuck in a tree.  His screams draw the herd off the road. 

ALEXANDRIA: Morgan and Rick are good again, so much so that Rick asks Morgan to move in and even lets him hold Judith.  He tells Morgan that he knows him.  Morgan knows Rick, too.  He knew Rick wouldn’t kill Carter, though Rick says that he wanted to kill him to not have to worry about what stupid thing Carter would do next.  He thinks people like Carter will die no matter what.

DRY RUN: Carter is still screaming.  Rick kills the walker and puts a knife to the base of Carter’s skull to stop the noise.  Gun fire sends the dead back to the road.

ALEXANDRIA: Jessie is counting guns at the armory, Rick is there to gather flares.  Jessie tells Rick that he can’t talk to her son the way he did and that he can’t touch him. He offers to help her and her sons learn how to handle guns, but she has made it clear that she is learning from Rosita.  She seems to be letting go of anything to do with him.

DRY RUN:  We are in the home stretch. Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham are going to draw the herd twenty more miles away. Everything seems to be going well until a horn blares. The sound is coming from Alexandria and is pulling the back half of the walkers toward the compound.  WHAT???? In all this time we haven’t heard a horn. What (or WHO) the hell is that?

 

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