For those of you not caught up on the first half of the season, or on the mid-season premiere, I ask that you stop reading now and go get yourself current, because I’m going to spoil and I’m going to spoil hard.
The mid-season premiere of The Walking Dead begins with Daryl, Abraham and Sasha road tripping it back to Alexandria when they are waylaid by a biker gang (who knew there were so many motorcycles to be had at the end of the world?) led by a charismatic fellow who in turn claims the group’s guns for a man named Negan. Talk of Negan has been brewing ever since his arc took place in the comics, and rightfully so. While The Governor was no prince, Negan makes him look charming in comparison, so much so that I had to take a break from reading the comics. Let’s just say I’m...interested...in how things play out on television. I will say that the casual humor and swagger with which the biker fellow talks to our hardened heroes is very ominous, literally telling them to eat shit in big bites. The bravado doesn’t last long however, and while I did warn about spoilers, the way the group gets away is just too good for words.
Back in Alexandria, Rick, Michonne, Carl, Judith, Father Gabriel, Jessie, Sam and Ron are all holding hands and making nice while using an old trick in the survivor’s handbook to remain undetected by the walkers. Seeing that there’s too many to get through at their pace, Rick decides the best thing to do is to get back to the quarry and get some vehicles. Gabriel volunteers to take Judith back to his church and sit tight. When Michonne questions his grit, he responds with one of my favorite lines this season:
“I’m supposed to. I have to. I will.”
Gabriel has been a bit of a slouch when it comes to keeping people alive if you’ll recall, but Rick believes in him and off they go. Meanwhile Rosita, Tara, Eugene, and knocked out Carol and Morgan are holed up and thinking of a plan. Alpha Wolf had previously taken Denise hostage after Carol and Morgan had a difference of opinion regarding the value of human life. Carol comes to first and snaps to attention, taking Rosita’s gun to do a perimeter check. Morgan wakes up soon after, hopefully feeling like an ass.
We then see the progress of two odd couples, Glenn and Enid and Alpha Wolf and Denise. Both have different objectives and both have halves that are unwilling and afraid to go on. We see two sides of the survivor mentality in these scenes. You keep going because you HAVE to, because living is the only imperative, or you keep going because you carry the memories of your loved ones gone and you shoulder the responsibility to those who are still alive. The juxtaposition was very enjoyable.
Checking back in with our viscera laden daisy chain, we get our first big “HOLY SHIT” moment. Sam, who had previously begged his mother to let him come along instead of go with Gabriel, panics. Carol’s words ring in his mind and he freezes. Was this Carol’s intention? When she said those awful things to him, was she just trying to push away a nuisance child, projecting her own losses onto him, or did she see an inescapable weakness in him and was just giving fair warning? Whatever the reason, Sam becomes the walkers’ appetizer. Grief stricken and frozen herself, Jessie immediately becomes the main course. Rick, so unlucky in love, who had fought so desperately for a normal life and to protect the first woman he’d had feelings for since Lori, watches in agonized horror. But once he realizes Jessie was holding Carl’s hand, and Carl himself was dangerously close to the feeding frenzy, the Ricktatorship kicks back in and he wastes no time in hacking his beloved’s arm off to save his son. In the scuffle, Carl drops his gun.
Always a big fan of pointing guns at the people he blames for his problems, Ron takes the opportunity to take revenge for his drunk father, his irksome brother, and his poor mother who bore all their burdens. Alas, Michonne runs him through with her katana. While she might have believed for a moment that they could have had a normal life in Alexandria, killing Ron without hesitation was also the death of that chance at a normal life. The group comes first, the rest are just baggage. Unfortunately Ron pops a shot off before becoming walker dessert, and a moment I’ve been waiting for, for a long time, finally happens.
Carl gets his eye blown out. These things happen in such rapid succession that I was breathless by the time Carl turns to his father and collapses.
Scrapping the plan for the rock quarry, Michonne leads the charge back to the infirmary, going full samurai on walkers along the way. In the meantime, Carol and Morgan have a moment where she points out the hypocrisy of Morgan’s zen ninja turtle philosophy. He only lives that way to cope with his own demons, and while everyone alive has their own demons, their actions serve the group, whereas Morgan’s way of life is self-serving. Carol remarks that she should have killed Morgan, to which he replies that she can’t, highlighting a weakness in her own merciless ways. Between you and me, Carol could and would kill Morgan in a heartbeat.
Alpha Wolf and Denise make a break for the guard tower, and they almost made it. Denise is waylaid by a walker and Alpha Wolf goes back to save her, suffering a bite himself. She promises to save his life if they can get back to the infirmary. Making a pit stop to tourniquet his arm, Alpha Wolf muses that he almost made it out, and Denise points out that he went back for her and that maybe he did change. Perhaps hearing Morgan’s story moved him to have a newfound respect for life? We would have found out, but Carol popped two caps in Alpha Wolf’s chest as they made a break for the infirmary. I think therein lies the difference between Carol and Morgan’s way of handling problems.
Denise makes it back to the infirmary, where Heath, Aaron, and Spencer are hiding out. Not far behind are Rick and Michonne, with a cycloptic little sheriff in tow. No time to mourn the loss of her new friend, she gets to work on Carl. His son’s life hanging in the balance, his one shot at love in the zombie apocalypse dead, and everything overall being in a shitty state of affairs, Rick goes absolutely berserk.
One man alone against the zombie horde, Rick is possessed by blood fury. He fights tirelessly but the walkers keep closing in. But soon he is joined by Michonne, then Heath, Aaron and Spencer. Not wanting to be left out, Rosita, Carol, Tara, Morgan and even Eugene join in this last stand. Gabriel passes Judith on to someone else hiding in the church, inspired to do some righteous smiting himself. Here we see the survivors of Alexandria united finally, behind Rick. Their cozy suburban life thoroughly destroyed, they have only each other now.
Glenn and Enid finally reach Maggie, only to find her guard tower surrounded and about to topple. Glenn goes for the distraction while Enid climbs up with a rope. Mind you, this is the first time Maggie has seen Glenn since the failed trip to the quarry and the invasion of the Wolves and walkers. She wasn’t sure if he was alive or dead, and could only watch from afar as he is surrounded by walkers. I was incredibly tense during this scene. Were they not even going to be reunited? Would she have to watch him die from afar, would their last moment together be his sacrifice for her rescue? He can’t get lucky twice, after all…
I don’t mind telling you I stood up and cheered as the ravenous walker horde closing in on Glenn was mowed down by divine fully automatic gunfire from Abraham and Sasha, who had reached Alexandria in the very nick of time. But the hugs and handshakes would have to wait, as the newly reunited friends dump fuel from the tanker into Alexandria’s lake and lit it ablaze. A fairly symbolic action, as a montage of our heroes, men and women on fire, fight endlessly against a black background to finish the fight.
The next morning, those that were left stand in silent relief, and perhaps disbelief. At Carl’s bedside, Rick talks of a new world, of a bright future that he wants him to see. And, not to disappoint, Carl’s hand stirs to grip his father’s.
Overall this is what makes the show great. It’s a balance of tragedy and triumph, and the writers dole each out in different measurements. It’s not a perfect show so the measurements aren’t always right, but when there’s that right amount that has us biting our nails one moment and fist pumping the next, it’s great television. I can’t think of a more emotionally nerve wracking premiere and the ride was worth it.
But there are plenty of questions to be answered in the remainder of this season. Who are the Wolves, and who are the men who follow Negan? Are the Wolves expendable foot soldiers for Negan? If so, does that mean he has more people than Rick? Morgan and Carol’s way of doing things will come to a head, and when it does, who wins and who loses? Who would Rick side with? Will Alexandria have time to rebuild before Negan comes? And who’ll be his first victim? Comic readers think they might have an idea. Either way, as I’ve said before, this is going to be the most brutal trial our already harrowed heroes have had to face. Let the speculations begin!
Written by A Play On Nerds contributor, Jerry Herrera - Lover of horror, sci fi, and fantasy in that order. Semi-permanent Disneyland resident. I'm at least one of the droids you're looking for. Twitter: @FrankenJerry - Instagram: @GeraldoPedro