As I'm beginning to write this article, it is currently 8:00PM on February 14th. To most people, today is Valentine's Day, but to me it is simply the mid-season premiere of season six of The Walking Dead. The episode began with a stand-off between Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham against a group of guys on motorcycles. At this point, all we know about them is that their supposed leader's name is Negan. Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham are clearly outnumbered and are forced to surrender their weapons to the mysterious group of men. Guns are pointed at Sasha and Abraham, and for a second I worry for these fictional character's lives. Then, out of nowhere, there's an explosion and every member of the enemy group has been blown to pieces. Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham are unharmed, of course. Oh, and this all happens within the first five minutes of the show.
From there, the tension, the violence, and the anxiety only builds. Back in Alexandria, the group is split up and the town is flooded with walkers. Moments after Sam begs to accompany his mom, telling her that he can handle the "mega herd" of walkers they were surrounded by, he freaks out. It seemed like the likely trigger of Sam's panic occurred when he saw a walker of a young boy. This scene and the ones that follow, contains a whirlpool of emotions- and not very good ones. Sam's death occurs while his mom and older brother are watching- his mom is even holding his hand throughout this. And as if that is not enough of a heartache for the audience, Jessie let's out a chilling scream and she too gets bitten and eaten by walkers. What happens after Jessie is killed feels like a blur, and I think that's what the writers meant to do. Ron pulls out a gun and aims it at Rick and Carl. Without warning, Michonne stabs Ron in the back, sparing Carl's life but not before Ron pulls the trigger. Carl falls to the ground and we can see that bullet seemed to gauge out his left eye.
I know, A LOT happened. This isn't even the end of the chilling moments in this episode. Maggie's situation (stuck on a lookout platform, surrounded by walkers with no way down) looked pretty grim. However, the moment she seemed to be safe, Glenn's life appeared not to be. The whole episode kept me on the edge of my seat and despite all of the heart-wrenching and tragic events that happened, there were still so many amazing moments. Gabriel, Eugene, and unnamed Alexandrian's stepped up to help the others fight the mega herd. There was something triumphant about the fact that they were coming together to fight the mega herd of walkers, despite the seemingly hopelessness of the situation. There was even an oddly beautiful fight/kill montage towards the end. Character after character was just stabbing and slicing walker after walker.
As a fan of the show since the beginning, I'm still surprised at how the writers of The Walking Dead manage to outdo themselves again and again. When it seems like a situation can't possibly get any worse, it does. It gets a lot worse. But new relationships build and new characters get introduced. I'm excited to see what the writers have cooked up for the rest of season 6. It's safe to say that for the next few weeks, I probably can't be reached Sunday's after 6 pm- I'll be watching The Walking Dead.
