The Walking Dead: A Quick Season 6A Recap & What’s To Come….

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

As all of us Walking Dead fans gear up for the premiere of Season 6B in less than a week, let’s do a quick recap of the top six moments of Season 6A….and what 6B looks to hold:

1) Rise of the Big Walker Move and Fall of Alexandria: When we began the season in First Time Again, viewers came to learn that Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Morgan (Lennie James) discovered walkers herding in a huge quarry…with the potential for danger to Alexandria as the trucks blocking them in wouldn’t hold for long. The grand plan to fix this was discussed, put into action a little sooner than we thought (try first episode of the season) and before we knew it…failed miserably. Some structural damage and a herd at the walls caused a spectacular (and terrifying) result: the walkers have finally invaded Alexandria at an alarming rate, leaving our favorite rag-tag team separating and running for cover.

2) Glenn is dead…then he’s not: If you were like me, the moment in Thank You where Nicholas (Michael Traynor) guiltily offed himself then took Glenn (Steven Yeun) down with him into the abyss of walkers…your heart was in your throat. And then that gruesome scene where it looked like Glenn was getting ripped apart ripped you apart, too. (I may have cried for a few hours afterward into a glass of red wine – or three. I even mourned our loss with fellow watchers.) But then you examined the footage again…and again…until you realized that the color of the shirt was the same as the one Nicholas was wearing or that the guts being eaten by the walkers was up a little too high for Glenn’s body. Or even how Glenn was conveniently absent from the names “In Memoriam” on the Talking Dead. And surprise, in Heads Up we learn of Glenn’s fate–and how the dumpster (and Enid) saved him! (I may have paused my DVR and screamed in pure joy for about five minutes when I saw Glenn crawl under and out from that dumpster. No shame.)

3) Wolves Not Far….really, not far at all: Those wolves–what can one say about them without wanting to take them out in a vicious and swift manner with Michonne’s (Danai Gurira) samurai sword? Kirkman and Co. truly had us on the edge of our seat as we witnessed these savages ambush Alexandria and begin to slaughter the citizens of a once-peaceful community. But props to Carol (Melissa McBride) for continuing to step up (even though her growth through the seasons has me quite terrified for what she’s capable of) and showing the Alexandrians how you take out the wolves: with no mercy. And one has to wonder, is this where Enid came from? Or was she part of a group that we have yet to meet?

4) Maggie’s Surprise: Well, after losing not only her home, her entire family (the mere mention of Hershel and Beth still makes me teary-eyed), and (almost) Glenn, Maggie dropped a bombshell on viewers when she confided in Aaron (Ross Marquand) that she is indeed–pregnant! Of course, we learn about this while Glenn’s fate hangs in the balance so it’s difficult to feel anything, but sad for Maggie (Lauren Cohan) as we believe that she’s going to raise this child all on her own. But then Glenn is alive and before he can get back within the walls…they fall…and the walkers come in…and poor Maggie is running for a look-out spot to get away from the herd, leaving her in a compromising position surrounded by the walkers. The potential for disaster looms, but we’ll see how she makes it out of this awful situation.

5) Who’s Deanna?: Tovah Feldshuh is a phenomenal actress and her portrayal as Deanna Monroe was beyond thrilling. Even in a zombie apocalypse, her optimism had even me hoping that Alexandria was everything, despite the death of her one son (Aiden) and husband (Reg) in Season 5. And if you watched the 6A finale Start to Finish, as most of us did with bated breath, Deanna suffered the fate most survivors encounter: bitten by a walker. Our last glimpse of Deanna being that of her using her final bullets to take out some walkers before she suffered their fate. Will we see Ms. Monroe as a walker? Who will take out the former shell of the hope of Alexandria?  (I’m putting my money on her other son, Spencer.)

6) Daryl, Sasha & Abraham: This first half of the season, we were watching this walker-slaying trinity volunteer to lure the massive herd in Season 6, Episode 1, over twenty miles away from the walls of Alexandria…or at least the part of the herd that wasn’t distracted by a loud horn coming from Alexandria. They make it twenty miles out, give or take a few issues (Does Daryl ever want to stop being the lone wolf? He needs to play well with others!), then promptly get ambushed by unknown assailants. In the scatter to safety, Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green) and Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) get a little closer and Daryl (Norman Reedus) manages to find himself in another sticky situation. (I swear, if they find those two that took his motorcycle and crossbow, justice is gonna be served…HARD!)

And finally, a new villain on the way….especially for those who caught the clip of Daryl, Sasha and Abraham coming across the biker gang on the road, aptly known as The Saviors. While my husband and I do not read the comics (I think it makes for a more interesting perspective going in with fresh eyes), the one name that I have been made privy to is about to make his entrance: Negan. (If you’re a Jeffrey Dean Morgan fan, you won’t want to miss him this season as the biggest villain yet!) And as a viewer, if any of us thought that the ride was bumpy in 6A, the second half is about to get even crazier! (When my husband has asked “Who is Negan?” because clearly he doesn’t know until he watches, I had to tell him “the person who is about amp up the rest of the season in a huge way.”)

The season premiere of 6B starts up on AMC this Sunday, February 14th at 9:00 pm eastern. Finally, a day of love that any fan can share in…just watch out for those walkers! (I hear they bite and scratch a little.)