In the land of the undead, there are no second chances. No time to learn by trial and error. In the mid-season premiere of AMC’s Walking Dead, Jessie’s younger son Sam and an overly dramatic group of henchmen won’t walk away with that lesson.
When we last left the Walking Dead, Rick and his cast of survivors were overrun by walkers, after a tower collapsed ripping through the wall protecting Alexandria. After being surrounded, the group chose to douse themselves in zombie blood and walk directly out into the horde, risking being devoured by the hundreds of undead at any moment.
In the intro scene, Daryl, Abraham and Sasha driving the tanker are intercepted by a group of heavily armed men on motorcycles. After being disarmed, a dramatic, almost poetic exchange, between the ringer leader and Abraham ensures, Daryl is taken off screen and to be searched by one of the captors, only to return just in time to save the other two from execution, vaporizing the group with a rocket-launcher in thrilling fashion.
Other than the intro scene that reveals one of the graphic novel’s villains in Negan, there are also other nods to the novel as many predicted. Jessie makes a decision to not allow Sam to be taken by a changed Father Gabriel, that would prematurely end any love interest she could have had with Rick leaving Carl shot, again, and scarred forever.
The premier delivered one of the most intense episodes in recent memory, swamped in the theme of moral dilemma, as each member had to search their own values, namely Rick, who must either chop off the arm of his new found love-interest or lose his son.
Here are the five moment’s someone in the group had to face a moral dilemma in episode nine of season six The Walking Dead.
- Enid faces her own reluctance to fight on, with help of an inspiring speech from Glen about living for the people they’ve lost. Causing her to plead with Glen to let her help save Maggie as proof she is ready to fight for the group’s preservation.
- Glen, knowing his pregnant wife is stranded on a falling platform, attempts a heroic rescue with the help of Enid, distracting the walkers. As he is about to be overrun by walkers, Abraham and Sasha mow them down and give the intensity a moment of comic relief.
- Father Gabriel finally breaks through his meekness, with new found inspiration reaching a peace with God saying, “We’ve been praying together. Praying that God will save our town. Our prayers have been answered. God Will save Alexandria, because God has given the courage to save them ourselves.”
- The Wolf has a change of heart, enjoying the company of Denise and helps her formulate a plan to escape. During their escape he is bitten trying to save her. Denise, seeing the change in The Wolf, vows to save his life if he helps her get to the infirmary where the other injured are sure to be. After redeeming himself for the moment, he is shot by Carol, but makes a last ditch effort to continue to distract the walker horde around Denise.
- After seasons of Rick finding and losing his moral compass, he is faced with one of the most dire situations in the series. A terrified Sam, freezes and begins to whimper, drawing the attention of the devouring horde, causing Jessie’s blood-curdling scream making her an instant target. Gripping Carl’s hand, Rick is forced to chop her arm off to save his son. Ron, still scorn at Rick for executing his father, horrified by his mother and brother’s death, raises his gun to Carl. Before Michonne can impale the virgin shooter, he fires off one shot that delivers one of the graphic novels Easter eggs, leaving Carl shot across his right eye.
This might be Daryl’s most heroic show ever. Not only does he save the day in the intro, with Abraham’s rocket-launcher from the would be captors, but he ignites an intense fuel fire over the pond. The explosion distracts the walkers from the group, who embarked on a blood-rage stand lead by Rick, lusting for revenge after the Carl’s shooting.
