First Time Again
"First Time Again" is the sixth season premiere of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 11, 2015. The episode was written by Scott M. Gimple and Matthew Negrete, and directed by Greg Nicotero. The episode aired in an expanded 90-minute time slot.[1]
First Time Again
Black and white flashbacks show select events following the town council meeting where Reg and Pete were killed. Deanna blames Gabriel for turning her against Rick's group; Pete's oldest son Ron becomes alienated from his mother, Jessie; Glenn brings Nicholas in for medical treatment, concealing his actions; Tara awakens; Morgan and Rick reunite.
Rick warns Alexandria about the threat of the herd in the quarry. Grieving, Deanna has mentally checked out and effectively cedes authority to Rick, who voices his intention to free the walkers from the quarry and lure them 20 miles away from Alexandria. Rick's group present a strong and united front against protests from the Alexandrians, though Carter (Ethan Embry) is brave enough to raise valid objections at the risks in executing Rick's plan. Later, when an unarmed construction team is building a wall intended to turn the herd, Rick unexpectedly holds back his armed people and allows walkers to close with them, in an effort to teach them to defend themselves with their tools at hand. Shocked, the construction team panic and falter, and Rick's people defy his orders to save the Alexandrians' lives. Carter is outraged and secretly meets with Spencer, Tobin, Francine, and Olivia in the armory and proposes to assassinate Rick before he kills someone else. Eugene is caught overhearing the proposed plot and Carter contemplates killing Eugene but is stopped by Rick, who arrives in force with Daryl and Morgan. Rick takes Carter down to his knees and holds Carter's pistol to his head for several moments, thoroughly dominating Carter before letting him up to serve his plan.
The episode features the first appearance of Lennie James as a series regular; James reprises his role as Morgan Jones from previous appearances in seasons one, three, and five.[5][6] Series creator Robert Kirkman described Morgan as "very different (and cooler) than his comics counterpart" and expressed excitement over James' involvement in the season, writing: "Having Lennie, who was such a huge part of season 1 and amazing every time we had him back, finally a regular part of this show is really going to energize this show for the coming season. And I would argue this show wasn't really in need of re-energizing, so it's just going to be that much better."[5] The episode also marked the first episode which features Tovah Feldshuh, Alexandra Breckenridge, Ross Marquand, and Austin Nichols as part of the main cast; they reprise their roles as Deanna Monroe, Jessie Anderson, Aaron, and Spencer Monroe, respectively, from the fifth season.[7]
Variety's Brian Lowry assessed that "The Walking Dead looks very much at the top of its game, with strong character material mixed with a massive set piece in the extended premiere made possible, no doubt, by its enormous popularity. Blessed and cursed with a vagabond mentality, the first episode finds the gang still trying to fit into a gated community, where the promise of security is balanced against the cultural clash separating the battle-hardened travelers from those sheltered within. Add one familiar face to the mix, and it's a pretty irresistible feast."[13] Brandon Davis of Comicbook.com praised the episode and felt that Andrew Lincoln gave his best performance to date, as well as its unique storytelling of shots in the past and present, while also singling out the character of Carol Peletier, writing: "Though not given a hefty amount of screen time, McBride's Carol Peletier remains a strong foundation for the group with her sly performance as the undercover post-apocalyptic friendly neighbor." He concluded his review writing: "All in all, the premiere is going to satisfy die-hard Walking Dead fans and Walking Dead critics alike. Staunch performances from the well-known cast and tremendous execution of character relationships combine for a satisfying 90-minute premiere of The Walking Dead. Then, they're given the show's largest horde of walkers - ever - to cap things off and send the show back to its roots. Bring on season 6."[14] Writing for Hypable, Andrew Sims also praised the unique storytelling as "much needed" for a show that has five seasons under its belt and wrote: "[the] premiere offers fans one of the most exciting and original episodes in recent memory."[15]
In 2018, Ben Lindbergh of The Ringer ranked Rick's plan in the episode as his worst plan in terms of stupidity. Lindbergh wrote: "I'm just one man with zero walker kills to his credit, but I'd say the simple thing would have been to keep the walkers in the quarry. Maybe build a better barricade to seal them in more securely. Maybe construct some sort of funnel so that the herd emerges one walker at a time for easy slaughter. Maybe set them on fire, sit back, and watch them burn. There are options!"[17]
In its initial broadcast on AMC in the United States, on October 11, 2015, the episode received 14.63 million viewers. The viewership slightly declined from the previous season's record breaking premiere, "No Sanctuary", but was the most-watched television series of the night.[18] Cumulative viewership, comprising those who watched the episode live, when it first aired, plus those who watched the episode within three days after its original broadcast, was 19.5 million.[19]
"First Time Again" is the first episode of the sixth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the sixty-eighth episode of the series overall. It premiered on October 11, 2015. It was written by Scott Gimple & Matt Negrete and directed by Greg Nicotero.
In the present: Daryl leads the herd to the yellow rendezvous point at the key intersection. Walkers pinball against the newly-erected wall as they make their way around the bend. Rick, Michonne and Morgan shoot flares to keep the walkers marching west.
In the past: At the wall construction site, Maggie reveals to Tara that Nicholas got Noah killed and also tried to kill Glenn. When Tara objects to Glenn's decision to help Nicholas rather than punish him, Maggie points out that Glenn gave Tara a second chance after she sided with the Governor against them. "Glenn saves people," Maggie says.
Tonight's season six premiere of AMC's The Walking Dead was supersized in more than just its 90-minute runtime; it featured the biggest number of Walker extras ever used at one time in the show's production history. The opening scene revealed just why so many flesh-and-blood Walkers were needed. But before we get into the details of tonight's opener, let me just make sure you're caught up on Season 5; you can use our handy-dandy video recap to do just that. And by the end of this recap, if you'd like a different opinion, be sure to check out Chris Cabin's review. Now, on with the show!
While the two most striking things about "First Time Again" may have been the sheer scale of the Walker herd and the use of black-and-white versus color to help ease the transition between timelines, we must not overlook that very first scene in which we briefly journey back to the moment that Rick Grimes executed "Porch-Dick" Pete on Deanna's orders. Not only does this revisitation serve to punctuate the severity behind the decision Rick and Deanna made, but as Rick's cut and blood-soaked face recedes into a gray-scaled visage of a skull, it reminds us that Death (with a capital D) lurks everywhere. The question that remains is just how far Rick is willing to go as a death-dealer in order to protect the people he cares about. Season six should go a long way toward answering that.
We're going to tackle the black-and-white scenes, ie flashbacks, first. The Alexandrians are still reeling from the loss of Reg Monroe and the execution of Pete. Though Reg deserves a proper burial and farewell, Deanna and Rick won't bury a killer within their walls, so it falls to Rick and Morgan to dispose of him elsewhere. This decision doesn't particularly sit well with Pete's son Ron, who follows the duo in order to note the location of his dad's grave, but neither does it agree with Morgan. The wandering Morgan, who is more than capable of handling himself but has a new found appreciation for how precious all life is, acts as a guiding moral hand to Rick's eager and bloodthirsty one. So while Rick suggests they just leave Pete's body to the elements, Morgan forces the issue and starts digging a grave. This is about the moment that Rick hears the thousands of Walkers milling around in the quarry.
Honestly, this is one of my favorite settings in the series. It seems that most of the Walkers in the area leading to Alexandria have fallen into this massive pit; the noise of those thrashing and shambling around in it have drawn more and more Walkers over time. This is the show's writers explanation for how Alexandria managed to stay relatively untouched by Walker herds since only a handful were able to squeeze out of the quarry at any given time. As you might have guessed, this makeshift prison system is about to fail and the Walkers will be free to sweep over Alexandria like a rotten tidal wave. Obviously, it's up to veteran survivalist Rick Grimes to come up with a plan.
That's where Carter comes in, since he not only questions every step of Rick's plan, he eventually offers to help shore up the weak points. As the flashback scenes show, Rick takes drastic measures to convince the Alexandrians that they're not ready to combat the threat outside their walls; Carter nearly gets killed right off the bat during construction of the path, eventually forcing Rick's crew to step in and save the day once again. Point made.
Meanwhile, in town, the folks who are planning to risk their lives on the Walker Walk make sure to get their houses in order with those who are staying behind. Glenn convinces Maggie to stay back and keep an eye on Deanna, to try to get her confidence back. Nicholas, who previously tried to get Glenn killed on numerous occasions, does his best to win Glenn's trust again. Maggie breaks the bad news to Tara about Noah's death and confides in her about Nicholas' betrayal; I never knew these two were so close but as of this episode, they might as well be sisters. Daryl disagrees with Rick, saying that they should continue to find more people outside the walls, while Carol still pretends to be Suzy Homemaker to everyone but Rick (even if Morgan is onto her). And while Rick is awkwardly making sure that the recently widowed Jessie can take care of herself, Carter and his pals are up to no good. 041b061a72