The fourteenth of February is many things to many people—an excuse to get a swank-ass dinner at Red Lobster, the scene of a final realization that your boyfriend just doesn’t “get you,” or perhaps it’s somebody’s birthday (Happy birthday, Neal.). Regardless of your Valentine’s day plans, I strongly suggest that you cancel them immediately and watch the mid-season premiere of “The Walking Dead” on AMC—or, at the very least, find yourself in a relationship with someone who promises to make zombies a part of the V-Day festivities. Since it’s been a few months since we last left Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Co., let’s take a few moments and review.
Rick, Michonne, Carl, Jessie, and Jessie’s Two Creepy Kids
In that last iconic shot of episode 6.7, we see the above mentioned characters slowly leaving Jessie’s (Alexandra Breckinridge) home with shattered looks on their faces, and zombie guts hanging on their torsos. It’s both awesome and melancholy as they see the streets of their once prosperous and zombie-free utopia now overrun with the undead. This scene is also a stark reminder that Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Ron (Austin Abrams) aren’t currently BFF’s—Ron tried to kill Carl in the garage moments before the town was overrun. Rick and Jessie have had a few too-weird-to-be-romantic interludes, so perhaps there will be more to come once the two of them find a babysitter for their traumatized children. Carol (Melissa McBride), perhaps.
Morgan and Carol
Speaking of Carol, she and Morgan (Lennie James) had a hell of a time deciding how to handle their Wolf prisoner. Carol and Morgan have come to be militant representatives of their chosen ideologies; Carol will kill you if you’re a threat, Morgan believes that all life is sacred. Ironically, it’s the physical fight between Morgan and Carol that let’s their currently dangerous prisoner escape, proving once again that a calm discussion is often the best way to solve a disagreement. I’d expect more axe grinding between these two before they final figure out a compromise in the last half of season six. Or maybe one of them gets killed, right?
Glenn and Maggie
Goldenboy Glenn (Steven Yeun) is still alive, though he and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) have yet to reunite. The only sign she really got was that poorly computer generated bunch of green balloons floating off into the sky. Based on the fact that Alexandria has fallen, I don’t get the sense that Glenn and Maggie’s anticipated reunion will be extremely happy, since, you know, zombies and stuff. Also, I’m still pursuing a theory that Glenn’s near-death experience was just a cruel trick to make the audience think that Glenn is safe from the upcoming swarm of evil that is Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). If you’ve read the comics, you’re thinking the same thing—don’t deny it.
Sasha, Abraham and Daryl
After these three had a zany adventure involving a rocket launcher and military dress blues, they came across a gang of bikers who demanded that they surrender their property to Negan. It was a post-episode scene that I remember having to sit through the first part of “Into the Badlands” to see, but it was potent nonetheless. I’m predicting a grizzled staredown as Sasha (Sonequa Martin-Green), Abraham (Michael Cudlitz) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) reluctantly hand over their stuff (even though Abraham could have just rocket launcher’d the hell out of the bikers), and they’re sent on their way BUT I could also see them becoming captives and trying to escape.
New Cast Members!
A few months ago, we heard that Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen) will be taking the role of Negan. The scuttlebutt is that he will only be mentioned by name throughout the rest of the season, with a big reveal in the finale. He will then become a regularly billed cast member for season 7.
More recently, it was announced that Tom Payne (HBO’s Luck) would be playing the character of Paul Monroe, aka Jesus. Not only will it be cool to see a fan-favorite character like Jesus come to life, but it also implies that we’ll be seeing colonies other than Alexandria in the upcoming episodes.
Anything we missed? Let us know in the comments section! Happy Valentine’s Doomsday!