Final Thoughts from The Walking Dead Episode "First Time Again"

One of my biggest pet peeves about the recent seasons of this show is the way it has become more of a soap opera focusing on various human interactions and less of a show about the zombie apocalypse. I'm still waiting to see if the writers are going to correct that on a long-term basis. But, this season premiere at least attempted to make up for it by having one of the largest zombie herds (and possibly the largest) I've seen on this series.

While there were some who weren't big Shane (Jon Bernthal) fans, I personally think he got the raw end of the deal. The only thing he wanted to do was keep his friends and the people he loved safe and he would sometimes cross some moral lines in order to do it. This, by the time his character was killed, obviously took a toll on him. And, I'm starting to see a lot of that when watching Rick.

One scene, in particular, reminded me of Rick's former partner/friend. His increasingly uncomfortable conversation with Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge) was eerily similar to some of the conversations Shane would have with Lori (Sarah Wayne Callies) when Lori's husband, Rick, wasn't in the room. I can't help but wonder if maybe that relationship will ultimately result in Rick suffering the same fate Shane did.

This is my personal opinion and please feel free to debate me in the comments section below, but I think Carter (Ethan Embry) had the better idea.

Yes, building up the walls around the quarry would be, at most, a short-term solution. However, it would have given them a little more time. Plus, if done correctly, they could have taken care of the zombie hoard in a much more controlled fashion, releasing and killing a few at a time, thinning the herd and making it much more manageable.

Rick's plan, in comparison, was much more complex with too many things that could (and, ultimately, did) go wrong. Plus, even if his plan was successful and the walker herd was led 20 miles away from Alexandria, there was nothing to prevent the herd from seeing or hearing something and turning around once it was left unattended.

Not to mention, Rick's plan requires a large number of people, leaving Alexandria largely unprotected if something were to happen while they are gone. And, I fully suspect that is the case.

If this show adds any more characters (three more were added last night), they are going to have to start wearing football jerseys so we can keep track of them by their number.

In fact, a good example of this was Carter. My wife and I could not remember who exactly he was or when he was introduced. That, in turn, made it very difficult to really care when he was killed in this episode.

On top of it, you have characters like Eugene (Josh McDermitt), that have outlived their purpose but still get screen time while main characters like Michonne (Danai Gurira) and Daryl (Norman Reedus) are still seen but not heard nearly as much. 

I think it's time for the writers to do something about that and kill off a large number of these characters at once.

So far, Carol (Melissa McBride) has done a good job of fooling those outside of her immediate group, with the exception of the exceptionally observant Morgan (Lennie James). However, I suspect, with the army of walkers now approaching town, she's going to be forced to show people what she's really made of.

If/When that happens, I'm really curious to see how Alexandria reacts. They already don't trust Rick and many of the other group members. If they find out Carol has been lying to them this whole time, it could end up being the final straw.

As far as season premieres go, I honestly couldn't ask this one to do more than it did. It offered a good transition from the season 5 finale and, ultimately, starts out the season on the right note by remembering the show is, first and foremost, about the zombie apocalypse. I only hope it will build on this rather than fizzle out after a couple of episodes.

My Grade: A