Old foes, new threats power ‘Walking Dead’ forward
Life on the road was brutal for The
Walking Dead’s Rick Grimes and his ragtag but lethally efficient band of survivors. But in Sunday’s sixth-season opener of AMC’s hit (9 p.m. ET/PT), a seemingly safer existence inside the walls of the Alexandria Safe Zone poses new challenges.
Flesh-eating zombie walkers remain an ever-present threat, but humans, from the Wolves outside Alexandria to an increasingly uneasy population inside, may be the greatest danger.
Rick (Andrew Lincoln) isn’t sure the comparatively pampered Alexandria residents can survive in a world where the walker threat is growing.
“He’s just not willing to suffer fools anymore. If the people of Alexandria aren’t willing to change or can’t change,” they won’t survive imminent threats, Lincoln says. “The first three episodes are body blows, three punches in quick succession.”
Rick may face dissent within his tightknit group, too, as he doesn’t share a fallback plan to take over Alexandria with everyone, and he and longtime loyalist Daryl (Norman Reedus) disagree over whether to expand their group.
“There are fissures that are opening because of the pressure that everyone’s been under,” Lincoln says. “When people have space to breathe and think, they start making decisions for themselves.”
Rick also must adjust to the arrival of Morgan Jones (Lennie James), a man he bonded with in the show’s pilot. Morgan, dramatically changed from the deranged man Rick last encountered three seasons ago, arrived in Alexandria at the end of Season 5 and witnessed a disturbed, bloodcovered Rick shoot an Alexandrian who had just killed the husband of the community’s leader, Deanna (Tovah Feldshuh).
“Morgan has gone in search of Rick because he’s the only other person Morgan knows on the planet, but what he finds is not what he expected to find. He’s going to have to figure out what his relationship is to Rick now, considering where Rick is and where Morgan is trying to be,” says James, whose character lost his wife and son to the walkers.
Viewers will learn more about Morgan’s newfound sanity and how he learned to turn a wood staff into a deadly weapon. “You will discover how settled he is into his new path, how difficult it is to stay on it and whether or not he will,” says James, now a series regular.
As Rick has grown less patient with transgressors, Morgan appears more forgiving, sparing the lives of two Wolves who tried to prey on him in the Season 5 finale. That decision could haunt Alexandria.
“What may have been a good decision when he was alone may not be good for the rest of the group,” says James, who adds that living with others will be a major adjustment for loner Morgan.
As dire as the situation may be, there is hope. Sasha (Sonequa Martin- Green), grieving the loss of her brother and others, appears to be finding equilibrium; Rick’s son Carl (Chandler Riggs) is interested in another teen, Enid (Katelyn Nacon); and Glenn (Steven Yeun) and Maggie (Lauren Cohan) have shown that love can survive in a dead-end zombieland.
“I feel like (Glenn and Maggie) are the tightest they’ve ever been,” says Yeun.
Alexandria is “Glenn’s first real chance at making a life for himself with his wife. He wants to do anything he can to make sure that stays intact. That comes down to keeping his humanity,” as Glenn did when he showed mercy after Alexandrian Nicholas (Michael Traynor) tried to kill him in the finale, Yeun says. “We saw Glenn make a choice.”
Will others — and especially Rick — see the possibility of love? The stoic leader has shown interest in Alexandrian Jessie (Alexandra Breckenridge), although the fact that he killed her husband may not make “for an ideal first date,” Lincoln says. Some fans would like to see Rick and sword-wielding Michonne (Danai Gurira) get together.
Dead executive producer Robert Kirkman remains mum. “I’ll just say Rick Grimes has some options.”