By RODNEY HO/ rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, October 9, 2015
The walkers are back Sunday night. And they're still hungry!
AMC's "The Walking Dead," by far the most popular show shot in metro Atlanta and a rare drama that has seen its audience grow every year, returns not long after the shocking final scene of season five.
[I promise: I am not going to give away anything tangibly spoiler like here. But if want to go into the season knowing absolutely nothing, feel free to skip this. If you are hankering for MORE spoilage, try this New York Times review of the episode.]
The producers grapple with the Alexandria’s longtime leader Deanna Monroe’s gut decision last year to have our hero Rick Grimes kill drunken Pete, who had just accidentally slit the throat of Deanna’s husband with Michonne's sword. There are longtime Alexandrians who think Rick is a danger to the group. And Rick’s flirtation with Pete’s widow, Jessie, takes an understandable back seat for now.
Deanna herself is in an emotional cave, ceding key decisions to Rick as she mourns.
And Rick’s crew continues to integrate into the community, building a somewhat stable home in Alexandria after years of moving around. But stability is boring. Don’t expect any semblance of calm to last.
David Alpert, an executive producer since the show debuted in 2010, said in an interview this week that they have tried to come up with varying types of enemies, from hordes of zombies, to cannibals, to sociopaths like the Governor. New foes are lurking this season.
The show, he added, will continue to explore how individuals deal with the trauma of living in this environment and find their humanity in the face of unspeakable horror and loss. Not surprisingly, he said some characters “won’t do so well. What fractures the group is going to be interesting.” And subjects of loyalty and allegiance (as well as forgiveness) that the show has explored before will be addressed again.
Rick has gone through more ups and downs than anybody on screen over the first five seasons. He is now trying to integrate his group and teach the existing Alexandrians how to survive outside the walls. But nothing comes easy for him. “We love treating Rick like a piece of coal,” Alpert said. “We hope he comes out a diamond. It’s going to take a little time and we keep squeezing.”
Curiously, the walled village has been mostly bypassed by other humans or hordes of walkers for several years now.
Very quickly in the first episode of season six, we learn why that may be. The episode blends current-day events, set in color, with relatively recent flashbacks shot in black and white.
To varying degrees, the show touches base with all the regular cast members at some point over the 90-minute debut. We get Rick strategizing a bit with longtime allies Carol and Daryl, who had returned from a near-deadly recruiting trip unscathed with Rick’s old friend Morgan and local scout Aaron. Glenn, who has been around since season one, remains at odds with townie Nicholas, who nearly killed him during the season five finale.
A recuperating Tara bonds with Maggie, Glenn’s wife. Morgan and Rick, who first met during the 2010 pilot, catch up after a long separation. Soldier Abraham and grieving Sasha warily circle each other. Rick’s infant daughter, Judith, gets more airtime than his son, Carl, for some reason.
It's a compelling episode, a solid mix of action and moments of quiet reflection. Sure, Rick does his usual pep talks about life and death and how we are going to "finish this!" A particular death is telegraphed a bit too obviously. Cowardly pastor Gabriel keeps annoying everyone. There are not just one - but two - jokes about Eugene's mullet. And there's no sign of the "wolves" this episode though they are certain to reappear at some point.
Do the walkers do anything too surprising? No. There are no burnt-to-a-crisp walkers or bloated-in-a-ditch walkers. But what they lack in originality they make up in volume. You will see lots of them. And they are in far worse shape than the freshly minted zombies in companion series "Fear the Walking Dead" that overtook a medical facility during the season one finale last Sunday.
So buckle up. More clashes and many deaths are certain to come.
BONUS bits from my interview with Alpert:
On "The Walking Dead" able to rise above the rest in 2010 and to keep growing audience: "When we started, we didn't look like anything on TV. We were in Georgia shooting outside on 16 mm film. Second, we were a serialized horror show. People told us this would never work."
Why AMC? "Although AMC had shows like 'Mad Men' and 'Breaking Bad,' they were seeking something to pair with FearFest, their marathon of horror movies in October. They felt there was an untapped audience for a show like this. It made sense to me and [graphic novel writer and co-creator] Robert [Kirkman] from an intellectual standpoint and a marketing one, too."
Does expecting shocks make them less shocking? Fans, he said, expect the unexpected, which is a bit of a quandary. "It's a blessing and a curse. It would be nice to just have a case and go home. But we always have to come up with something that you don't see coming. That can be tough. We've had a great road map with the books. We try to make sure we give the audience what they want but not what they expect, if that makes sense."
Storytelling challenges with a large ensemble cast. "The Walking Dead" every season has episodes where leads such as Michonne, Rick and Daryl don't even show up for an entire episode. But it has worked. "Traditional storytelling would be there's Rick and everybody else is supporting. But everybody in the apocalypse has their own narrative. They are protagonists of their own stories. The challenge, yes, we're trying to be innovative and cutting edge. But we're still television. It's the journey of Rick and company. How do we give every character its due? Look at Abraham. I want to know a lot more about him than we've been able to show. You can do an entire series around Daryl. What was his life before the apocalypse? I have a conception. How did he get to that place? Michonne? Oh my god. We've talked a little bit about her kids. She's now this bada** that walks around with a katana. There's a lot of narrative."
Gabriel, everyone's whipping boy: "I think Gabriel gets an unfair rap. If you look back at the Governor, even when things were bad, he had an argument to make. I feel like we never want to get rid of someone because people want them gone. We have to earn every death."
Carol, Susie Home-maker, moral arbiter and warrior all in one: "I think Melissa McBride is one of the best actors. The evolution of Carol is one of the most fascinating on the show. You can argue in some ways she's almost better off in the apocalypse. Yes, she lost her daughter but she was very much a victim before the apocalypse. Once Sophia dies and free her from her past, she becomes this incredible warrior and buys into the team concept. Season four, she kills two people who are sick in the prison. And then there was, 'Look at the flowers.' [Yes, that's all he needs to say and we know what he means.] You can admire her inner strength being able to do these things. You could argue what she did was right or wrong. I would debate you that killing Lizzie was the right thing to do. And I think she enjoys being a home-maker, too. It's a fantasy of her pre-apocalypse life not as a victim."
Glenn and Maggie: "We'll get more of Glenn and Maggie. They've become the emotional heart of the show, a real bright side in the mix of the turbulence that they can find happiness together."
The huge Madison Square Garden premiere Friday: "We normally have fans come to every premiere. We wanted to do something bigger. We're celebrating the year of the fan. There is no other opportunity to invite thousands of fans. Yes, there will be spoilers and leakages. I'm hoping they're good sports about it. I hope they come out of the premiere saying, 'Oh my God!' "
On "Fear the Walking Dead": "It did great. Launching a companion series was an incredible challenge. We had a new charter, new locations. We were sort of trying to find something to make it feel interesting and unique and new and give us a reason for being. Telling the fall of society was a really great choice. Fans really responded. It was the No. 1 cable premiere of the year. That fans have really expressed their love for the show and found some interesting characters. We start production pretty much as soon as we wrap 'The Walking Dead.' "
Will Tobias be back? [He was an instant favorite Hurley-type character who appeared in the first couple of episodes but chose to go on his own.] "I love Tobias. Just remember: we did have Morgan in season one [of "The Walking Dead" and now he's back.] People that are interesting are out there. They're out there. There's a good likelihood of coming across him again."
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