The Walking Dead's Jarring Premiere: BS Shenanigans, Or Progress?
Has The Walking Dead finally overcome its Achilles heel from seasons past? Fans may remember how, pre-season 5, snails-pace plotlines had them tuning in every week, biting nails in anticipation, because SO many episodes had gone by with little to no actual plot development. “So something really big has to be happening this time, right?!” we demanded of our TV sets. And then, there would almost be a big face off, but it wouldn’t happen. Or the Governor would STILL not be dead – and Beth would be singing a folk tune.
But the season 6 premiere served fans with a jarring experience, starting the episode off days or perhaps weeks ahead of where the previous season left off. There was little rehashing to be had, almost to the point where I regretted not re-watching the season 5 finale. Instead, viewers were thrown into a nonlinear plot structure where the most prominent timeline, the present, pitted the residents of Alexandria against a herd of walkers reminiscent of Ridley Scott’s depiction of Ramses’ army sent to annihilate the Hebrews.
The episode was starkly divided into two intertwining plotlines, defined principally by color and a lack thereof. For the first time ever, much of the episode was filmed in black and white to denote between past and present. It’s not the first time the show has had flashbacks – so why make this artistic choice now?
After several seasons of colorful, bloody zombies populating the dense green forests of Georgia, the switch to black and white was both unsettling and unexpected. In that setting, it certainly couldn’t accomplish a Sin City-esque vibe, and it wasn’t quite artsy enough for the sake of being artsy. Again: why do it, then?
Consider how painstakingly seasons-prior outlined in detail every bit of character development of Rick and his crew. Even when they were separated, eventually we knew we’d get caught up with everything that happened with Carol and Tyreese, Daryl and Beth, etc. Entire episodes were spent on each character’s plot offshoot.
This season’s premiere, entitled “First Time Again,” uncharacteristically glossed over what occurred after the season 5 finale. Sure, we got little bones thrown to us: we got to see Rick contend with the aftermath of his actions with his new lady love, Carol being recognized by Morgan for what she is (i.e., not a Stepford housewife but a badass), and Glenn and his loved ones learning to accept that someone who almost murdered him might actually be able to change.
That last one, by the way, is pretty significant in that this line of thinking – acknowledging that someone who poses a credible threat to the group might actually become an asset – pits Glenn, Maggie and Tara directly against what I can only describe as Rick’s dogma. And in the Religion-O-Rick, he or she who sins is not forgiven, but is shot clean through the head.
But back to that whole unsettling black and white, nonlinear plot structure thing. While it’s true that The Walking Dead has used similar flashback/present plot structures in past episodes, this is the first time the writers have dared to leap ahead of what viewers know just far enough to catch their interest with confusion and intrigue, but not so far as to alienate them. And because there were significant gaps in time and character/plot development, a visual cue was warranted to help us along.
Sure, being thrown for a loop both in terms of some character development and time progression holes, plus a significantly different stylistic approach was kind of irritating. But can you imagine what the episode would have been otherwise?
What if the writers had chosen to go for a premiere episode wrought from the emotional trauma of the various residents of Alexandria, which would have been inevitable following the events of season 5? Would it have really been that interesting, or would we have longed for a good dramatic twist like this premiere ultimately delivered?
C’mon. You know you want to know who’s sounding that horn. And you know it’s whatever sick individuals (who are inexplicably drawn to the letter “W”) are embodying the apocalypse version of Charles Manson.
That’s not BS shenanigans. That’s ratings gold for this coming Sunday.