‘The Walking Dead’ Season 6: Everything We Can Tell You About Episode 1 [Spoilers]

As AMC’s Fear The Walking Dead approaches its season 1 finale, it brings Walking Dead fans that much closer to the season 6 premiere of The Walking Dead on October 11. So what can fans expect in the very first episode? Let’s take a look.

WARNING: This article contains spoilers about AMC’s The Walking Dead. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed all available episodes.

First of all, let’s have a look at what fans can expect in Episode 1 (entitled “First Time Again”) of The Walking Dead:

• For starters, expect a time jump from the very first episode of season 6 of The Walking Dead. This time hop will place Rick’s group and the rest of Alexandria in the midst of a massive event that will then take time to unravel and work viewers back to the point we were left at in the season 5 finale of The Walking Dead. According to an interview Andrew Lincoln (who plays Rick Grimes) did with Entertainment Weekly, Episode 1 will see 18 different storylines being followed as the event unfolds. These “flash forwards” and “flashbacks” will be designated via color. “Black-and-white footage to designate the old and color to represent the new,” Collider explains.

• As well as a time hop, Walking Dead fans can expect lots of walkers in season 6 of The Walking Dead — especially within the first few episodes. Greg Nicotero recently said there will be a record number of walkers in season 6 of The Walking Dead. “I think we have already exceeded the total number of walkers all of last year just in the first three episodes,” he told fans via an interview on AMC. ComicBook.com said that it looked like “the production team made up the entire Georgia town in which they filmed with walker garb and sent them out into the streets” in their review of Episode 1. You can check out the walker herds in the season 6 teaser clip below:

• While the threat of the Wolves was hinted in the lead up to the season 5 finale of The Walking Dead, don’t expect Episode 1 of season 6 to introduce them. According to early reviews of Episode 1 starting to filter in, the Wolves will only get a cursory mention in Episode 1.

• Speaking of reviews for season 6 of The Walking Dead, so far most critics have gushed about Episode 1. MTV called it the “funniest episode of The Walking Dead ever,” although they also said there were plenty of edge-of-your-seat tension as well as Glenn returning to his old self, even joking about his old job as pizza delivery boy. ComicBook.com says the episode ends “with a cliffhanger of Carl-getting-shot-in-the-woods proportions.” While Collider found the color designation of old and new “irksome,” they loved a scene at the start which revisited Rick killing Pete from the season 5 finale. “The camera is at a low angle on Rick, as if looking from Pete’s perspective, and only the gunshot causes the frame to light up. The effect of this is that Rick’s face quickly goes from being clearly outlined to looking like a skull and then goes to complete black,” they explain. Tech Insider points out that in Episode 1 of The Walking Dead the humans will no longer be the bigger threat like they were in previous seasons, suggesting the group will be overwhelmed by one of those massive walker herds Greg Nicotero was talking about.

Episode 1 Gallery

Finally, we have a huge gallery of images from Episode 1 (“First Time Again”) of season 6 of The Walking Dead:

Season 6 Premiere Viewing Information

• Episode 1 of season 6 of The Walking Dead is called “First Time Again.” The official synopsis from AMC is as follows:

“Rick and the group are still having trouble assimilating into Alexandria. Will a new threat bring them closer together or drive them further apart?”

• Episode 1 will run for 90 minutes. After the conclusion of the episode, Walking Dead fans can get the full rundown on what happened by tuning into Talking Dead at 10.30 p.m. EDT
• If you want to totally immerse yourself in the Walking Dead universe, fans can watch every episode of Fear The Walking Dead from October 4 and then continue into a Walking Dead marathon from 6.00 p.m. on Monday, October 5.

Season 6 of AMC’s The Walking Dead will premiere on Sunday, October 11, 2015.

What are your predictions for Episode 1 of The Walking Dead? Let us know by commenting below!

[Image credits: AMC / Gene Page]