BWW Preview: Will it be the Season of the Wolves of THE WALKING DEAD?

It has finally arrived, the Season 6 Premiere of THE WALKING DEAD. The long summer is over and we are finally heading back to Alexandria... but, for how long? When last we left Rick, the future of the group's residency in the gated community seemed questionable. But before we journey forward, we must look back.

It seems like SO long ago, but just last year in the first part of Season Five, the gang was captured at Terminus. If it weren't for ostracized Carol coming to their rescue, they would have been in some serious trouble. Rick and Carl were reunited with Baby Judith and Tyrese had a crisis of conscience when he decided not to kill Martin who wound up teaming up with Gareth to lead the Terminus folk back to attempt to kill everybody. Rick and company took refuge in a local church led by the whiny and wimpy Father Gabriel who is afraid of his own shadow, so much so that he basically locked out his parishioners to die. Villain Gareth leads the charge to the church and begins his attack by amputating Bob's foot and eating it. Yes... that actually happened. It ended in a bloody battle in the church with the death of the Terminus gang and poor Bob as well. We learn our suspicions about Eugene were correct and he didn't know squat which causes Abraham to all but give up on everything. Beth was captured and taken to a hospital where we met another new adversary, Dawn. Beth befriends Noah who is also on the inside and he winds up escaping only to find himself aligning with Daryl and Carol. And the power team Daryl and Carol headed up a rescue mission, but sadly Beth is killed in the crossfire in the first half finale.

When we came back after winter break, while visiting Noah's old house in Virginia, Tyrese is killed. We are introduced to Aaron, a recruiter of sorts for the development of "Alexandria," another refugee camp. Aaron and boyfriend, Eric (#NOH8), lead the group to the new community. They are introduced to the leader of Alexandria, Deanna, and her husband, Reg, who haven't been in the outside world since the epidemic began. On a mission, our group learns that the Alexandrians really have NO idea how to survive. This is showcased brutally when Nicholas gets Noah brutally murdered by walkers in front of Glenn. Rick meets, and is drawn to, Jessie whose alcoholic husband, Pete, is not very welcoming to the new arrivals. Carol plays nice to be accepted and trusted, but is secretly plotting their escape and/or takeover. When Rick has a very bloody and very public confrontation with Pete, the town meets to decide his fate. But when a drunken Pete winds up accidentally killing Reg, Deanna orders Rick to execute Pete. He does so, just as his old friend Morgan appears and is horrified at Rick's transformation.

Death Tally:

People we were happy to see go: The Terminus Cannibals including Mary, Gareth, and Martin, Dawn, Aiden and Pete.

People we were sad to see go: Bob, Beth, Tyrese, Noah and Reg. And possibly, Rick's soul?

There were obviously MANY more, but these were the significant ones to the storyline.

So what is there to expect in Season 6? Well, AMC is just SO forthcoming with spoilers that it may be hard to share anything besides guesses and hopes? All the blogs and critics are predicting this is the end for our dear pal, Glenn. I am not a reader of the comic books, but I know that Glenn theoretically shouldn't last too much longer? Also, people are mentioning a villain "Negan" who hasn't arrived yet and we've all been sensing the arrival of "The Wolves." I don't know what any of these things mean, but I'm looking forward to being pleasantly surprised. I do know Ross Marquand, Alexandra Breckenridge, Tovah Felshuh and Austin Nichols (Aaron, Jessie, Deanna and Spencer, respectively) have been bumped up to series regulars. We will also be seeing new faces Tom Payne, Xander Berkeley and Ethan Embry, however, no information about their characters have been revealed. I find it fascinating that when these actors go in for auditions, they are reading a fake script with fake character names so not even they know who they will be playing. Mr. Kirkman is quite tight-lipped with these scripts and plotlines and albeit a bit frustrating for fans, isn't it really better when we have no idea what's coming?

I do know that there will be heartbreak, we lose main characters every season and it's awful, but that is what keeps us coming back for more. So whether it is Glenn we lose this year or, God forbid, Carol or Daryl (I will seriously boycott!), it will keep true to the tradition of this show.

Here's a preview for Season 6 of THE WALKING DEAD premiering Sunday, October 11th 10:00pm on AMC:

Photo Credits: AMC

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