“The Walking Dead” returns with refreshing new start

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By Giana Haynia

Featuring zombies and zombie killers, “The Walking Dead,” returned on Sunday, Feb. 18. Courtesy of Creative Commons Zero - CC0
Featuring zombies and zombie killers, “The Walking Dead,” returned on Sunday, Feb. 18. Courtesy of Creative Commons Zero – CC0

AMC’s “The Walking Dead” returned on Sunday night with its midseason premiere, and it did not disappoint. After a two month hiatus, the show, based on the comic book series of the same name, returned to the characters as they prepare to fight the show’s new main antagonist, Negan, played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan.  

To recap what happened throughout the first half of the season, the group was broken up after the intense season premiere. Maggie and Sasha, played by Lauren Cohan and Sonequa Martin-Green respectively, went to the Hilltop Colony in order to treat the pregnant Maggie’s unknown illness, while Daryl was taken by the Saviors. The remainder of the group returned to their home community of Alexandria. The next episodes were dedicated to different characters; they were a bit slow and were overly brutal sometimes. The midseason finale set up for the next half when almost the entire group reunited at the Hilltop Colony to both check on Maggie and also attempt to gain the colony’s help in the fight against Negan.

The midseason premiere had lots of things going on, but it was carefully written, so it didn’t go overboard. The brutality was almost non-existent in this episode, which is a relief from the first half of the season. While the first made viewers turn away, this episode was well contained. Now that the group is back together, the show’s energy seems to be as well.

The episode started off when Father Gabriel, portrayed by Seth Gilliam, seemingly stole the Alexandria community’s food and the remainder of their weapons supply and ran off. It happened so quick that it didn’t make sense until he drove off and a hooded figure popped up in the passenger’s seat. The closing moments of the midseason finale showed that same hooded figure outside of Alexandria. The mystery of the figure seems like it will be a mainstay for remainder of the season.

If there was anything to complain about, it’s the fact that the episode had much more dialogue than action. They would talk about one thing and then jump to another without a transition. If viewers stopped paying attention for even a second, they would be lost.

The biggest aspect of the episode was the attempt to band the Alexandria, Hilltop, and Kingdom communities in order to fight Negan and the Saviors. The setup began perfectly, following the comics through and through. Neither leader of the Hilltop nor Kingdom agreed to help. It was clear that the writers are not planning to rush the Negan storyline, they’re seemingly dragging it out throughout seasons. It’s a great thing, seeing as Negan and his group brought new life into the show.

But perhaps the best part of the episode was when Rick, acted by Andrew Lincoln, and Michonne, performed by Danai Gurira, decided to take some time to bond as a couple and cut up dozens of zombies with a steel wire attached to the two cars they were driving. The steel wire was originally set up by the Saviors in order to keep a horde from reaching their compound. The entire sequence was intense and arguably the best part of the whole season so far. The only other part that could give the sequence a run for its money was Rick smiling as he and the group were surrounded by a gun-toting faction.

Out of a rating of five, this episode gets a three and a half. While it was a great and refreshing start to the next half of the season, there was almost too much going on in one episode, and it was extremely dialogue heavy.