Honestly, looking back at The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 1, titled "First Time Again," it feels like a fever dream of black-and-white flashbacks and thousands of extras in latex. Most fans remember it for the sheer scale. It wasn't just another premiere; it was AMC flexing its muscles to see how many walkers they could actually fit into a single frame. But beneath the surface of that massive quarry, there was a lot of tension about what kind of leader Rick Grimes was actually becoming.
The episode is famous for its non-linear storytelling. One minute you're watching a greyscale past where Rick and Morgan are catching up, and the next, you're thrust into a high-stakes, Technicolor mission to lead a parade of undead away from Alexandria. It was a gutsy move by director Greg Nicotero. Some people hated the jumping back and forth. Personally, I think it gave the episode a rhythmic quality that the show often lacks when it gets too bogged down in dialogue.
The Quarry and the Grand Plan
The central conflict of The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 1 revolves around a massive quarry filled with what seems like every walker in Virginia. Rick discovers this "mega-herd" and realizes that the only reason Alexandria hasn't been overrun is a couple of precariously balanced semi-trucks blocking the exit. One truck slips. The clock starts ticking.
Rick’s plan is insane. Instead of trying to kill them all—which would be impossible—he decides to lead them twenty miles away. It’s a shepherd’s play. He enlists the Alexandrians, who are basically soft, sheltered suburbanites at this point, to help build walls and guide the dead.
The tension between the "old world" survivors and the "new world" warriors is at an all-time high here. Carter, played by Ethan Embry, represents the average person's reaction to Rick: "This guy is a lunatic." And honestly? Carter wasn't entirely wrong. Rick was acting like a warlord. Watching Rick cold-bloodedly decide not to kill Carter for conspiring against him, only to have Carter get his face bitten off later in the episode, was peak Walking Dead irony. Rick didn't even look sad. He just finished the job and kept moving.
Why the Black and White Worked (and Why it Didn't)
The use of monochrome for the flashback sequences was a practical choice to help the audience keep track of the timeline. It’s a classic cinematic trick. In the "present," everything is vibrant and saturated, highlighting the heat and the blood of the march. In the "past," the lack of color makes the characters look more haggard, more like ghosts of their former selves.
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It’s interesting to see Morgan Jones back in the mix during these scenes. This is the "Clear" Morgan but reformed, a man who now believes all life is precious. Putting him next to Rick, who is currently in a "kill them before they kill us" phase, created a philosophical divide that defined the entire sixth season. You can see it in their eyes during those quiet moments on the porch. Morgan sees the man Rick used to be, while Rick only sees the threats in front of him.
The Logistics of a Zombie Parade
Let's talk about the production value for a second. The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 1 used over a thousand extras. That is an absurd amount of makeup. They used a combination of "hero" zombies with full prosthetic work and "background" zombies who were basically wearing masks and dark clothes.
- They built a literal wall out of scrap metal to funnel the herd.
- Daryl Dixon leads the pack on his motorcycle, going at a snail's pace.
- Sasha and Abraham are in a car, providing a secondary lure.
- The choreography required to keep a thousand people moving in a specific direction without tripping over each other is a nightmare for any AD.
The sheer logistics of the "parade" are what make this episode stand out in the series' history. It wasn't just a skirmish; it was a military operation. It showed that the survivors had evolved from just "surviving" to actively manipulating their environment. They weren't just hiding in houses anymore. They were moving mountains—or at least, mountains of rotting flesh.
The Turning Point for Alexandria
This episode also marks the moment the Alexandrians had to grow up or die. Heath, played by Corey Hawkins, is introduced here, and he’s one of the few locals who actually seems to have a grip on reality. But the rest? They’re terrified.
There’s a specific scene where a group of walkers breaks through a section of the woods, and the Alexandrians freeze. It’s Glenn and Nicholas—yes, Nicholas, who we all loved to hate—who have to step up. The dynamic between Glenn and Nicholas is one of the most underrated parts of this premiere. Glenn is trying to redeem a man who literally tried to murder him a few days prior. It’s a stark contrast to Rick’s "shoot first" mentality. It asks the question: is it possible to remain a "good" person when the world demands you be a monster?
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That Ending Horn
Everything is going according to plan. The herd is moving. Daryl is leading them away. The music is swelling. And then, the horn sounds.
A loud, steady blare coming from the direction of Alexandria.
It’s a haunting sound. It ruins everything. Half the herd starts to peel off, heading straight for the walls of the community. In that moment, all of Rick’s careful planning falls apart. It’s a reminder that no matter how much you think you’ve mastered the apocalypse, there’s always a variable you can’t control. In this case, it was the Wolves attacking the home base, though we didn't know that for sure until the following episode.
The episode ends on a literal note of doom. It’s one of the best cliffhangers the show ever produced because it wasn't about "who died," but rather "how can they possibly survive this?"
A Masterclass in Tension
What people often forget about The Walking Dead Season 6 Episode 1 is how quiet it is despite the scale. There are long stretches of just the sound of shuffling feet and groans. It’s oppressive. The episode doesn't rely on jump scares. It relies on the crushing weight of inevitable failure. You know that 30,000 walkers aren't just going to walk away quietly.
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Critics at the time, like those at The Hollywood Reporter and Variety, praised the episode for its ambition but noted that the timeline jumping was a bit polarizing. Still, it pulled in over 14 million viewers on its initial airing. That’s a number most shows today would kill for. It was the peak of the show’s cultural dominance.
Technical Details You Might Have Missed
If you go back and rewatch, look at the prosthetic work on the "trap" walkers—the ones stuck in the woods or the quarry. By season 6, the walkers were supposed to be significantly more decayed than in season 1. The skin is sloughing off. Their noses are mostly gone. Greg Nicotero’s team intentionally used thinner actors to portray the long-term starvation of the undead.
Also, the sound design in the quarry scenes is incredible. They layered thousands of individual moans to create a "drone" effect that hits you in the chest. It doesn't sound like people; it sounds like a natural disaster, like a flood or an earthquake.
Actionable Takeaways for Superfans
If you are revisiting this era of the show, there are a few things you should do to get the most out of the experience:
- Watch the "Making Of" Featurettes: AMC released a deep dive into how they managed the herd in the quarry. It’s a fascinating look at practical effects versus CGI.
- Compare Rick and Morgan’s Philosophy: Use this episode as a baseline. Track how Rick’s "kill or be killed" stance and Morgan’s "all life is precious" stance play out over the next 15 episodes. It’s the core thematic arc of the season.
- Look for the Wolves' Foreshadowing: There are tiny clues in the "past" sequences about the impending attack on Alexandria. Keep an eye on the perimeter scenes.
- Notice the Color Grading: Pay attention to when the color starts to bleed back into the "past" scenes as they get closer to the "present." It’s a subtle transition that’s easy to miss on a first watch.
The premiere of season 6 remains a high-water mark for television production. It proved that a zombie show could be a grand epic, even if it occasionally tripped over its own ambitious feet. Whether you loved the black-and-white gimmick or found it distracting, you can't deny that "First Time Again" changed the scale of the apocalypse forever.