First Time Again

"First Time Again" is the first episode of the sixth season of AMC's The Walking Dead. It is the sixty-eighth episode of the series overall. It premiered on October 11, 2015. It was written by Scott Gimple & Matt Negrete and directed by Greg Nicotero.

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

Synopsis
Rick's group and the Alexandrians stand beside a quarry filled with walkers. The quarry exits are being blocked by several large trucks, one of which teeters on the edge of a cliff. As Rick outlines a plan to herd the walkers away, the teetering truck plummets to the ground, unleashing the walkers. Rick – who'd been orchestrating a supposed dry run – yells for the group to put the plan into action.

In a flashback to the moments following the deadly town meeting, Deanna sits by a campfire, mourning Reg. "You were wrong," she tells Father Gabriel, referring to his warning that Rick's group was dangerous. Abraham, meanwhile, carries Reg's body in a tarp. He takes a swig of liquor then pours some out onto Reg's corpse.

At the infirmary, Rosita tends to Tara, who has just come out of her coma. Glenn and Nicholas stagger in, bloody from their fight in the woods. Glenn tells Maggie that they were attacked by walkers, omitting the fact that Nicholas ambushed and tried to kill him.

Carl sits next to Enid on a dock. She holds his hand. Ron secretly watches.

Rick warns Morgan that he no longer takes chances, implying that they'll be taking some precautionary measures with Morgan.

Drunk, Abraham sits on a stoop, playing with Reg's wedding ring. He flashes a peace sign when Sasha strolls by. She returns the gesture.

Back in the present: On his motorcycle, Daryl herds the quarry walkers down a road lined bumper-to-bumper with cars.

In the past: Rick learns about the "W man" from Morgan and tells Daryl they should beef up security. Daryl disagrees with Rick's plan to stop recruiting new people to the community.

In the present: Sasha and Abraham drive a car to a rendezvous point marked with red balloons. Daryl informs them via walkie-talkie that he's bringing the herd to their position.

In the past: Rick visits Morgan in the unfinished townhouse where he was detained following his fight with Pete – Alexandria's unofficial holding cell. Rick apologizes for holding Morgan, but Morgan acknowledges the need for precaution.

While guarding the gate, Eugene lets in three Alexandrians — Heath, Scott and Annie — who've been on a supply run for the past few weeks.

Rick releases Morgan and debriefs him on the Alexandria community. They find Gabriel and Tobin digging graves for Reg and Pete. Rick refuses to let Pete be buried inside the community. Deanna agrees and tells them to bury Pete several miles down the road. Ron eavesdrops.

As Rick and Morgan load Pete's body into a car, Morgan points out that Rick could have imprisoned Pete instead of killing him. Rick argues that Pete was a killer, but Morgan counters, "I'm a killer, Rick. I am and you are, too."

In the present: Rick, Michonne and Morgan arrive at a rendezvous point with yellow balloons. Glenn tells them via walkie that he's almost at his destination.

In the past: Ron secretly follows Rick and Morgan to Pete's burial site, where they discover a nearby quarry filled with walkers. Ron is discovered when he's attacked by walkers and Rick and Morgan have to rescue him.

Rick and Morgan deduce that the quarry has been trapping all the walkers in the area, which is why Alexandria has been so safe. Ron tries to leave, but Rick sternly warns him that he will die if he wanders around alone.

In the present: Glenn, Nicholas and Heath arrive at a tractor store located on the walker-herding route. Glenn devises a plan to kill the walkers inside so their noise won't draw the oncoming herd off-course. He tries to lure the walkers out the front door only to find it blocked.

In the past: Rick presides over a community meeting to propose herding the quarry walkers away before they break free and attack Alexandria. He assembles a team of volunteers. Sasha says she'll help Daryl lead the walkers away and Abraham quickly offers to join her so she isn't alone. Glenn will help herd, but Maggie decides to stay back in Alexandria to keep an eye on things. Nicholas volunteers to help, despite Glenn's look of disapproval. Deanna quashes protests from Carter, one of the Alexandrians, and gives the plan her blessing.

Rick meets with his team and devises a plan to herd the walkers west, away from Alexandria. Eugene suggests they build a wall at a key intersection to ensure none of the walkers split off and make their way to the community. Rick charges Carter, who worked on the wall construction crew, with building it.

In the present: Daryl leads the herd to the yellow rendezvous point at the key intersection. Walkers pinball against the newly-erected wall as they make their way around the bend. Rick, Michonne and Morgan shoot flares to keep the walkers marching west.

In the past: Rick's group and the Alexandria residents build the wall. Continuing their earlier conversation, Daryl tells Rick that recruiting new people is the only way to help the community thrive.

In the present: Glenn formulates a new plan to kill the walkers in the tractor shop. He tells Nicholas to stay on the sidelines and radio Rick if things go south.

In the past: At the wall construction site, Maggie reveals to Tara that Nicholas got Noah killed and also tried to kill Glenn. When Tara objects to Glenn's decision to help Nicholas rather than punish him, Maggie points out that Glenn gave Tara a second chance after she sided with the Governor against them. "Glenn saves people," Maggie says.

In the present: Glenn breaks a window at the trailer store and, with Heath's help, shoots walkers as they pour out. When they become overwhelmed, Nicholas steps in and helps kill the walkers.

In the past: Carol serves refreshments at the wall construction site. Morgan notes that Carol is constantly alert and asks if she used to be a cop like Rick. Unnerved, Carol curtly thanks Morgan for the compliment.

In the present: Abraham takes an unnecessary risk when he leaps out of the car to kill a few walkers that have strayed from the herd. He hops back in, exhilarated.

In the past: At the wall construction site, Rick advises Deanna to start allowing firearms within the community. Walkers emerge from the woods and approach a group of Alexandrians. Overwhelmed, Carter asks for help. Rick stops his people from intervening and encourages the Alexandrians to defend themselves, but they're paralyzed with fear. Morgan jumps in and kills the walkers. Carter glares at Rick.

At the armory, Eugene overhears Carter urging Tobin, Olivia, Spencer and Francine to help him kill Rick. Carter spots Eugene and is about to shoot him when Rick, Daryl and Morgan walk in. Rick wrestles the gun from Carter but decides at the last minute not to execute him.

In the present: Rick's team fans out to manage the herd. A walker attacks Carter and bites him. Carter screams, drawing walkers off the road.

In the past: Rick invites Morgan to live with them in the house. Morgan tells Rick he's still the same Rick he met at the beginning -- he knows this because Rick didn't kill Carter when he had the opportunity. Rick admits he wanted to kill Carter, but stopped himself because he realized he didn't have to: "Somebody like that?" Rick says, referring to Carter's ineptitude, "They're gonna die no matter what."

In the present: Rick kills Carter to stop his screaming from attracting the walkers. Tobin herds the stray walkers back onto the road. Rick asks Morgan to return to Alexandria and update everyone.

Daryl, Sasha and Abraham continue leading the herd down the road.

In the past: Rick runs into Jessie at the armory. She admonishes Rick for being rough with Ron in the woods. Rick offers to teach her and Ron how to protect themselves, but Jessie says she's already asked Rosita to give her gun lessons.

In the present: Michonne and Rick monitor the herd on the road.

In the past: Rick brings everyone to the "finish line," where he instructs them to fall back while Daryl, Sasha and Abraham escort the herd another 20 miles down the road. In private, Abraham asks Sasha if she's doing this because she still wants to die. She says no.

The group finds the tractor store full of walkers and Rick makes plans to clear it out later, after the dry run. Glenn pulls Nicholas aside and tells him he's not ready to go on such an important mission, but Glenn promises he'll help him in the future.

Rick finally leads the team to the quarry, moments before the truck topples off the cliff.

In the present: The walker herd reaches the finish line when a loud horn unexpectedly goes off in the distance. Drawn to the noise, half the walkers split off from the herd. While the front of the herd continues to follow Daryl, Sasha and Abraham, the back half of the herd veers off the road en masse – their new course taking them right to Alexandria. Rick, Michonne, and Morgan sprint homewards, and the camera pans back to show hundreds of walkers going in the same direction as them. The screen cuts to black, with the final sound of the episode being the long, uninterrupted drone of the horn.

Co-Stars

 * Kenric Green as Scott
 * Ted Huckabee as Bruce
 * Jay Huguley as David
 * Beth Keener as Annie
 * Jonathan Kleitman as Sturgess
 * Dahlia Legault as Francine
 * Ann Mahoney as Olivia
 * Justin Miles as Barnes
 * Katelyn Nacon as Enid
 * Michael Traynor as Nicholas
 * Jordan Woods-Robinson as Eric Raleigh

Deaths

 * Carter

Trivia

 * First appearance of Heath.
 * First appearance of Scott.
 * First appearance of Annie.
 * First appearance of Barnes.
 * First appearance of Sturgess.
 * First appearance of David.
 * First appearance of Michael. (Flashback)
 * First appearance of Kyle.
 * First (and last) appearance of Carter.
 * Last appearance of Natalie Miller. (Flashback)
 * Last appearance of Reg Monroe. (Flashback, Corpse)
 * Last appearance of Pete Anderson. (Flashback, Corpse)
 * Last appearance of Tommy. (Alive)
 * As of this episode, Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha Williams) and Lennie James (Morgan Jones) have been added to the opening credits.
 * Josh McDermitt (Eugene Porter), Christian Serratos (Rosita Espinosa), Alanna Masterson (Tara Chambler) and Seth Gilliam (Gabriel Stokes) are still listed under "Also Starring" despite being regulars in the previous season.
 * This is the first episode featuring Alexandra Breckenridge (Jessie Anderson), Ross Marquand (Aaron), Austin Nichols (Spencer Monroe) and Tovah Feldshuh (Deanna Monroe) as series regulars. They are all listed under "Also Starring".
 * Similar to Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene) in season 3, Feldshuh's name receives special billing as "and Tovah Feldshuh."
 * Major Dodson (Sam) is upgraded from "Co-Star" to "Also Starring" in this episode.
 * This episode marks the first episode in which Morgan appears in two consecutive episodes.
 * This episode marks Melissa McBride's 50th appearance on the TV Series.
 * This episode is the first season premiere since "What Lies Ahead" to feature all series regulars of said season.
 * The lines: "I ask, you answer. It's common courtesy, right?" which was said by Rick to Morgan in this episode are the same words Morgan told Rick in "Days Gone Bye".
 * Second and third mention of Holly. Though not physically present, she was mentioned twice. Once by Eugene at the gate when Heath returned to Alexandria and then again at the meeting, mentioned by Rick as taking up guard in the watch tower with Rosita and Spencer.
 * With a total of 14.6 million viewers received during the initial broadcast, this is the first season premiere that did not surpass the viewing figures of the previous season.
 * This is the first season premiere since Season 2's "What Lies Ahead" to be 90 minutes long.
 * The title of the episode, "First Time Again", comes from a conversation between Morgan and Rick about getting to know each other again after such a long time apart.
 * This premiere episode closes up with an aerial shot of a massive herd of zombies threatening to kill Rick and/or his group, just like the ending of the Pilot / Season one premiere.
 * While filming the scene in which Rick threatens Carter by pointing a gun at him, Andrew Lincoln punched the wall behind him so many times trying to get angry for the situation, that he actually broke it, opening a hole clearly visible in the shot. This could have been fixed digitally, or simply covered up with Ethan Embry's (Carter) face.

Comic Parallels

 * Carter conspiring with Spencer, Francine, Tobin and Olivia to overthrow Rick is adapted from a similar scene in issue 89, where Nicholas is in charge of the conspiracy instead.
 * As Issue 89 was released in October 2011, this is notably the first episode to adapt comic issues that were released after the TV series premiered in October 2010.
 * Eugene being discovered listening to the conspiracy is adapted from a similar scene in issue 89, where Glenn discovers the conspiracy instead.
 * Rick pointing a gun to Carter's head to ask him if he thinks he can take the community from his group is adapted from a similar scene in issue 89, where Rick points a gun to Nicholas instead.
 * The walker herd being lured towards Alexandria after hearing a horn is adapted from a similar scene in issue 78, where the herd is lured after hearing the gunshots from the Alexandria battle against the Scavengers instead.

Goofs/Errors

 * When Rick is threatening Carter by pointing a gun at him, the sound of a pistol hammer being cocked can be heard; similarly, when he lowers it, a decocking sound effect can be heard. However, the pistol Rick uses is a Glock model, a series of pistols with no external hammer.
 * When Rick and Morgan are talking near the end of the episode on the porch, Andrew Lincoln's natural English accent can be heard slipping through for a couple of words.