Season 6 (TV Series)

Season 6 of AMC's The Walking Dead consists of sixteen episodes; it premiered on October 11, 2015 and will conclude on April 3, 2016. It was confirmed on October 7, 2014, that AMC had renewed The Walking Dead for Season 6. Scott Gimple continued as showrunner for a third consecutive season.

The premiere episode, "First Time Again", received 14.63 million on its initial broadcast and 7.43 million in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic.

"First Time Again"
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 her husband. "You were wrong," she tells Father Gabriel, referring to his warning that Rick's group was dangerous. Abraham, meanwhile, carries Pete's body in a tarp. He takes a swig of liquor then pours some out onto Pete'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, 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.

"JSS"
In a flashback, Enid's parents are killed by walkers while trying to jumpstart a car. Locked in the car, Enid cries as walkers devour them outside.

Enid wanders the woods alone, foraging for food and killing walkers. She repeatedly traces the letters "JSS" in dirt and dusty windows. Enid eventually stumbles upon Alexandria's gate. She starts to walk away, but seeing "JSS" scrawled on her arm, changes her mind and goes inside.

In the present, Carol collects ingredients from the pantry. Mrs. Neudermeyer, also present, once again complains about wanting a fresh pasta maker. Carol snidely comments that Mrs. Neudermeyer should be more concerned about her "disgusting" cigarette habit.

Later, Carol sees Sam moping on her porch and brusquely tells him to get over his father's death.

Jessie tries to give Ron a haircut. He blames her for Pete's death and is angry that she's friends with Rick. She defends Rick and reminds Ron that his father was a dangerous man.

Maggie tells Deanna that they have seeds and suggests they start a garden once the town expansion is finished. She urges Deanna – still in shock over the death of her son and husband – to lead the community once again.

At the infirmary, Eugene and Tara meet Denise, the new doctor. She explains that she studied surgery in medical school but switched to psychiatry after having panic attacks.

Carl sees Ron and Enid sitting together outside. Gabriel asks Carl for self-defense lessons. Carl ignores Gabriel, then has a change of heart, inviting him to come by for a machete lesson.

From her kitchen, Carol watches Mrs. Neudermeyer smoking outside. Suddenly, a man rushes up and cleaves Mrs. Neudermeyer with a machete.

Maggie and Deanna hear a commotion inside the walls, then Maggie sees the Wolves scale the fence and infiltrate the community. Judith.

At home, Jessie and Sam hear a window break and hide in an upstairs closet.

As chaos erupts in the streets, Enid stops by Carl's house to say good-bye before leaving the community. But Carl convinces her to stay and help protect Judith.

Carol watches as the Wolves take prisoners in chains and one Wolf paints a "W" on his forehead with blood. She saves a mortally wounded neighbor from a Wolf then stabs the neighbor through the head.

From the lookout tower, Spencer shoots a cargo truck as it hurtles toward the main gate. The truck crashes into the wall, causing the horn to blare – the same horn that drew the walker herd Daryl, Abraham and Sasha were simultaneously leading away from Alexandria. Spencer tries to get out of the lookout tower to stop the horn, but the door is blocked.

One of the Alexandrians, Holly, is rushed to the infirmary. Denise asks Tara to stay behind and stand guard.

Spencer finally reaches the truck but hesitates when he finds a walker inside. Morgan arrives just in time to kill the walker and stop the horn. Sensing Spencer's fear, Morgan orders him to hide in the truck.

Inside the walls, Morgan confronts a Wolf and orders him to leave. Carol, disguised as a Wolf, swoops in and stabs Morgan's opponent. Morgan angrily tells her they don't have to kill people. "Of course we do," she snaps, and orders him to help her secure the armory.

Deanna decides to stay outside the walls since she lacks fighting skills. Maggie tells Spencer to keep Deanna safe inside the truck.

Denise panics after discovering that Holly is bleeding internally. Tara and Eugene urge her to overcome her fears and operate on Holly.

Carl saves Ron from a Wolf attack and urges Ron to follow him inside the house. But Ron sees Enid standing in the doorway and storms off.

Jessie hears Ron arrive home. She emerges from the closet to warn Ron away. But when she gets downstairs, a Wolf woman attacks her. Jessie grabs a pair of scissors and repeatedly stabs the woman in the chest as Ron looks on.

En route to the armory, Morgan leaves Carol to save Gabriel from a Wolf. He spares the attacker's life.

At the armory, Carol loads a bag with guns. She shows Olivia how to use a gun and instructs her to shoot if anyone comes through the door.

Gabriel helps Morgan bind a Wolf. But to Morgan's dismay, Carol shoots his prisoner and starts distributing guns. Morgan gives his gun to Gabriel.

Meanwhile, Rosita and Aaron kill Wolves who've looted a house.

Morgan encounters a group of Wolves near the main gate and takes them on with his staff, ordering them to leave. "You keep choosing this life, you will die," he says. "We didn't choose," says the blond Wolf, who Morgan earlier encountered outside Alexandria. The Wolves flee, but not before one of them grabs a gun on his way out. Morgan shuts the gate behind them.

The Wolves now defeated, Carol stands over Mrs. Neudermeyer's body and tears up.

A shell-shocked Aaron walks down a street littered with bodies. He notices one of the Wolves had the backpack he lost escaping the truck ambush with Daryl. Aaron finds the photos of Alexandria inside and, horrified, realizes that's how the Wolves found the community.

Back in the infirmary, Holly dies on the operating table. Denise asks Tara, Eugene and Eric for a moment alone. Tara reminds her to destroy Holly's brain.

Maggie, Deanna, Rosita and Spencer patrol the perimeter. Spencer asks how Rosita is able to live in the face of such despair. She explains that her friends give her something worth dying for.

Carl finds a farewell note from Enid: "Just Survive Somehow," it reads.

In a house, Morgan encounters the other Wolf he met in the woods outside Alexandria. The W-Man taunts Morgan for not killing him when he had the chance. Morgan knocks him unconscious.

Later, Morgan and Carol stride down opposite ends one of Alexandria's corpse-strewn streets, refusing to acknowledge each other as they pass.

"Thank You"
Glenn, Michonne and the Alexandrians race through the woods toward Alexandria, where the horn continues to blare. Half of the quarry herd follows close behind. Over the walkie, Rick tells Daryl to stay the course and keep the rest of the herd moving along the road.

Rick tells his team that he's going to get the RV and redirect the breakaway herd before it reaches Alexandria. In private, he tells Glenn and Michonne that the Alexandrians with them "aren't all gonna make it." Rick instructs them to lead the team back to Alexandria but to keep going if anyone can't keep up. Heath overhears the conversation.

Just then, one of the Alexandrians gets mauled by a walker and bleeds out. Michonne stabs his head. Afterward, Rick takes his gun and an energy bar off his body while the remaining Alexandrians look on in horror. Meanwhile, the horn stops.

Glenn and Michonne lead the group towards Alexandria. Walkers attack, sending the Alexandrians into a panic: Sturgess fires wildly into the air and hits Scott in the leg before fleeing; Nicholas becomes paralyzed with fear; and a walker bites David on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, Daryl tells Abraham and Sasha that he's leaving them to help defend Alexandria. Abraham and Sasha implore Daryl to stay until they reach the 20-mile marker as planned, but Daryl refuses and rides off on his bike.

David tells Michonne about his wife, hoping he'll get to see her before succumbing to his walker bite. Annie insists they stop to treat Scott's leg.

The group checks cars in an abandoned town to see if any can be used to drive home. Heath recognizes the town as the location of Aiden and Nicholas' disastrous and fatal supply run. Nicholas admits he and Aidan didn't know what they were doing. Reluctantly, Heath tasks Nicholas with showing them how to get through the town.

With Nicholas leading the way, the group runs into walkers feasting on Sturgess' body. Nicholas becomes paralyzed by fear again, but snaps out of it when Glenn calls his name. The group backtracks only to be confronted by more walkers. They retreat into a pet store, where Glenn formulates a plan to set fire to a nearby building to distract the herd. Nicholas suggests a feed store and offers to lead Glenn there.

Over the walkie, Glenn fills Rick in on his plan while Rick sprints down the road and fights off a group of walkers.

Back in the pet store, Annie and Scott point out that their injuries are slowing everyone down and urge the group to keep going without them. Heath looks pointedly at Michonne and refuses to leave anyone behind.

Afterward, Michonne confronts Heath about his attitude. He tells her he overheard Rick's instructions to leave people behind. Michonne angrily reminds Heath that he hasn't had to survive like Rick, and doesn't know what it's like out in the world. Heath counters that he's been on plenty of runs, but Michonne points out that he's never "been covered in so much blood that you didn't know if it was yours, or walkers or your friends."

Out in the town, Glenn and Nicholas find a walker pinned underneath a car. Nicholas recognizes the walker as a friend that he and Aidan left behind during their supply run. He stabs the walker through the head, then he and Glenn rush away as sounds of gunfire erupt from the direction of Alexandria.

Meanwhile, Rick reaches the RV and races off down the road.

Michonne's group sits quietly, watching walkers file by the storefront, drawn by the gunfire. Michonne sees David writing a farewell note to his wife. When he tries to hand it to her, she refuses to take it. "You're getting home," Michonne writes on her arm. Then walkers that had been lurking in the back room of the store begin pounding on an interior door, drawing the attention of the walkers outside. As the herd arrives in town, Michonne's group races out of the store, guns blazing. But Annie falls and is devoured by walkers.

Meanwhile, Glenn and Nicholas reach the feed store only to find that it's already been burned to the ground. Glenn desperately urges Nicholas to suggest another building as the massive herd moves toward them.

Michonne's group reaches a gate and climbs over it one by one. The herd catches up and claws at Michonne and David as they clamber over. Walkers drag David off the gate and tear him apart as Heath looks on in horror.

In another part of town, walkers corner Glenn and Nicholas in an alley. Glenn climbs a dumpster and helps Nicholas up as walkers surround them and grab at their feet. After staring at the teeming horde all around them, a sudden calm comes over Nicholas. "Thank you," he tells Glenn and shoots himself in the head. Glenn gets knocked into the herd by Nicholas' falling corpse and screams as he's engulfed by feasting walkers. Whether Glenn was killed or not is ambiguous.

Grim and exhausted, Michonne and Heath help Scott limp through the woods. As they wade through a creek, Heath is shocked to see his blood-soaked reflection in the water.

Meanwhile, Rick stops the RV at the edge of the woods, where Glenn directed him to intercept the herd. He tries to reach Glenn by walkie but receives no response. Then he radios Daryl to tell him the breakaway herd will soon be back on track.

As Rick waits, two men sneak into the RV and fire at him – it's the Wolves that Morgan let escape. Rick dives and returns fire, killing them. He then sees more Wolves sneaking up outside the RV and opens fire on them with a machine gun, killing them all.

Daryl hears gunfire over the walkie and calls Rick's name, but gets no response. He races down the road, reluctantly rejoining Abraham and Sasha as the herd trails behind them.

Michonne, Heath and Scott arrive at Alexandria to find the outlying buildings burned. Michonne unsheaths her katana.

Rick tries to start the RV but the engine falters. He keeps trying and trying, but without luck as the massive breakaway herd starts to emerge from the forest just behind him…

"Here's Not Here"
A new face appears; trust issues form.

"Now"
Following a number of setbacks, the mood in Alexandria grows grim for the sheltered citizens.

Cast
Season 6/Starring|Starring Season 6/Also Starring|Also Starring Season 6/Co-Stars|Co-Starring Season 6/Uncredited|Uncredited

Deaths

 * Carter
 * Shelly Neudermeyer
 * Richard (Alive and Zombified)
 * Aphid
 * Erin
 * Holly
 * Enid's Unnamed Parents (Flashback)
 * Barnes
 * Sturgess
 * Will (Zombified)
 * Annie
 * David
 * Nicholas
 * Glenn Rhee (Possible)
 * Blond Wolf
 * 40's Man
 * 20's Man
 * Tabitha
 * Crighton Dallas Wilton (Confirmed Fate)
 * Eastman
 * Several unnamed Alexandria residents
 * Several unnamed Wolves member

Trivia

 * Below are the changes made to the main cast from Season 5 to Season 6.
 * Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha Williams) is added to the opening sequence after being listed under "Also Starring" in Seasons 4 and 5.
 * Josh McDermitt (Eugene Porter), Christian Serratos (Rosita Espinosa), Alanna Masterson (Tara Chambler) and Seth Gilliam (Fr. Gabriel Stokes) are still listed under "Also Starring. All have been regulars since season 5.
 * Lennie James (Morgan Jones), Tovah Feldshuh (Deanna Monroe), Alexandra Breckenridge (Jessie Anderson), Ross Marquand (Aaron) and Austin Nichols (Spencer Monroe) were upgraded to series regulars after recurring appearances.
 * Lennie James was added to the opening credits, while Alexandra Breckenridge, Ross Marquand, Austin Nichols, and Tovah Feldshuh were listed under "Also Starring". Feldshuh is given the special billing "and" similar to Scott Wilson in Season 3.
 * On Talking Dead, Scott Gimple wrote a letter in regards to the sixth season, stating the following: "For a good while now, humans have been the bigger threat. At the start of our next season, that will change. I've said before the show reinvents itself every eight episodes and we're doing it again, friends. Now that these characters know that they have what it takes to survive, what are they going to do with that power? How will they choose to live? Beyond answering those questions, we're currently putting into motion some of our most ambitious stuff yet and things are going to get very big, loud, and scary."
 * Gale Anne Hurd has stated the walkers will become a larger threat in Season 6 as compared to Season 5.
 * The Season 6 premiere was 90 minutes long, making it the first season premiere since "What Lies Ahead" of Season 2 to be so.
 * "First Time Again" is the first season premiere that did not surpass the viewing figures of the previous season. Receiving a total of 14.63 million viewers received during the initial broadcast, compared to Season 5's "No Sanctuary".
 * "Here's Not Here" is the first episode (exluding season premieres and finales) to have a run-time of 90 minutes.