Like most fans, I keep coming back to The Walking Dead even though the AMC series has toyed with my emotions for far too long. Season 6 of The Walking Dead was no exception since the season finale was perhaps the least satisfying and most controversial ever in the show's history. With a big setup that someone would die at the hands of the new villain Negan, it was disappointing that The Walking Dead left viewers in suspense of who was actually murdered. It has been a long six months, but Season 7 is finally upon us and before who was killed is shown, you may understandably need a The Walking Dead Season 6 recap about everything else that happened last season.
Even if you hadn't read the comics, you may have known that the big baddie Negan was coming (it was kind of hard to avoid). So the plethora of stupid decisions that Rick and co. made were particularly ominous since it only led to the inevitability of them being cornered in a really vulnerable position. All of the strongest people kept leaving Alexandria and although Gabriel somehow became a go-to guy in defending the walled-in city and baby Judith, putting all of the favorite Walking Dead characters out on the road led to an anxiety-ridden season. It was capped off by 11 of some of the best characters facing death by Negan in the season finale and who was killed by Negan should be revealed when The Walking Dead Season 7 premieres on Sunday, Oct. 23. Yet, how the series got to this point is definitely worth a recap before embarking on the latest season. So here's what you need to remember from Season 6 before finding out who was devastatingly killed.
The Group Tried To Relocate A Herd Of Walkers
Rick came up with the idea to move a huge group of walkers so that they would not come and attack Alexandria later. Unfortunately, for the group and for Rick's reputation as a competent leader, the plan ended up being a disaster when a truck fell into the quarry of walkers and made their dry run turn into a battle for their lives. Sasha, Abraham, and Daryl, who were tasked with leading the group of walkers away, were separated from the rest of the group at this time and anyone who had stayed behind in Alexandria was met with another threat.
The Wolves Attacked Alexandria
While most of the group was busy with walkers, the Wolves came and attacked a vulnerable Alexandria. The walkers also started heading to Alexandria because Deanna's son Spencer shot at the truck that the Wolves were crashing into the gates of the town and the truck's horn started blaring. (The horn also informed Rick and crew that they needed to get back to Alexandria.) Thanks to Carol, Morgan, Aaron, and Rosita, the Wolves were defeated, even though the crazed W heads took out a lot of the Alexandria population in the process. Carol and Morgan's season-long dispute over whether or not they need to kill people started here with Carol being angered at Morgan's refusal to kill anyone, including the Wolves.
Glenn Went Missing
The most controversial plot of the season (before the season finale cliffhanger) was Glenn and the now infamous Dumpster Incident. During the chaos of most of the group trying to defeat the walkers and knowing that Alexandria was under attack, Glenn came up with an idea to set a fire in a nearby building to distract the walkers. A regretful Nicholas (who had led to the death of Noah and tried to kill Glenn in Season 5) accompanied Glenn on his mission. When a group of walkers ended up surrounding the pair while they were on a dumpster, Nicholas killed himself out of fear, which made Glenn drop into the group of zombies below. After multiple episodes of not knowing Glenn's fate, Enid, who had left Alexandria to be on her own, discovered him alive under the dumpster and the pair returned to Alexandria. Their way was fraught with obstacles, including the Alexandria watchtower collapsing, but Enid helped reunite Glenn and Maggie and bonded with the couple in the process.
Morgan Tried To Rehabilitate A Wolf
Another polarizing moment was the Morgan backstory episode where viewers saw how Morgan went from the crazy "clear" guy that Rick had met back up with in Season 3 to the philosophical, no-kill ninja he was today, thanks to a man named Eastman. After the Wolves invaded Alexandria, Morgan created a jail for Owen (the Wolf he had encountered in Season 5), convinced he could make him a good person again like Eastman had done for him. Carol did not take kindly to Morgan putting the group in potential harm's way by secretly holding Owen. She went to kill the Wolf, but during the struggle, he escaped by holding Denise as a hostage. Owen showed that he may have changed his ways by helping Denise when she was attacked by walkers, but Carol shot him anyway and he died.
Some Major Alexandria People Died
The leader of Alexandria, Deanna, had already come to the conclusion that Rick was more fit to be the boss when she was injured during the watchtower collapsing. Before she died, she helped Rick realize he needed to care for all of the people of Alexandria, not just his original crew. Following Deanna's death, more of the original Alexandrians died with Rick's girlfriend Jessie and her two sons all getting killed. When Jessie's younger son Sam panicked as they made their way through a group of zombies (cloaked in walker guts, of course), he was eaten. Jessie couldn't handle seeing her son die, froze, and then was also devoured. This led to older son Ron turning on Rick and pointing a gun at him since he blamed Rick for all of the bad things that were happening (Rick had killed his dad after all). Killing Rick under any circumstances is unacceptable though, so Michonne sliced through Ron with her katana. That was the brutal end of the Anderson family, but they still managed to create some damage in death.
Carl Lost An Eye
Michonne might have saved Rick from Ron's bullet, but it ended up in Carl's eye. However, the son of Rick Grimes was not meant to be among the dead and the town doctor Denise was able to save Carl. Walkers were still attacking Alexandria though, so Daryl lit the pond in the middle of the town on fire, which saved the surviving members of the community. Carl took some time to recover, but he ended up being alright with just a missing eye and a pretty sweet eye patch that shows just how tough he is.
Michonne & Rick Got Together
No offense, Jessie, but this is the pairing that Walking Dead fans wanted to see. After a time jump, it was revealed that Michonne and Rick had started sleeping together and seeing Rick, Michonne, Carl, and Judith make a happy family unit was oh-so good.
Abraham & Sasha Got Together
Although Abraham was with Rosita, after Abraham and Sasha had some alone time holed up in an office during the walker herding attempt, he admitted his feelings for Sasha. He did eventually leave Rosita, which led to her being understandably hurt and acting out a little recklessly — including sleeping with a smitten Spencer. While the pairing of Abraham and Sasha was surprising, Abraham seemed very invested in her, so they could end up happy together if they can survive Negan.
Jesus & The Hilltop Group Were Introduced
After the chaos of the first half of the season subsided and things in Alexandria were a little more stable, the dynamic duo of Rick and Daryl were out on a supply run (the town was suffering from a low stock) when they encountered the character Jesus. It wasn't clear if the long-haired bearded man could be trusted at first, but he ended up leading them to his people, the Hilltop community. Maggie worked out a deal with the Hilltop leader Gregory to take on another group — the villainous Saviors — for half of the Hilltop's supplies. No matter if Gregory was creepy, Jesus proved through his actions that he should be an important ally come Season 7.
They Slaughtered The Saviors In Their Sleep
The master plan to help out the Hilltop and themselves was to murder the Saviors in their sleep. The Saviors and their leader Negan had been encountering Rick's group the entire season — like when a group of Savior bikers tried to steal all of Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham's supplies and Daryl blew them up with an RPG. Although many characters had some understandable reservations about Rick's plan, most of Rick's group went into the Savior compound and killed them while they slept. Yet, the Saviors were a larger and more dangerous group than Rick anticipated and Maggie and Carol were held hostage (they escaped like the badasses they are though) and this nighttime attack had some deadly repercussions later.
Maggie Became Pregnant
The most beloved couple of the series being apart wasn't good news for anybody, so when Glenn was missing, Maggie wanted to leave Alexandria to find him. In the process, she revealed to Aaron that she was pregnant. (Maggie and Glenn — I love you guys, but I was as skeptical as Abraham was when it came to your family planning.) Thankfully, Glenn and Maggie were reunited without her having to leave the compound. When the group went to the Hilltop, one of the members of this new colony, Harlan, just happened to be an obstetrician (what are the odds??) and performed an ultrasound of Glenn and Maggie's baby. Maggie wasn't one to slow down, even when she was pregnant, and after being held captive by the Saviors, she ended up with bruises on her stomach. She later collapsed and had a fever so Rick, Abraham, Sasha, Eugene, Aaron, and Carl decided to escort her back to the Hilltop in an RV to receive some medical care. But during this journey, they encountered a massive roadblock.
Morgan Went Back To Killing
Carol had an existential crisis about the number of people she had killed in the zombie apocalypse and decided to flee Alexandria (and her new boyfriend Tobin) because she didn't want to be responsible for any more deaths. Morgan went after her and tried to bring a difficult Carol back to the town. She escaped him, but when she was shot by the Savior Roman who had attacked her earlier (she had killed the rest of the people with him), Morgan went back on his "no kill" oath and killed Roman. Morgan and Carol's Season 6 storyline ended with geared-up men approaching them and Morgan and Carol shouldn't have to kill them since they are presumably members of the Kingdom, who are good guys in the comics.
Dwight Antagonized Daryl
Earlier in the season, when Daryl was separated from Abraham and Sasha during the zombie herding, he encountered the Savior Dwight. After trusting Dwight and his companions, Dwight stole Daryl's beloved crossbow and motorcycle, which was pretty much the biggest offense anyone could do. Toward the end of the season, Daryl, Rosita, and Denise (who had become Daryl's new buddy) were out on a run when Denise was shot and killed by Dwight using none other than Daryl's own crossbow. As Tara had just told Denise she loved her and Daryl had a soft spot for the Alexandria doctor, this death was particularly devastating. Dwight and his crew of Saviors also had Eugene hostage, but with a creative bite to Dwight's crotch, Eugene was able to help his group flee. That didn't stop Daryl from wanting to seek revenge and when Michonne, Glenn, and Rosita left Alexandria to find Daryl, Dwight bested them all by bringing them to Negan and he even shot Daryl's beautiful arm in the process.
Negan Came To Town
Not like you necessarily need a recap of the Season 6 cliffhanger, but the latter half of the season was leading up to this giant showdown with the Savior leader Negan and Rick's group. As tough as Rick and the gang are, they are no match for the brutality of Negan, as they discovered in the Season 6 finale. Everyone in the RV with Maggie and everyone with Daryl were captured and Negan, who was understandably a little upset with them for slaughtering his people while they slept, introduced them to his barbed wire baseball bat Lucille. He lined up Glenn, Maggie, Carl, Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Abraham, Eugene, Rosita, Sasha, and Aaron and played the most vicious game of "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" ever, beating one of those 11 characters to death.
Season 7 is pretty much required to start where last season ended and looking back on Season 6, you can see that Negan's arrival was a long time coming. Yet, that won't make the death reveal any easier when Season 7 premieres on Oct. 23.
Images: Gene Page/AMC (6); Giphy (9)
