The Walking Dead season premiere is a return to the fundamentals

“A New Beginning” was just that as The Walking Dead looks ahead to a bright new future with a bold direction under new leadership.

The season premiere of The Walking Dead was a return to what fans have always loved about the show: Family, drama and lots of walkers. Okay, so maybe the group should have found a better way to get the wagon down the stairs, and Ken made a rookie error when he should have known better, but those were minor blips in an otherwise refreshing season premiere of The Walking Dead.

In a lot of ways, the show felt totally new. The war is over, the communities are rebuilding, but the walkers remind everyone that they’re still there and still a threat. One of the highlights of the episode was seeing everyone together. It has been far too long since we’ve seen the group not only working as a group but interacting with each other. It’s the simple things that the show was lacking in the buildup to All Out War.

New showrunner Angela Kang has been talking about the new feel for season 9 and fans got to see that for themselves on Sunday night as the show jumped 18 months into the future. Kang delivered with a show that focused on the basics: Family, drama and walkers.

The past 18 months have not only been a time of rebuilding, but clearly there has been some romance brewing. We knew about Rick and Michonne and Carol and Ezekiel, but it was great to see Jerry and Nabila too. Budding relationships are a sure sign of prosperous times.

Building the bridge is a clever way to get lots of people in the same place at the same time. It’s also the prime breeding ground for tension between the communities. Those 18 months might have seen a lot of rebuilding, but that doesn’t mean that bygones can be bygones. The Hilltop isn’t comfortable sending more food to the Sanctuary, and no one really seems to trust the former Saviors. This situation is only going to get worse as the Hilltop stretches its food supply to support the people who oppressed them.

While the tension builds among the different groups, the walkers are making sure they’re not forgotten in season 9. The walkers are more innovative (Read: terrifying) than we’ve seen in a long while. The spider face walker? No. Just no. “A New Beginning” served as a reminder that even though things seem to be in a better place, there is no telling when danger might be right around the corner. Ken’s death was a reminder that you never let your guard down. Ever. (And you also don’t do stupid things…BUT the horses were saved, so there’s that)

It feels like a fresh new start for a show that needed a refresher and there’s hope that this is only the beginning. If you watched the season premiere, let us know what you thought of it. Tweet @UndeadWalkingFS or @SarabethPollock with your thoughts.