The first episode of the post-Rick Grimes era of The Walking Dead aired yesterday and fans were left enthralled as the ins and outs of the new status quo were revealed.
Following the twist ending of last week’s installment, the show jumped forward six years and episode 6, “Who Are You Now?” shocked viewers with the many changes that had taken place over that time.
To begin with, some were just taken aback by the cast’s new haircuts, as evidenced by these Tweets:
https://twitter.com/LexiJoestar16/status/1061802459650293761
Carol out here looking like Gandalf #TheWalkingDead #DemDeadz pic.twitter.com/UL3VdNZ5TR
— Lamont Price (@LPizzle) November 12, 2018
Meanwhile, others were shocked by Eugene’s new look and emboldened personality. Now sporting a beard, he started to open up about having feelings for Rosita and proved to be a lot braver than we’ve seen him before when he was willing to create a distraction for her to escape from a herd of walkers.
Okay Eugene. 6 years has done you well. #TheWalkingDead #TWD @WalkingDead_AMC pic.twitter.com/zYRKGdyPyl
— c a s e y 🐺 (@CaseyNi10) November 12, 2018
What’s more, fans loved the older Judith, who’s grown up to share much of her adoptive mom Michonne’s fierce attitude and her late brother Carl’s heart, which set off the waterworks for some.
https://twitter.com/Drayton_J97/status/1061806334256074752
https://twitter.com/_hipsterstagram/status/1061811190895128576
Some of the relationships between the characters have also changed. For one, Rosita and Father Gabriel have apparently become an item in the past six years. The random pairing up of the two came as a surprise to fans and it’s fair to say that most aren’t here for it.
Rosita and Father Gabriel?
Really? Is that the pairing we're going with?#TheWalkingDead #TWD pic.twitter.com/cHEH3gG8LM— F¡thola (@fithola) November 12, 2018
It seems that Judith also has an unlikely connection with the captive Negan, as she was seen to go to him for homework advice. Fans immediately took to this relationship as it called back to the villain and Carl’s closeness in the comics, something Jeffrey Dean Morgan has said he really wished he got to portray.
https://twitter.com/LoganTommo/status/1061814121300180993
Finally, the biggest bombshell was saved until last: in Rick’s absence, Michonne gave birth to their son. The young boy was glimpsed being picked up by his mother but we don’t know anything else about him right now. As you can imagine, this blew fans’ minds and got them crying all over again.
Rick and Michonne had a baby together ?? #TWD #TheWalkingDead #Richonne pic.twitter.com/VnkhoydYk9
— Michael Falkenburg (@Mikefalken) November 12, 2018
On the whole, it seems the time jump has left fans… “shooketh.”
https://twitter.com/tabitha_torres/status/1061812619399487488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1061812619399487488%7Ctwgr%5E363937393b70726f64756374696f6e&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwegotthiscovered.com%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D753404%26action%3Dedit
Be sure to catch The Walking Dead season 9 as it continues to unfold on AMC every Sunday night.