When the world is crumbling and the only thing that matters to you is your life, you live in fear of the zombies. However, the only thing we live in fear of nowadays is seeing our favorite TV shows come spiralling to a sloppy end after too long on the air. AMC’s The Walking Dead has been around for years now, so long that it has even spawned a sister show, Fear The Walking Dead. However, unlike it’s predecessor, Fear The Walking Dead received rather underwhelming results and left a lot of people in fear over the newest season of The Walking Dead. Was the damage irreparable?

Despite the rut most shows fall into after so long – running out of interesting stories, ruining characters, a loss of audience – The Walking Dead is still going strong. The Season 6 premiere came on when I wasn’t expecting it, and even though I was preoccupied with something far more important, it immediately seized my attention. Within the first few minutes before the ever famous intro stole the scene, I was instantly hooked and had to set aside an hour and a half of my time for what is probably the strongest opening episode since that fateful day the series began.

It’s an honest relief to see the characters I fell in love with return after a season of pretending to care deeply for the cast of Fear. No more must I fret over the school teacher who isn’t sure if the zombies are people or not, something I learned and accepted years ago. At first I thought it would be neat to experience the zombie learning process again, but it quickly turned frustrating as these characters failed to grasp even the basics of what the audience understands about The Walking Dead. Angrily telling the cast they’re idiots and to just kill the zombie isn’t exactly a good way to get your audience invested. Rather, I was fed up with them and ready for Season 6 that much faster.

There is a new hesitation now, something that we’ve been working away from since day 1. No longer are the survivors trying to shake themselves of their humanity and just become well oiled machines of survival. They’ve already done that and we’ve seen that grisly transformation on a personal basis. Now we are experiencing the opposite transformation, as the promise of civilization has some questioning their way of life and trying to rehabilitate. This conflict between what they’ve wanted for so long and what must be done is both gripping, but strangely new. The process we’ve been invested in for so many seasons coming unraveled is as surprisingly acceptable as seeing someone’s face being eaten. Maybe the show is trying to revive some humanity into its audience, too (good luck).

What is so amazing about The Walking Dead is the feeling it carries with it. Ever since the beginning, it always had this constant air of despair, and it was only the optimism of some of the more foolish characters and the audience that kept it going. The love of your favorite characters, the constant fear they’ll disappear and their merchandise will disappear, the excitement when you see a zombie that they don’t and their life flashes before your eyes — no other show can boast any of these qualities to the degree The Walking Dead can. Despite years of having to push deeper and go farther than before, the bottom has yet to be reached, and what’s even more uplifting is the fact that there is so much more ahead. If the comic is any indication, there is only more horror ahead.

Probably my favorite part of Season 6, the biggest improvement from before, is that the show seems to have learned how to tell more than one story at a time. Admittedly, The Walking Dead had a problem with only being able to focus on a small group of characters per episode, and sometimes we wouldn’t even see Rick or another main character for several weeks at a time. Not only did we see the entire cast in one episode, but for possibly the first time, they are all likable. I no longer wanted to skip over scenes just to get to my favorite characters — the show has learned how to keep me happy with all of them. Even Carl, who I have hated avidly for as long as I can remember. I saw him make an appearance near the end and felt a smile on my face. After a slap to remind me I wasn’t suppose to like him, I gave the show a well deserved nod.

The Walking Dead has kept its interesting characters for years, constantly keeping a fresh cycle of good talent and well written stories. I tried to pick out errors several times, like I’d grown used to doing with Fear, and found I was unable to do so. Tight writing, good acting, and a great story are the key ingredients to a good TV show, and The Walking Dead has them all. I’m happy to give my seal of approval for yet another season, and as always recommend the show to any with a strong stomach. Even today, this is a show that is still worth watching.