So I just got finished watching season 6 episode 2 and I thought the episode was brilliant and an excellent follow on from the first episode of the season. However as it ended I thought they must have just given Rick the day off since he didn't appear in the episode. Then I realised that neither did Daryl, Glenn or Michone could this have been a test to see if an episode could be successful without even one of the fan favourites? Could this mean that they are planning to possibly kill someone off or have them gone for a while? Or could this possibly be a plot to try and get people to start favouring different characters, for example Carol? She didn't really become as strong a character as she is now since somewhere around season 4. She has gone from a scared housewife in season 1 to a complete badass that can survive on her own and has some great survival skills that come in handy for the group, also with her no nonsense kill anyone who gets in her way type attitude, she is definetly starting to appeal to a majority of the audience.