Madison and Strand discover the truth behind Naomi’s story. Madison’s faith in Strand is badly dented. And in the present, everyone’s faith in Naomi takes a pretty serious hit.

Madison and Strand episodes are always good value and this is no exception. Better still, the overdue explanation for Naomi cleverly folds into the overall narrative of both shows. Far more people survived than the ones we’ve seen. It’s just sheer luck, in a lot of cases, that meant the folks we followed are the ones who lived. Naomi’s old shelter did everything right and still fell. It’s a plot beat that’s slightly reminiscent of Black Mirror episode ‘Metalhead’ but lands far better here. Plus Naomi’s doomed loyalty to her people is a counterpoint to Strand’s confession that he’d planned to cut and run.

This, more and more, is the primary antagonist in these shows: human nature. Mel and the Vultures, Strand’s survival instinct, Madison’s heed for control. All of it, taken too far, kills people. All of it, at its core, is laudable or at least understandable. These shows, now, are as much about constant, frantic ethical maths as they are about running from ambulatory corpses and, for me, they’re all the more interesting for it. The scene with Madison and Alicia at the episode’s close, the ‘just in case’ Land Rover, is a show highlight for me precisely because of how heavily the decision they make, and how much sense it makes, weighs on both women.

Especially in the closing scenes here. It’s nice to see one of these shows tease a reveal and have that work, after Glenn’s first ‘death’ on TWD a little while ago. We think it’s Madison in the Land Rover. It being Alicia instead only makes it worse. And that’s even before John inadvertently takes a bullet for her.

Verdict: Complex, knotty, ambitious plotting that continues to make this the best season of this show to date. Just excellent stuff all the way down. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart