Two children go hunting in a field of Walkers and are interrupted by a plane crash. Onboard are Luciana, Alicia, John, Al, June and Morgan.

Welcome to season 5!

There’s hitting the ground running and then there’s crashing into the ground and the second, it turns out, is at least as much fun for your audience. The opening, extended action sequence is a desperate holding action that shows just how far our characters have come in every sense. Not only are they in a plane but they’re also surprisingly well trained at crisis response now. As well as, bluntly, terrifying. Alicia beheading Walkers with a severed propeller blade that’s slicing her hands open is a moment of peak badassery and also shows the last surviving Clark still has a lot of processing to do. The supremely clever tripwire (knock the Walker over, basically immobilize it, kill it) move they pull out shows that she’s at least not lone wolfing it. The characters are all on edge but they’re also a surprisingly great and well-rounded team and this sequence is a great way of reintroducing them all.

It’s also just the start of a very intriguing set up. The mysterious body armoured Walker Al kills seems to suggest they’re in a bio hazard area which is a fun wrinkle neither show have done quite yet. Meanwhile, the revelation of Matt Frewer as Logan, this season’s villain, is supremely welcome. Polar Bear’s former partner, and a man with none of PB’s compassion, he effortlessly gets the team out of their hideout without firing a shot. He does this by preying entirely on their compassion and that’s a body blow straight out of the gate. Especially as, Morgan reveals, they haven’t actually managed to help anyone yet…

So, new location, new dangers, new characters, no resources and a team split three ways. That’s a hell of a way to start a season. And it’s all rounded off with the revelation that a man on Al’s tapes, a man with a plane who can help them, is none other than Daniel Salazar…

Verdict: This is just a great show all the way down and this is a great episode of it. Tightly plotted, emotionally charged, brutal and honest it’s a hell of an opening to the new season. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart