John Dorie sits in his old cabin and waits to die. Fate has other plans when he needs to save Morgan and Dakota.

Garrett Dillahunt is one of the greatest actors of his generation. The man’s IMDB page is a murderer’s row of top notch TV in particular and he’s one of those players who simply does not know how to turn in bad work. This is some of his very best.

John’s presence in the show has always been as a strong magnetic North. He’s a fundamental force for good, even if he’s tormented by his own mistakes, and that shines through even here. Dillahunt finds an ounce of deadpan comedy in John’s continuously interrupted suicide and shows us, using that, just how much emotional turmoil he’s in. This is a man surrounded by the memories of his life, at the end, he thinks of that life and he has no idea what to do. So John does what he always does, what Morgan’s always taught him to do. Keep moving.

That culminates in one of the show’s best action sequences to date. Helping Morgan and Virginia over a bridge full of Walkers, John builds a rudimentary ‘cattle plough’ for their truck. The nailbiting sequence that follows culminates in him having to climb down into the negative space created by the doors to fix the engine, walkers under an arm’s length away. It’s terrifying, impossible, he does it anyway.

And is then laid low by the truth. Dakota committed the murder that led him down this route, and Virginia is prepared to kill him too. In a fascinating echo of Rick’s final scenes, John is shot and left for dead in the river, Morgan forced to confront the truth about his young charge and worse still, to ask his worst enemy for help. Help that, worst of all, comes too late.

John fights for his life. John dies of his wounds. And June is the one who has to end him. It’s a terrifying, dark moment that’s also somehow shot through with love. It’s also breaking point for June and any getting in her way is not going to be there long.

Verdict: Driven by a fantastic central performance this is brave, complex, difficult storytelling. It’s also the best this show has been in years. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart