Alicia and Strand face off and it all goes up in flames.

This episode sets up one of the Walking Dead franchise’s favourite beats: the brutal brushfire war that dominates every character’s lives and ends a lot of them. The battle lines are drawn and then, at the earliest opportunity, they’re erased. And then again. And again. And that’s the point and it’s glorious.

The war with Strand is a war for the soul of the show and it was always going to be this personal and this complex. Alycia Debnam-Carey and Colman Domingo have been pillars of the show for years and here they absolutely swing for the fences. Debnam-Carey’s Alicia is a fatalistic badass and Domingo’s Strand is a brutal idealist. Neither of them are right. Neither of them are complex without the other. Neither of them are going to make it.

The core of this episode is the self-destructive nature of their relationship and it’s one that’s oddly reminiscent of Clara and the 12th Doctor from Doctor Who. In both cases the characters aim for the best but bring out the worst in each other. But in this case, the relationship skews from near romance to out and out violence. They wound each other and are each other’s wounds. They complete each other by tearing chunks from their foe. It’s an intense, compelling relationship and one that gives two of the show’s heavyweights a chance to dance together one last time.

There’s a moment at the end which is operatic in scope as, after switching sides, Strand just… pauses. He spits the words we all know are true – it’s too late, he’ll never be forgiven – and at the exact moment he’s about to be a hero, he chooses, yet again, to be a villain. It’s tragic, the fight that follows is brutal and the ending brings it all crashing down. The radioactive Walkers arrive at the Tower and the Tower burns as Alicia and Strand are apparently trapped…

It isn’t just the Alicia and Strand Show. Reuben Blades is superb here as Daniel, whose discovery of the dying Charlie snaps him into something close to sanity. Colby Hollman’s Wes is great too and the way the show explores the cycle of violence, and how it accelerates is heartbreakingly well done.  Nothing changes, history repeats and in the end, the only way to break the cycle is to shatter it.

Verdict: We’re at the endgame of the season and whether Alicia and Strand are part of it, their role in the show is never going to be forgotten. 10/10

Alasdair Stuart