A delirious Alicia is found by Paul (Warren Snipe), a recently deaf musician. Alicia is tormented by dreams of a Walker she’s pursuing that keeps telling her to go to Padre. She’s also tormented by Arno, determined to take vengeance for the lives her actions cost.

This episode swings for the fences from the get-go and never stops. Alicia’s feverish hallucinations and memories segue into the surreal moment where she awakens to a wall of Beethoven and a man seemingly unconcerned about the Walker in the room. That glorious, almost Prisoner-esque opening sequence means the episode starts big and ambitious and never really stops. Alycia Debnam-Carey, surely the MVP of the show at this point, is stunningly good here and the episode uses her performance, Snipe’s as Paul, Andrew Chambliss & Ian Goldberg’s script and Heather Cappiello’s direction to tease out the metaphorical nature of Alicia’s dream. She’s ready. She’s the help that’s coming. She’s Padre. After seven seasons of Alicia being someone’s loyal right-hand woman, that’s a Hell of a realization and it’s one played out against an intensely likable background. The use of music as metaphor, weapon, memory and hill to die on here is exactly what this show excels at and here it truly does excel.

The breakout here is Warren Snipe as Paul. It’s a completely without front performance, totally honest and grounded and spiky and completely what’s needed to ground the episode’s lyrical elements and aesthetic. Snipe’s sincerity and heart are the episode’s engine and the moment he sacrifices himself, playing the bagpipes he can barely hear for the long dead love of his life, is a highlight of the season when it could so easily have been overblown. Paul embodies the pragmatism and determination that makes the franchise so good, and Cappiello’s lyrical, almost dream-like direction feeds off that performance beautifully.

Verdict: Follow Me is lyrical and vast, sweeping and intimate like the Beethoven at its core. It’s a done in one, near two-hander that has vast implications for the show and it’s as successful as it is ambitious. Fear The Walking Dead at its best. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart