Morgan returns to King Country to put his dead son, Duance to rest. Grace and Mo follow him, Dwight and Sherry follow them. All Hell breaks loose.

Morgan episodes have always been some of my favourite elements of the show and Ian Goldberg and Andrew Chambliss’ script does a smart job of building on them. We get an acknowledgment from Morgan that he has no idea what happened in episodes like ‘Clear’, and we also get the final wrinkle on the tragic end of his wife and son. Lennie James is never less than impressive and the moment when he admits that Duane was turned because he couldn’t bring himself to shoot his dead wife is raw and moving.

James has tremendous emotional honesty as a performer and Morgan’s worst day being revisited here hits hard. But it could hit harder. Because there’s rather more going on here than there should be. It’s not just the mild contrivance of getting Grace and Mo in place either, but the arrival of Dwight and Sherry with some deeply odd motivations too. Dwight and Sherry are always a good time and both Austin Amelio and Christine Evangelista are on great form here but their motivation seems a little off.

Back with PADRE to help keep Finch, their son, alive the two have come a long way from the last time we saw them. There, Dwight was dragged out of the train car screaming ‘I’LL KILL YOU!’ at Finch. Here he’s happy sending burning Carrion at his old friend’s house so a woman he knows he can’t trust will do something he doesn’t believe she’ll do. It feels a little rushed, at the very least and it’s not the only element.

The last time we saw Finch they were about to enter into a treatment that was as potentially deadly as a bite. Here they’re apparently fine and have no side effects to show for it. Given the treatment is essentially radiotherapy, and not much time seems to have passed between episodes it’s especially odd.

This sense of a lot being crammed into a small space damage what should be a classic episode. It’s not just Sherry and Dwight either. The final beat: where Morgan must literally choose between his children, works well even if it is a touch overwrought. Even then, the reveal that Grace’s radiation exposure is finally catching up to her and she then gets bitten feels like two extra twists in an episode that doesn’t need either.

Verdict: The result is an episode that’s smart, bleak and moving but also feels over-stuffed and serves no one as well as it should. This is the first time this final season has felt crammed like this, and hopefully the last. It’s still good, because this cast always are, but it’s not quite what it should, or indeed aims, to be. 7/10

Alasdair Stuart