The Walking Dead has made a staple of ‘spotlight’ episodes that follow individual characters, often parallel to events we’ve already seen. Here’s Not Here, the Morgan solo episode remains one of the show’s finest hours. 100, following what happened to Daniel after he was apparently killed last season is another.

Ruben Blades has always been one of the best parts of this cast and given the room to explore his character he excels here. The conflict between Daniel’s crippling guilt and tenacity is expertly handled and there’s no romance to it whatsoever. Daniel is a psychologically broken man who is, as the episode opens, badly hurt. That leads to a surreal, shambling chase sequence and a moment where he very clearly wants to die.

He doesn’t. And that’s where the episode takes off.

Daniel is rescued by Efrain, a drunk who wanders the streets dispatching, and forgiving, Walkers. He’s part of a small group whose existence is defined by a fountain that’s turned on once a day at 5pm. Together, they heal Daniel, let him join them and, slowly, the older man comes back. He’s still bent double under the weight of his guilt and his injury but it’s a start.

Had the episode just been a Here’s Not Here style story of a man being put together by the love and trust he doesn’t feel he deserves that would be enough. But it ties into the Strand plot in a really smart way. The fountain, and why it’s turned on regularly, leads back to the reservoir which leads back to Dante which of course leads back to Daniel’s past.

This is where the show would have stopped last year, with Daniel established as a monster on the wrong side of the coming battle. In fact that’s exactly where the mother show stopped with Eugene last season. Instead, FTWD does something much more complex: it explores the possibility of hope and how, despite his best efforts, Daniel can’t quite resist reaching for it. The final scene is incredibly powerful as a result, not just because of just how effective a killer he is but what he does when he hands the gun over. This is a story about a man who thinks he wants to die being taught he gets to live. It’s hopeful and horrific and easily one of the best hours of Fear the Walking Dead.

That’s entirely down not just to the writing but the performances. Ruben Blades is effortlessly great as the dead-eyed but fervent Daniel and he’s ably backed up by starmaking turns from Jesse Borrego as Efrain and Lisandra Tena as Lola. The three of them form this complex knot of obligation that, as the episode closes, may be in charge of the dam. They’re some of the most interesting characters we’ve met so far this year and their presence at the dam makes that a fascinating location and this a great episode. Throw in the decision to have almost the entire episode in Spanish, and the most creative Walker death yet and you’ve got a winner.

Verdict: Easily one of the best hours this show has produced so far. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart