Months after the storm that almost wiped them out, the communities are thriving. Until Judith discovers a Whisperer mask at the shore…

This feels like a new show. From the new found industry the communities have to the title cards, this really doesn’t feel like the tenth season of a show. Aside, that is, from once and we’ll get to that.

‘Training Day’ may be the most instantly crowd pleasing this show has ever been, The combined army is training at Oceanside, clearing shipwrecks with remarkable industry and skill when they see what we know is a satellite fall from the sky. This is fast, tight, clean warfare of a sort the show has never done before. It’s a world away from the scrappy insurgency of the Rick years, with Aaron leading shield teams who are backed up by spear throwers who are backed up by bowmen and archers. This is the survivors turning and engaging with their world in a manner we’ve never seen before and it’s incredibly good fun.

‘Bird Wisdom’ is a showcase for Seth Gilliam and Jeffrey Dean Morgan and is exactly as good as you hoped. Negan sees which way the wind is blowing as news comes in about the mask and gives Gabriel some unneeded but very good advice. It’s short, and fun, and snarky and officially sets Negan on the road to some form of redemption. It works too.

‘Sea Dogs’ reveals Carol has been working at sea while also looking for Alpha. It’s a great chance for Norman Reedus, Khary Payton and Melissa McBride to stretch their acting muscles as the complex dance of guilt and recrimination between Ezekiel and Carol continues. It’s also, even better, a chance for Lauren Ridloff and Angel Theory to shine. Kelly, played by Theory, is starting to lose her hearing just like her sister Connie played by Ridloff. The moment the two women share, and the love between them, is deeply moving and real and exactly what the show excels at now. Likewise the distinct flirting between Connie and Daryl. Much more of that please.

‘New Mexico’ sees Daryl and Carol out hunting and discussing the future. Carol, much like Aaron (who has lost two boyfriends to their enemies now) is burnt out. However unlike Aaron, Carol wants the quiet life, or has convinced herself she does. The snarky, grumpy banter between the two is impossibly sweet as the two toughest people on the show let their guards down to the only other person they really trust.

‘Lines We Cross’ forces the issue. Each previous part orbits around a single radio conversation and finishes with people noting the satellite fall. This picks up with Eugene, in a moment so quick you almost miss how badass it is, basically instantly figure out the satellite is dropping on them. A forest fire hurts everyone so they have no choice but to cross Whisperer lines and fight the fire. This leads to the impossibly badass sight of Carol slitting a Walker’s throat and using the blood to help and Daryl dropping a tree on a bunch of flaming Walkers. It is a good time.

But it also leads to three things, two good. The first is Eugene persuading the others to retrieve the satellite and whatever is onboard. The second is it brings all the characters back to the same page. The third is, for no good reason, Carol and Daryl starting the war. For reasons we’re not shown they duck further into Whisperer territory to the valley where Alpha kept her massive herd. They’re gone but Alpha is not and she and Carol stare each other down as the episode ends.

It’s not that this is stupid, it’s that it’s forced where nothing else has been. This is an episode which explores Siddiq’s growing PTSD, Eugene’s over protectiveness, Judith’s imminent adolescence and Aaron’s contradictory rage with compassion and grace. This end has neither and feels forced in a way the show hasn’t for a while. Get past that though and this is a gem.

Verdict: An inventive, epic opening for a series no one expected to be this long or this fresh. Let’s see where it goes next. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart