In the Commonwealth, Eugene is a wanted man for the murder of Lance. Outside the common wealth, Aaron, Jerry, Lydia and Elijah rest up in an abandoned fairground and discover something impossible…

The Commonwealth plot continues to impress here as we see that politics has unfortunately survived the end of the world. Milton will, and does, do anything for vengeance. Mercer, caught in the middle, has to choose between his sister and the Alexandrians. The Alexandrians, Eugene in particular, are caught in an impossible spot.

This is a pressure cooker and it’s anchored by four great performances. Laila Robins as Pamela Milton is a pained GOP noblewoman in Hell, seething with rage and lashing out at anyone she can. Michael James Shaw’s Mercer is a dogged cop with a problem; his eyes are at least opened to the incredible corruption of his chosen home and there’s nothing he can do about it. Paola Lázaro’s Princess grounds him and has two excellent scenes here where she processes her trauma through the Commonwealth’s actions and realizes what she has to do, even as she knows the others can’t. Princess is one of the moral centres of the show and I sincerely hope she gets some more time once the core show is over, she’s that good.

And then there’s Josh McDermitt. This feels like Eugene’s last dance and if it is then he’s going out with style. Honest, open, painfully aware of his failings and rising above them, Eugene isn’t the hero of the hour but he’s surely the man with the plan, even if that plan may get him killed. Together these four spin the Commonwealth plot into new levels of complexity and intrigue, while keeping it grounded. Not to mention chilling, Pamela leaving the Walker that used to be her son in the same cell as Lance won’t soon leave me.

Meanwhile, out in the world, things get bad. Ross Marquand and Cooper Andrews have been foundations of the show for years and Okea Eme-Akwari and Cassady McClincy are similarly impressive. They’re also not headliner characters so having the four of them together is a great way to ramp up the jeopardy. Even better, the episode continues to dive into the complexities of post-apocalypse life as Lydia and Elijah continue to try to do the maths to see if their relationship is possible. This time it’s Marquand’s Aaron who gets to advise them and it’s very much the Daryl Dixon School of Life Coaching. He screws up, he gets called on it and in one of the show’s sweetest scenes, encourages the kid to go for it. It’s honest and kind and ties directly into Aaron’s trauma and the rest of the episode. Because Aaron lost a partner to the Whisperers so, when what seems to be a Whisperer attacks, he cooks off. It’s a great, escalating action scene as our heroes react like it’s a normal herd and slowly realize it’s nothing but. It also feels Dangerous, and there were several moments where I thought Jerry was done for. Also, it’s a testament to how deeply talented Cooper Andrews is that he can make a line which is just ‘Dude. DUDE. DUDE DUDE.’ Threatening, scary and funny all at once.

Verdict: By the episode’s end, the Commonwealth is in even more trouble, Aaron and team have solid evidence of a variant and Jerry, maybe, has a colony to set up while Lydia and Elijah get together. Death finds a way, but so does life and this episode that’s what matters. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart