Around 18 months after the end of the war, the survivors are working hard on getting back on their feet and then some. Rick leads a group into Washington to retrieve seeds and farming equipment from a museum while Maggie struggles with the leadership of Hilltop, Daryl struggles with the leadership of the Sanctuary and a bridge collapse threatens everyone…

The Walking Dead heads into its next phase with a new showrunner and a new attitude. Negan is nowhere to be seen, the war is over and society is back on its feet even if no one really wants it to be what it is. And that’s the key to this episode, the simmering resentment from both Daryl and Maggie.

For Daryl it’s the fundamental collision between his own needs and the needs of a larger group. Plus there’s a nicely understated moment of PTSD where it becomes clever what Daryl is really uncomfortable about is being back at Sanctuary. This is the place that almost broke him and seeing him struggle with both that and his own needs is going to be a meaty part of this season. Especially as word is that Daryl will be the lead character once Rick and Maggie step away.

As for Maggie, she has an instantly harder time of it. Hilltop has some of the only viable farm land in the region and the episode revolves around the simmering resentment which that engenders as well as the trauma of a Hilltop resident being the first person to die in some considerable time. The war is over but the tensions remain and they’re expressed through both Maggie and Gregory.

Gregory is the one weak link. Not because Xander Berkeley is bad – he doesn’t know how to be – but because the character is so dull and so cartoonish it’s hard to believe he’s survived an extra 18 months. His incompetent attempt on Maggie’s life is a necessary event but plays like one. It’s the Inciting Incident and so signposted it may as well be referred to as that. Although it does at least lead to Maggie reminding Rick he once said he’d follow her and never did and the closing scenes. Maggie has Gregory hanged and, as the charter between the settlements begins to be discussed, it’s clear Hilltop is going to want a lot more than other people want to give it.

Verdict: The Walking Dead is already a very different show and it needs to be. The increased emphasis on rebuilding versus survival is already paying dividends and already leading the show to some great new territory. Winning wasn’t easy, living is going to be even more difficult but the characters, and the show, are off to a Hell of a start. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart