Henry is captured by Beta, Alpha’s right hand man. Michonne returns to Alexandria and has a series of very surprising conversations with Negan and Judith. Daryl and Connie make their move.

Michonne steps back into the spotlight this week and brings Aaron with her. This is all good news as Danai Gurira and Ross Marquand are always good value. Plus the episode digs, in detail, into the exact problem Alexandria is starting to have. The Kingdom is societally rock solid but has bad resources. Alexandria has decent resources but has calcified. The settlement, and Michonne, have never recovered from Rick’s apparent death and that’s made explicit here. Understandably so, too, given the fact Negan escaped. This is every one of Michonne’s nightmares come true and the fact Aaron backs her up says a lot about where he is now.

But that’s just the first half of the episode, because the rest hinges on Michonne’s growing awareness that things have changed while she’s been doubled over with grief. Jeffrey Dean Morgan is excellent this episode and Negan presents as absolutely sincere about his desire to help. Michonne’s repulsion at that and at the friendship her daughter has with the worst man she’s ever known is matched only by her growing realization Judith may be right. It’s an incredible performance by Gurira, showing us every step of Michonne’s slow realization that she may be the problem. That constitution we saw last week may get signed yet.

Over in the other plot, we welcome Ryan Hurst to the Walking Dead family. Hurst’s massive physicality and presence make Beta instantly intimidating but it’s his intelligence that really lands the character and pushes it past a stereotype. We also get to see a lot of how Alpha runs things and it’s ugly. Her ruthlessness continues to be a defining force for the show and there’s a tangible sense of danger to the Whisperers that the endless parade of leather jackets and beards that was the Saviours never quite landed for me.

Verdict: A heavily serialized episode but one with a strong focus on character. This is good stuff even with that lack of resolution. More please. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart