Badly wounded and surrounded by a herd that will destroy everything they’ve built, Rick fades in and out of consciousness as time runs out…

This is not the episode I was expecting. It’s also not the episode they sold which is pretty much the MO of The Walking Dead these days. But where previous bits of carnival barking haven’t exactly landed this really, really does.

A massive amount of that is down to Andrew Lincoln. He’s on screen constantly and as Rick’s life bleeds out of him he flashes between the hospital bed he woke up in, the car crash that preceded the end of his old life, Hershel’s farm, a field of the dead and other places. Lincoln’s fundamental warmth and compassion shines through here in a way it’s often not been allowed to before now and the show ultimately revolves around Rick making peace with this being the end of his life. Along the way we get some really smart callbacks to the previous incarnations of the show, whether its Hershel’s idyllic farm or Rick and Shane: Action Cops! Lincoln adjusts to each one, showing us Rick’s terror, anger and ultimately serenity. The final scenes here are heart rending, with Rick facing down a massive herd as the others race, too late, to help him and Daryl works overwatch from the other side of the river. Lincoln and Norman Reedus have both done exceptional work on this show for years and the silent conversation they have, by turns blackly funny and deeply emotional, is a highlight of the episode. Likewise Michonne’s agonized realisation of what’s about to happen and Lincoln’s final moments in the role. No one left a mark on the show like Rick. No one leaves the show like Rick.

Especially as, it turns out, he doesn’t leave.

The first end of the episode, Rick being evacuated in Jadis’ chopper as the same Wang Chung song plays that closed the first episode, is going to drive people wild. It’s been announced that Rick will star in a trilogy of movies about… wherever he’s going and I honestly can’t wait. The most interesting elements of the comic have always been the extended rebuilding of society and that’s absolutely what we’re getting here. It’s doubly intriguing now it’s been confirmed that both Reedus and Melissa McBride have ‘franchise’ deals which will allow them to move around too. This universe is getting bigger, more complex and more interesting. And not before time.

And speaking of time, the second ending, which pushes the show several years into the future, will get anyone the first doesn’t. But, again, it’s a major change for the show and a change for the better. Or at least the more interesting.

Verdict: One of the oddest episodes of the show to date and arguably the most vital since the pilot. Hard work but definitely worth persevering. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart