Rick, Maggie and Ezekiel lead a crushing first assault on the Saviors while their forces get used to their new status. And, some time in the future, Rick wakes up to a very unusual future…

This is the best season opener the show has done in years. Unfolding across the present, the immediate future and at least a year down the line it cleverly changes the stakes for the upcoming war. We know the good guys win. But we know there’s a heavy price. The near subliminal shots of Rick, red-eyed and weeping suggest some heavy losses. The fact he’s walking with a stick in the future suggests some of those losses are very personal.

But it’s the present where the show shines. This is no longer just about Rick or Alexandria. Maggie and Ezekiel are equal leaders and get equal screen time and the end result is a show that feels far kinder and more hopeful. A familiar Rick ‘WE WILL END THEM!’ speech turns out to be just the first act of a three part rallying cry. Likewise great pains are taken to spend time with characters from each settlement. Jerry and Enid get a surprisingly lovely moment, Gregory is pivotal to events and a sequence involving a lone wanderer puts Carl in a very different light to his dad. The world is changing, these people are waking up to that fact and watching them change things, and themselves, for the better is going to be great.

It’s not a home run, quite. Negan’s final speech is just as bad as the last time we heard it and he’s suddenly gained a female lieutenant who looks suspiciously like someone for Maggie to have a boss fight with and not much else.

Verdict: That aside, this is a ridiculously strong opening hour for any season, let alone an 8th. Recommended. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart