Huck (Annet Mahendru), Hope (Alexa Mansour) and Kublek (Julia Ormond) take a field trip. Felix (Nico Tortorella), Iris (Aliyah Royale) and Will (Jelani Alladin) find a new home and a horrific discovery.

The oddest of the TWD universe shows (well, aside from the all-new all-Mad Max Fear The Walking Dead) is back and it’s taking absolutely no prisoners. The urgency of WB, two seasons and done, is the engine that drives this episode and it propels it across a lot of ground.

Most of that is covered by Hope and Alexa Mansour does great work here. Hope is given the choice between trying to survive in the infested remains of a city, or work with the CRM. She chooses the former and runs into a metaphorical representation of her possible future in Candice. Played by Hannah Alline, Candice is a girl who Hope sees photos of in a high school. When Hope’s concussed, she hallucinates Candice as a feral human who is desperate to survive and nothing else. It forces Hope to confront the fact that she wants to live, that Kublek’s belief that no one can make it alone is right. Or right enough. So she comes in from the cold and is reunited with her father. Which means two generations of the Bennett family are now working against the CRM from the inside.

Iris’ path is different, but no less revealing. Felix’s tearful reunion with Will is a highlight of the show as is the moment he briefs them on what happened. The fall of Omaha, and the Campus Colony, looks set to be a major part of the season as we see Will’s deduction (the CRM did it), Kublek’s lie (it was two massive herds of the dead) and the truth. The truth, somehow, is even worse as we see a flashback of the CRM guiding the herd to Omaha and then blowing the walls of the city apart. Some reviewers have criticised the contradiction between Kublek’s ‘no one makes it alone’ belief and her slaughter of 100,000 people but it’s been confirmed this is one of the core mysteries of the show so we’ll get an explanation.

In the meantime what we get are consequences as Iris’ persistent dream of tearing the face from an Empty concludes with her discovering a CRM helmet under it. Iris, and Aliyah Royale is especially good here, then goes out and murders a CRM trooper. It’s vastly irresponsible, places everyone in danger and is entirely understandable. The CRM murdered their world. No wonder Iris wants revenge.

So the battle lines are drawn, with two Bennetts on the inside and one on the outside. A passing reference to Silas this episode shows he’s still alive (yay!) and the others will make a return but this is justifiably an episode defined by the Bennett sisters, Kublek and her daughter. Mahendru and Ormond do great work through and Ormond’s clear-eyed, exhausted self awareness makes Kublek a very welcome, and new, kind of monster. One who, despite the Bennetts working against her, is still a major threat.

Verdict: The World Beyond is done this season and there are already signs it’s leaving everything on the field before it goes. A show like no other in its world and one that’s clearly ramping up for a big final year. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart