The team come up with a plan to get everyone out of the CRM. It doesn’t go well.

Oh kids. No one believes the ‘we caught them!’ plan and no one has since Return of the Jedi. Nonetheless, the plan is underway and, so far, the only casualty is Silas’ innocence. What little was left of it. From the moment he’s told he’s vital to the plan to his arrest, Silas has no manner of luck this week at all. What’s especially poignant is the fact that he wants to trust his new family and they feel the same. Most chilling of all is the fact on the closing scene here, Silas may well be heading for the ‘science’ labs. Not as a volunteer either.

Elsewhere, Huck possibly has as bad a time. She and Kublek are clearly onto each other and the way the two women circle each other sparks with tension. Kublek loves her daughter but doesn’t trust her. Huck doesn’t even have that. The seeds of doubt planted last week are already blooming and the episode even gives us a reason for their atrocities: after ten years of military rule, the CRM is supposed to transition to a civilian government. They seem to have other plans, and the fall of the colonies speaks to that.

Rounded out by some poignant beats with Hope and her dad, the episode would work fine if it stopped there. This is what the show does very well; character driven horror, world building in the ruins and fragile hope. A hope we now see is the true battleground both inside and outside the CRM. The revelation that they were (hopefully, ha!) an organization created with good intentions is a surprisingly reassuring. Perhaps they can be saved, just like the characters.

But then Jadis arrives and that changes everything once again. Pollyanna McIntosh’s magnificently crazed junk dweller was a big part of the core show and played a vital role in Rick Grimes’ exit from that. An exit that took place on a CRM helicopter. We see her briefly here, but she makes quite an impression and seems to be being parachuted in for Kublek as an authority figure. With five episodes of the show to go that’s a surprisingly big change even if it’s temporary. Regardless, what is already clear is Jadis is a loyalist to the CRM and a big problem for the main characters. Odds are, starting with Silas.

Verdict: The endgame doesn’t kick off here, but it definitely approaches and no one is safe. The final episodes are going to be quite a ride. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart