Neil Brazier | On 23, Nov 2015

Already seen Episode 7? Read on at the bottom for spoilers.

Once again, The Walking Dead opens with a pre-credits sequence that instantly pulls you back into the apocalypse. It’s almost become a staple of the season so far to tee us up right before the opening titles and where other episodes have given us either all-out action or character development, Heads Up finds a balance between the two.

The episode jumps inside and outside the safety walls of Alexandria and, in both cases, features characters from each group trying to bond. Inside, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) is told bluntly that he scared the group – it was the beard that did it – but now they are beginning to realise that he is able to see things that they can’t and accept that they need him. As blood trickles through holes, Rick and Tobin (Jason Douglas) build walls both literally and metaphorically between the two groups. Despite Rick’s protests about the weaknesses of the Alexandrians, he too knows that they are all becoming more of a family, when he saves Spencer (Austin Nichols) after a calamitous misjudgement.

One resident who might not be feeling the new family vibe is Ron (Austin Abrams), keen to learn how to shoot and for Rick to teach him. But Ron is still in mourning over his father and no matter the brave face he puts on will always feel hatred for the man that put him down, which makes him a threat. Awkwardness is abundant, as Carl (Chandler Riggs) offers words of advice, but they’re nothing but condescending in Ron’s eyes: the pair’s slap fight from earlier could start to get serious, if Rick allows Ron to carry a gun. Will his mother approve?

With all the tension in Alexandria, some comic relief is greatly appreciated and one thing is clear: there just hasn’t been enough Eugene (Josh McDermitt) this season. The self-appointed coward of the group has shied away from any physical altercations with the undead but has always had the funniest lines delivered with perfect cadence. That’s his role again as alongside some Alexandrians, he is taught by Rosita (Christian Serratos) in the art of using a machete. With his cravenness grating on her, Rosita lashes out harshly, most likely still harbouring ill feelings from him peeping on her and Abraham when they used to get it on. We predict it’ll be Eugene to save Rosita from a future walker attack.

Meanwhile, Morgan’s (Lennie James) place in the group is questioned when Rick recounts his interpretation of what happened at the RV. Does Alexandria need Morgan after all? Undoubtedly, he has vital skills to help the group, already having saved two of them from walkers, but he did put Rick at risk and he continues to harbour one of the Wolves inside the community. When the rest of the group find out about their prisoner, there will be repercussions for him and although Alexandria have exiled members of their community in the past, Rick may not allow it to be that easy.

As with most episodes of the show, we are left furious when the end credits role, especially when it leaves us with a cliffhanger. There is another one of those here and it’s one that will certainly bring that all-out action back to Alexandria for next week’s opening.

 

 

Additional notes (contains spoilers)

He’s alive! Glenn’s alive! We knew he was all along, we swear! The fake-out death is forgiven, or maybe forgotten, as it’s been a long time since we thought Glenn checked out, so the initial impact has subsided. The show dropped in enough subtle hints to suggest that he was going to survive and given that Glenn is such a likeable character, it’s a relief we get to see more of him in the future.

– Pairing up with Enid of all people felt a bit of a stretch: neither have a past together and using Maggie as the reason Glenn forces her to come with him, even if he changes his mind later, was a little too obvious a nod towards Glenn’s future fatherhood. “The world is trying to die, we should let it,” she says, which doesn’t give us any further clue as to whether Enid could be one of the Wolves or even from the newer group from last week. She is just alone at the end of the world.

– What the reappearance of Glenn does bring back to the show are the tingles down your spine, because he and Maggie are the only real love story we have left. The first images as he crawls under the dumpster and as Nicholas’ corpse stares back at him give you hope, but it is the balloon release and the accompanying music and the joy it brings to Maggie that resonate the most and will bring a tear to any eye.

– The final collapse of the tower can only spell disaster for more of the Alexandrians, unless the one lesson from Rosita has made them stronger and braver to face the oncoming herd. Hopefully with Glenn and Enid on the outside and Daryl, Abraham and Sasha all on their way back too, the defence can be two-pronged. However, inside the walls, with Ned now in possession of a loaded weapon, Carl better watch out for any stray bullets. The battle for head boy is on.

– Carol, now removed from her Stepford Wife alter-ego may have spun the web a little too tightly around Sam when she tells him “the only thing that stops you from becoming a monster is killing”. Sam is so young and impressionable, poor Jessie is going to have two murderous children on the rampage soon.

 

Photo: Gene Page / AMC

 

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