After the tumultuous opening to the second half of the season I was ready to return to the second episode and witness a full frontal war against the undead, to watch a flat out fight between the group and the invading Walkers with plenty of blood, gore and near misses. But that’s not what we got.

Okay, we got to witness the demise of the two most irritating brothers to ever exist (more irritating even than Carl and Lori in earlier seasons – I know!) and while Carl lost his eye to tie in with the comics finally and Rick went a little primal it was all cut short.

Episode two opened on Alexandria looking normal again, Michonne, Rick, Carl and Judith are all living together like a big happy family and it feels like it could be more of a lifestyle drama than a horror show. In fact, the only zombies we see in that second episode are the ones impaled outside Alexandria gates (guys, why are you keeping those alive?)

However, as upset as I was that the scene between the group and the undead wasn’t as big as I hoped I did enjoy the second episode far more than any I’ve enjoyed so far this season. Without the zombies the characters are interesting enough to hold their own, their interactions are funny – Daryl’s disgust at Rick’s choice of music in the car was a great moment – and there’s enough for them to be getting on with to keep the audience entertained.

The introduction of Jesus was well done, and Tom Payne is great in the role. The second episode was filled with laughs, something we don’t get to enjoy often with TWD, and Daryl chasing Jesus round the field was a great touch.

Of course, we can’t forget Michonne and Rick’s newfound relationship and their night spent together, Carl of course won’t object because Michonne is already like a mother and a friend to him. I’m excited to see how this relationship progresses.

Episode three saw the group meet another settlement, the Hilltop Colony who are being pushed around by Negan and his ‘Saviours’ group. Maggie negotiated with the douchebag leader Gregory that Rick and co would go and kill off the Saviours in exchange for provisions.

The episode that followed was an uncomfortable one, the group themselves have been the targets of another settlement that wanted to kill them before they were killed and Tara recognised this. Morgan of course also was dead against the mission and to be honest is really starting to irk me.

Saying this though, the invasion of the Saviours base felt like a cheap move by Rick and co as they killed people in their sleep but this feeling quickly changed after we saw photos tacked up on the wall like trophies of people/walkers they’ve killed.

Of course, the battle felt like it had been won until a woman’s voice came onto a walkie talkie and told Rick that they had Maggie and Carol hostage. So I expect next week some more blood is going to be spilt, or there are going to be tedious negotiations between the two groups much like when Rick met with the Governor (wow that feels like a long time ago!)

I do have some questions though…and there are some potential spoilers below…

• Will we see Honey and Dwight – the two left of the trio who were running from Negan’s crew and stole Daryl’s motorbike, return? Don’t remember them? You know, these two jokers:

• Will Glenn meet his demise at the hands of Negan, as the comics dictate?
• What is Abraham doing? Is he leaving the group? Or just leaving Rosita for Sasha? Also, what was that bandana all about?

• Is Carol turning back on her badass ways? Has she enjoyed being a mother to the group for too long or does she simply feel some sort of guilt over Sam’s death? Also, what’s the name of the guy she’s now having some sort of relationship with? She just calls him asshole but I don’t recall ever noticing any chemistry between them before.

• Do acorn and beet cookies actually taste good? I don’t believe it.

What do you think of the second half of the season?

Jade