The Walking Dead season 8 episode 5 'The Big Scary U' spoiler-filled review

*Major spoilers for The Walking Dead season 8 episode 5*

It’s hard to pinpoint the formula behind a terrific episode of The Walking Dead. Chances are it differs for many with some favouring action-packed instalments featuring an array of characters compared to lowered stakes and a fraction of the ensemble. The remainder, however - this writer included - prefer something in the middle - something like the latest season 8 outing.

In some ways, episode five - titled 'The Big Scary U' - feels like the evolution the show's writers have been teasing for some time. The non-linear extended opening sequence conveys a different tone to what has come already this season - it seems as if the wheels have shifted and that everything that's come previously is the mere set up intending to get all characters in position for what comes next. The sense prevails that this could well be the opening to a new act as it were, bolstered by a much-needed opening titles update peppered into the episode so nonchalantly it almost evokes that feeling you felt sitting down to watch an episode during the season three days (keenly remembering Hershel).

'The big Scary U' finally catches up with Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam) who viewers last saw locked in a crate surrounded by hordes of walkers with no one for company but the big bad himself, Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). While the episode's shared with two other viewpoints, these scenes rest at its heart almost resembling a chamber piece filled with two characters fans would never have expected would interact with each other in such a setting.

“I'm here to take your confession,” Gabriel tells Negan, his lips turning into a smile. From the moment he says these words - Negan more unsetted than we've ever seen him - the villain is injected with a humanity we've not yet seen him display (well, as much humanity as the baseball bat-wielding character could possibly get). His unlikely collision with Gabriel hands him the opportunity to share his backstory and shed some tears while doing it while also heightening the argument that Rick and company are worse than The Saviours: Gabriel confesses his worst sin to Negan - locking his congregation outside as walkers descended. Who's the real villain in this new world order, Negan wonders - as a consequence, so too does the viewer especially when placed next to a scene which sees Daryl (Norman Reedus) willing to kill innocent women and children residing at the Sanctuary (a decision which sees him throw a punch at Rick when his former ally refuses). In fact, Negan believes he's saving people - the very notion which provides his people with their name.

These scenes fire on such a level that by the time the duo “gut up” and battle their way through the undead, you almost feel as if it's triggered the start of a beautiful friendship. Alas, when a whistling Negan conveniently arrives back at the Sanctuary, smothered in walker innards, amid carnage between second-in-commands Simon, Dwight, et al and the compound's workers, Negan orders Gabriel to be thrown into a cell. Despite their newfound respect for one another, All Out War rolls on.

Throw into the mix the rather on-the-nose hook of the helicopter that Rick sees - a revelation that would have once sent fans into meltdown but here is a nearly forgettable deus ex machina for who knows what - and there's more to chew over here than any of the season's opening bullet-ridden episodes (not including last week's stellar 'Some Guy.')

For those who were concerned that the writers had misplaced the formula behind episodes worthy of discussion, fret not - it's been rediscovered. The bicycle may have been in danger of toppling, however by the time 'The Big Scary U' ends, you may feel something that'd been absent from each season 8 episode so far: a desperate eagerness to see what comes next.

The Walking Dead season 8 airs every Sunday in the US on AMC with the UK premiere arriving the following evening on FOX. It will also be available on NOWTV

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