As a longtime fan of The Walking Dead comic book and TV series, I was not prepared for what I saw happen while watching an advance screening of The Walking Dead Season 5 midseason premiere. While The Walking Dead often presents many surprising twists and turns, there’s usually some foreshadowing that makes it possible to at least make an educated guess about what is coming next.

However, in The Walking Dead Season 5 midseason premiere, the show has once again completely reinvented itself. From beginning to end, the midseason premiere is an episode unlike any previous episode of the show. Even beyond what happens in the episode, there is an entirely different visual style and pace to the episode that will likely leave fans reeling and disoriented. And I mean that in a good way, because the style fits the storyline for the episode incredibly well.

After viewing the episode, I had to go back and double check who the director was on the episode just to reassure myself it was Greg Nicotero as I remembered. Nicotero has been responsible for directing some of my favorite episodes of The Walking Dead, but in the past he has had a very distinct style. With the midseason premiere, Nicotero shows that he’s a truly excellent director, who’s capable of changing his directing style to match the storyline. It’s not just a TV show he’s created with the midseason premiere, but a true piece of artwork.

Revealing any more details might lessen the impact of what is truly the most shocking episode of The Walking Dead ever. Really, you owe it to yourself to experience the true feeling of being hit right in the face by a ton of bricks by what happens in the episode.

It will be interesting to see if the style utilized in the midseason premiere becomes the norm for the back half of Season 5 or if it was just to match the storyline of this episode. Be warned that whatever you’re expecting or anticipating for the midseason premiere, it’s unlikely even close to what actually happens. The show that is famous for reinventing itself has once again completely reinvented itself.