WARNING! SPOILERS!

So it looks as though this week’s episode might just have been one of the most brutal of the series (and that’s saying something), with “JSS“ boasting a powerful impact with a pretty good result. It’s a strong follow-up to the premiere as the series switches back to the Alexandrians, who have in reality survived only this long in the apocalypse due to the impressive security built around them. It’s the second exciting episode in a row and already things are looking promising for the new season as we learned just how badass Carol is, and how badass she needs to be when the three heavy hitters of the group, Rick, Michonne and Daryl, aren’t around.

The action in “JSS” was super intense from start to finish, when the Wolves showed up you knew stuff was about to happen and it did not disappoint, with some nail-biting pacing that kept up the drama throughout the entire episode. This is The Walking Dead at the top of its game, with some strong moments throughout. It reminded us that other humans are the main enemy of the series, not the zombies, and allowed for a fairly brutal standout moment with Jesse stabbing a Wolf over and over again with just a pair of scissors for support. Spencer also got involved in the action, even if Deanna didn’t, causing the car to crash and then answering the mystery that we got at the end of the premiere that attracts the zombies to the gates of Alexandria. As I had possibly expected, there’s no great conspiracy, it’s not someone trying to kill off the protagonists, it’s actually just a simple car and a horn. However, despite this, it was an effective way of answering questions and allowed for a nice tense resolution.

This was full of notable moments for the characters left behind in Alexandria. Carl saved Ron, Enid got the nice episode opener and then there was Morgan, who spent the whole episode hinging on whether or not it should be acceptable to kill people. At the moment his plot seems a bit similar to Tyreese’s character back when he was around, how he was Rick’s moral compass, but what got even more frustrating was that despite the fact that several Alexandrians had already been killed, he still refused to fight. Eventually, the writers seemed to address this problem by the episode’s end and he might have been pushed to kill someone when he had no other choice available.

Now, back to Carol. She was immense in this episode and is actually one of my favourite characters on the show, especially when she goes on the offensive like she did here, initially disguising herself as a Wolf to sneak into the armory. Without her, it’s safe to say that pretty much everyone in Alexandria would have been killed, and it was fantastic to see her in action like this.

If Season 6 can keep up its strong start then it may well become one of the best seasons of The Walking Dead so far. “JSS” was impressive, super intense and heavily action packed pretty much from start to finish, and it’s the kind of show that The Walking Dead should be like. Hopefully next week’s will be just as good.

The Walking Dead returns next Sunday at 9pm. What did you think of this week’s episode? Let me know in the comments below!