The Walking Dead Season 9: 6 Ups & 1 Down From 'Stradivarius'

Contains major spoilers for The Walking Dead Season 9 Episode 7.

Last week's episode of The Walking Dead was one that many viewers were dreading, as it was not only the first without protagonist Rick Grimes, but it also faced the challenge of establishing a new status quo for the show going forward.

In spite of the worry that the AMC series simply wouldn't be interesting without Rick, Who Are You Now? delivered in some pretty big ways, as the rest of our survivors continued to struggle in a world without their leader.

The strengths of an Andrew Lincoln-less Walking Dead continue into this week's instalment, Stradivarius, which picks up from where last week's episode left off. Michonne and Siddiq accompany newcomers Magna, Yumiko, Luke, Connie and Kelly from Alexandria to the Hilltop. There's plenty of character development in this one, as new relationships are established and old ones are explored once more.

Considering The Walking Dead has long lost its main-event status, the series has made massive leaps this season, with the standard improving ever so slightly with each passing episode. We might never reach the quality of the first four seasons, again but Stradivarius is proof that there is more story left to tell, and for all those fans that stuck with the show during the appalling seventh and eighth season, now is the time that you'll reap the rewards.