The Walking Dead: 10 Most Underrated Episodes

9. Mercy (Season 8, Episode 1)

The Walking Dead
AMC

Mercy has the unfortunate label of being a part of the mostly-iffy season eight. But don't let that put you off: it is actually a brilliant, violent, battle-heavy hour of TV that deviates wonderfully from the slow, soul-destroying aspects of season seven.

The war against Negan in full swing, everyone is geared up and ready for a fight. Lives are lost, the bullets fly without pause and fans finally get the chance to see the various communities banding together to take down a common enemy.

The rest of the season may not have lived up to its premiere's genuinely strong start, but Mercy has so many wonderful plot threads running through it that it's impossible not to love.

The best subplot of the episode, amongst the wonderful carnage of the shoot-outs, sees Carl (Chandler Riggs) trying to get his dad (Andrew Lincoln) to trust people for once after they run into Siddiq (Avi Nash), laying the seeds for Rick's decision to spare Negan at the season's end and aim for a less violent and more trusting future.

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