The Walking Dead: Every Season 8 Episode Ranked Worst To Best

The first episode of the season is almost all action. If season seven was the build-up to all out war, Mercy is what it was building toward, and the results - save from that odd opening with Old Man Rick - are great to see.

Moving with frantic energy through its exposition to throw audiences straight into the action, it opens with an attack on the Sanctuary and finally finds Alexandria, Hilltop and the Kingdom working together with a shared goal and a crafty battle plan that slowly becomes clear over the course of the episode.

It's not entirely flawless, what with Rick's odd dreams and some side-lining from key characters - including Carl, who feels slightly out of touch with everything that's happening - but the action and thriller-like pace keep Mercy afloat beautifully, kicking things off to a solid start.