The Walking Dead Season 11 Review: 5 Ups & 5 Downs From "For Blood"

The Walking Dead's final season has ended its first chapter, with an episode that is equal parts rewarding and sloppy. After last week's episode of battle preparations, For Blood is almost pure action, pitting the Survivors against their enemies and the forces of nature.

The episode is focussed on two groups: At the Reapers' compound, Daryl tries to keep his friends alive whilst Maggie leads an assault on Pope's forces; and at Alexandria, Rosita attempts to protect the kids from a deadly storm and a walker herd.

Watching like one big action set piece, with minimal dialogue amongst the violence, For Blood brings a few storylines to an end, including Daryl's stay with the Reapers, and makes good on the previous episode's promise of major battle sequences.

A thrilling and rewarding hour of emotional payoffs and violent confrontations, the episode is still very far from perfect, and suffers from avoidable narrative clichés, a few odd editing choices, and one big moment that feels oddly underwhelming.

With that in mind - and a warning about spoilers - here are 5 Ups & 5 Downs from The Walking Dead's latest episode.

Considering last week's episode ending with such promise, it's a massive shame that For Blood fails to go back to the Commonwealth.

Promises Broken brilliantly introduced Sebastian Milton, found Eugene preparing to give up his friends' location, and effectively teased a meeting with the community's mysterious leader, Pamela.

But this episode has no mention of the Commonwealth, meaning the recent, gasp-inducing cliffhanger with Eugene will have to wait until 2022 before it's resolved.

The episode is jam-packed with story and action, but even so just a fleeting moment in the Commonwealth to set up the season's next big chapter would have probably have gone a long way.