The Walking Dead Season 9: 4 Ups & 1 Down From ‘The Calm Before’

Downs...

1. It's A Little Bloated

While The Calm Before is as close to perfection The Walking Dead has been since about the fourth season, the episode unfortunately falls victim to one of the show's most problematic traits.

Running at 58 minutes, it's simply a bit too long. It's understandable that the writers wanted a little bit of extra time in order to nail this iconic comic-book storyline, but the truth is is that it could've been accomplished in the series' typical 45-minute slot.

The episode has a rather odd narrative structure, as it jumps between two different timelines in order to keep the big massacre a secret until the very end. However, there are plenty of scenes - such as Henry's mates winding up Lydia - that ultimately served no purpose to the overall narrative and, therefore, should've been removed.

What did you make of The Calm Before? Tell us in the comment section below.