The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live Recap: 6 Ups & 4 Downs From "Years"

Whilst it's wise to focus on Rick Grimes after such a long absence, this episode also has the tough task of setting all the show's other moving parts in motion, from its villains to its mystery. 

At once forced to give insight into the CRM, an organisation teased as early as The Walking Dead's fifth season and explored previously in The World Beyond, and balance its epic scope with Rick's more intimate development, "Years" ends up being an episode of great individual parts that don't quite fit together. It doesn't help the awkward shifts between selling the CRM as a threat and Rick as a lost soul are also countered by the episode's brief forays into Rick's dreams, which (again) work well on their  own merits but never cohesively with the drama around them. 

All the development at play in "Years" - explaining Rick's absence, exploring the CRM's mission - is delivered through broad exposition dumps and Rick's narration. It's all very tell-don't-show, and whilst The Walking Dead has never been subtle, the storytelling here is more heavy-handed than ever.