The Walking Dead, season 8, episode 1 recap: is it the end for Negan?

Warning: spoilers follow

The first episode of The Walking Dead season eight was also the zombie caper's 100th instalment, and producer Greg Nicotero promised the occasion would be marked with an especially memorable hour of post-apocalyptic fun and mayhem. 

He was partly true to this word, with the premiere significantly ratcheting up the pace after a dreary seventh series. There were several bloody Easter eggs, too, that harked back to the show’s early years. But fans may nonetheless quibble with star Andrew Lincoln’s assertion that the Walking Dead has recovered its “mojo” (though at least he was willing to acknowledge said mojo had gone missing). 

The siege of Negan's Sanctuary compound was grippingly staged and it was a thrill, in particular, to see Daryl (Norman Reedus) reunited with his motorbike and leading a walker horde to the gates of the Saviour fortress. However, the mechanics of Rick and company's plan were hazily outlined (at best) and the dialogue as comically portentous as ever (Rick is at this point essentially the David Brent of end-of-the-world monologuing). 

Bonus unintentional hilarity was elsewhere provided with flash-forwards to Rick as a bearded old man, living with Michonne (Danai Gurira) in a house furnished exclusively with Ikea display stock. Had he died and gone to modestly-budgeted heaven? Or was this a sneak peak at the life awaiting post-Negan? (If so, it surely counted as spoiler.)

The Walking Dead has lurched from crisis to crisis in the run-up to the latest season. There was a furore, last year, over the sadistic manner in which beloved characters Glenn and Abraham were bumped off (highlights included distended eye-balls, crushed skulls and dozens of complaints to Ofcom). 

The show was thrown into further turmoil over the summer with the death on set of experienced stunt-man John Bernecker. Rumbling in the background at the same time was a payments dispute between a number of senior producers and the AMC network.  

Among fans, meanwhile, the major point of contention has been the Walking Dead’s increasingly sluggish tempo – with series seven largely consisting of our favourite characters exchanging angry glances (with an occasional sprinkling of Rick and his monologues). Amid slumping ratings – which have sunk toward a five year low – a great deal therefore depends on season eight. Here is the rest of what we learned from the first episode.

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1. So Negan isn’t immortal after all 

Over the past two seasons, the Saviour leader (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) has been built up as swaggering super-villain. The combination of his jolly sneer and bloodied baseball bat "Lucille" struck mortal terror into the previously indefatigable Rick and cowed the rest of Alexandria. But this week we learned that all that was required to destroy his aura was Rick and his Alexandrians joining up with the combined forces of the Kingdom and the Hilltop (minus the latter's snivelling leader Gregory).  

Emerging to greet the rag-tag massed against him, Negan was his usual, leering self. But his plan to undermine the rebellion by having Gregory order the Hilltop fighters to stand down was never going to succeed and, after that, Negan was out of ideas. A firefight ensued, with Rick coming close to gunning down his mortal enemy. The episode closed with Negan hiding in a caravan. No uber-baddie should ever end up hiding in a caravan. 

2. Did you understand Rick’s plan?

You have to love any cunning scheme featuring trucks outfitted with corrugated iron shields, a huge zombie horde, and Daryl on his bike setting off explosions. 

The idea, it seems, was to destroy the Sanctuary’s defences and then encourage the walkers to overrun Negan and his scurvy mob. But initially all we had to work with were confusing scenes of Morgan (Lennie James) spiking random Saviours with his spear and Tara (Alanna Masterson) and Carol (Melissa McBride) hanging out on a roof-top. 

Concise story-telling has never been a strength of The Walking Dead and, once again, the expectation was that we would applaud the cracking action while not getting bogged down in details. Someone should tell the producers that nerds love getting bogged down in details. 

3. How many callbacks did you spot? 

The giant owl effigy Rick saw in his dream / flash to the future was (possibly) a reference to the bird Daryl slew for his supper in season three (owls have also featured as ominous symbols on spin-off Fear The Walking Dead).

The most explicit callback, however, was the final aerial shot of Father Gabriel trapped in the caravan with Negan as zombies rampaged beyond. This was a none-too-subtle cap-doff to the closing scene in the first episode of the Walking Dead, when Rick took shelter in a tank. 

As fans will recall, Glenn arrived to rescue him immediately afterwards – which obviously won’t be happening to Gabriel and Negan (yes, well done Negan on killing Glenn).

The Walking Dead | Season 8

4. So now we know where Gregory went

Season seven closed on a quasi-cliffhanger as cowardly Hilltop boss Gregory (Xander Berkeley) fled the Sanctuary for destinations unknown (it would have counted as a proper cliffhanger had anyone actually cared about Gregory). This week – cue world’s tiniest drum-roll – he was revealed to have skulked to The Sanctuary, and was summoned by Negan to declare that any of “his” citizens standing against the Saviours would be expelled forthwith. Of course, Gregory had long ago ceded authority over the Hilltop to Maggie (Lauren Cohan). When his interdiction fell on very hostile ears, his reward was a push down the steps from not-angry-just-disappointed Negan mini-me Simon (Steven Ogg). 

The Walking Dead | Violence, guts and gore

5. With a beard like that Andrew Lincoln really should be starring in his own Bible movie

The assault on the Sanctuary was intercut with dreamlike images of an older, full-bearded Rick living in a minimalist suburban home with Michonne (the owl statue turns up right at the end as part of a neighbourhood celebration). Such casually-deployed weirdness is perfectly within the Walking Dead’s skill-set – remember the pointlessly black-and-white season six opener? But the big takeaway, surely, is that Andrew Lincoln-with-enormous-beard looks like someone out of the Old Testament. Gee thee to a biblical epic without delay.

6. There was an alarming amount of Gregory in the episode

Back to Gregory who, having tumbled down the stairs, required rescuing from the just-arrived walker horde that Daryl had led to the gates (with help from Carol and Tara). Who better to lay his life on the line for a sinner than Father Gabriel (Seth Gilliam)? He will have had cause to regret his generosity as Gregory promptly took off in the priest’s armoured truck, leaving Gabriel to scurry for the shelter of a caravan (already occupied by Negan). A text-book example of nice guys finishing last (by "finishing last" we mean very likely being ripped to shreds by zombies). 

Walking Dead: Most Shocking Deaths

7. So that’s it – Negan is defeated? 

The season has been billed as building up to the climatic final battle between Rick and Negan. But just 60 minutes in and the tables appear properly turned on the Saviours (with help from Rick's man-on-the inside, Dwight). Is the Walking Dead going to throw us a whopping curve-ball by wrapping the Negan storyline early? Or – and this is obviously far more likely – is the conflict going to stretch out until we’ve all lost interest? Negan's "brown trousers" speech to Gabriel at the end certainly suggested he is far from throwing in the bowl / bloodied baseball bat.

8. The episode needed more Eugene

Weirdo-turned-traitor Eugene (Josh McDermitt) had by far the most interesting arc last season as he threw in his lot with Negan and had fun flexing his muscles as one of the despot's inner circle. Tragically, he had just a single line this episode – and even then he was angrily shouted down by Rick. Please Walking Dead, give us more Eugene without delay.  

Season 8 of The Walking Dead will be aired on FOX, the global entertainment channel, at 9pm on October 24. You can also catch it on NOW TV with a 14 day free trial ​of their Entertainment Pass.