REVIEW: The Walking Dead, S10 Ep1 – Lines We Cross

The Walking Dead season ten opens with an impressive training montage on a beach, with warriors brandishing their weapons, and expertly dispatching walkers. One has to hand it to the team behind The Walking Dead, these scenes were inspired and it certainly takes a great deal of creativity to keep coming up with interesting scenarios and images in which to place zombies. Recently, it has even become more difficult to see them as a threat considering how capable most of the show’s characters have become in slaying them. 

As has been established in previous seasons, the real enemies are the living, and all the main characters are still reeling from their vicious encounters with The Whisperers last season. Alpha and her minions do not make an appearance in this episode but the specter of their atrocities hangs over all those who survived their carnage last time. But what the episode made clear was that the communities are thriving, working together relatively harmoniously, and ensuring that they will not be vulnerable to attack.

There were some strong character interactions in this episode such Michonne with her children and some well-deserved domestic felicity in the midst of the apocalypse and of course those touching scenes between Daryl and Carol, one of the strongest and most enduring friendships on the show. These two have been through so much and will surely endure even more ordeals in the future but one constant is that they always have each other’s backs.

Then, there was that impressive set piece, the Soviet Union satellite that crashed near the Whisperer’s borders, causing a dangerous fire. The Walking Dead has never been subtle and has sometimes even embraced its own ludicrousness, and so a flaming satellite sparking a new conflict with the Whisperers is as interesting a plot device as any, and the title was a dead giveaway. There may have been some hesitation initially but ultimately, the survivors cross the borders and risk Alpha’s wrath.

This was one of the stronger season premieres in recent years from The Walking Dead which is an impressive feat considering the show lost its lead in Rick Grimes. Fortunately, the remaining main characters have proven to be more than compelling enough to step into his shoes and are even more engaging to watch.

As another reviewer noted, the fact that a genre show like The Walking Dead has reached a tenth season in this, the age of peak television. As tiresome as the show has sometimes become, and despite all the frustrating developments and deaths in the latest seasons, The Walking Dead has somehow endured and does not seem to be losing steam. The stage is set for some gruesome conflict with the Whisperers and some potential internal strife as well. 

Welcome back to the apocalypse.