The Walking Dead season 9 episode 11, review: Samantha Morton's performance – and four other talking points

Spoilers below

Normand Reedus and Samantha Morton in 'The Walking Dead' (Gene Page / AMC Studios)

The latest episode of The Walking Dead justifies the show's placement in the television schedules.

Originality must wane after nine years on the air, but with new characters to play with, the AMC series is retreading familiar ground in tantalising ways.

This instalment continues on from last week’s shuddersome showdown, as Samantha Morton’s villainous Alpha unmasked to demand her daughter Lydia be returned to her after the people of Hilltop took her prisoner.

Below are the five biggest talking points from "Bounty".

1. Samantha Morton’s bringing it

Samantha Morton clearly means business. Signing up to a series in its ninth season could have seen the actor phone it in, but quite the opposite is happening – she’s fully embracing her role as the primary villain on one of television’s most-watched shows (those declining ratings mean nothing) and her back-and-forth with Daryl outside Hilltop brings chills to the bone. Morton’s delivery and intonation of certain words will rattle around your mind long after the episode ends and may even prompt you to re-watch for the first time in years. This could be her best work yet.

2. The baby scene

It helps that Morton’s being given some pretty disturbing material to play with. Any doubts that The Governor and Negan were scarier than Alpha are shot to sunshine in one of the show’s most chilling scenes yet. Perched outside Hilltop with her gang of Whisperers – one of which is holding a baby – she notices walkers heading towards them. The mother, stood wearing a walker mask, places the baby on the ground, willing to sacrifice her offspring to the undead. Thankfully, Connie’s waiting in the wings – well, field – to scoop the baby up. The director’s decision to mute Connie's scenes (she’s deaf) adds an extreme amount of tension. By the time Daryl comes to her rescue, you’ll realise you’ve been holding your breath the entire time.

3. Carl saves the day... kind of

The legacy of Carl Grimes rests at the heart of this episode. With the fate of Alden in Alpha's hands, Enid jumps into action to save her boyfriend by convincing Henry to hand over Lydia. How does she do this? To recount her memory of the fallen character in a misty-eyed manner. It works perhaps a little too conveniently, but it's always nice to have a callback to an original character.

4. Jerry is the man

If you’ve been wondering what the show’s been missing since returning from its mid-season break, you have your answer. Jerry, easily the show’s most likeable character, returns this week and he’s now a daddy. This episode sees him play out a rescue mission with Ezekiel, Carol and his fellow Kingdom friends in an abandoned cinema (did you spot the film that was showing at the time of the outbreak? The Silent Army – perhaps this Dutch release from 2008). Seeing Jerry mouth the words of Eddie Harris’s “It’s All Right Now’ is exactly the reprieve needed from the Alpha action.

5. Daryl and Connie is the partnership we never knew we needed

And so, with different characters to play with, another unexpected but hugely welcome partnership arises in the form of Daryl and Connie. Upon discovering Henry’s absconded to go after Lydia and Alpha, the crossbow-wielding hero marches into the night to retrieve him – but Connie, fresh from her earlier scare, wants to go with him; she hates that they’ve given a child back to her abusive mother. He agrees – and comic book fans know very well what to expect next. No spoilers here, of course.

The Walking Dead continues in the US every Sunday with the UK premiere arriving the following evening on FOX at 9pm