The Walking Dead reveals ‘Old Man Rick’ mystery in first episode

THE Walking Dead teased us with the mystery of Old Man Rick in the season eight trailer. But it didn’t waste any time, revealing what that means in the first episode of season eight.

THE mystery of Old Man Rick has been revealed in the first episode of The Walking Dead’s epic eighth season.

Beware, this is a spoiler-filled review of episode one, so if you haven’t caught up yet, please look away.

Oh, and as Negan advises towards the end of the episode: “Make sure you’ve got your shitting pants on. Because you’re going to shit yourself.”

Season seven ended with the three communities of Alexandria, The Kingdom and Hilltop going to war with the Saviours and their rather stinky allies, the Junkyard Bunch.

Season eight kicks right off with the first battle of what the comic book series dubbed All Out War.

Negan can’t trust at least one of Dwight and Eugene. Probably both!

So, to Old Man Rick. After tantalising us with a vision of an old Rick — surrounded by flowers, electrical items and a walking stick — in the trailer, we find out pretty quickly that this is a dream sequence that Rick is having. This is his hope for the better future.

Or is it?

I mean, why would he decide to make himself a near-cripple in the future? And why the stupid Santa Clause beard? Surely you would dream of yourself as still young and strong?

This episode plays around with time a fair bit, zipping back and forth between the preparations for the assault on Negan’s Sanctuary and the actual battle.

Tara seems to be eating the world’s longest stick of liquorice, otherwise. Seriously, she would have jaw muscles strong enough to crack a zombie’s skull she chews on that thing for so much of the episode.

So is this “dream sequence” just offering us some hope that Rick and the other main characters (the sequence features Carl, Judith and Michonne) survive? Or is it massively messing with our minds and this actually from a time jump that we will see at the end of the season (taking us into the Whisperer War for season nine)? Because Judith is still young, only about six or seven. So it’s only about five years into the future.

My gut says that it’s a time jump and they’re messing with our minds as well as the chronological order of the season. But that’s just a feeling and could well be down to a dodgy curry. Only time will tell for sure!

Rick serves up the stirring speeches in episode one.

Anyway, we get some powerful speeches from Rick, Ezekiel and Maggie as they rev up the troops for what they say will be: “Just one more fight!”

Well, I doubt that as they’re another 15 episodes to go.

Then it’s time to use information that Dwight gives them to take down the Saviour lookouts. This is done very well but it does jar a bit. Negan already rallied his men for war at the end of season seven. Yet he leaves single guards isolated on the approaches to his lair?

While this is going on, Carl is seemingly obsessed with helping some random dude who’s hiding out at an old petrol station. Obviously this will have some significance later.

Carol, Morgan, Daryl and Tara are meanwhile luring a giant herd of Walkers in, to unleash on Negan, while the others have turned old cars into armoured cars thanks to some steel plate.

So, when they turn up at Negan’s Sanctuary, it is to firstly lure out some of the guards into another ambush and then to confront Negan.

Morgan has turned into quite the deadly warrior this season.

This is where it gets a bit weird. Negan and his cronies, including Dwight and Eugene, come out for a chat, armed with nothing more deadly than a baseball bat. Rick and the others could have shot them down in an instant. Sure, we’d feel bad for Eugene and Dwight but wasn’t that the smart move?

Anyway, Negan gets some great lines, telling “Rick and the Piss Patrol” that this fight isn’t about “my dick is bigger than yours, because I know mine is”.

This from a guy who’s always fondling a baseball bat. Think he has some issues there…

Then Simon brings out the weasel Gregory, who tells the Hilltoppers to go home or he’ll evict them and their families. When none move, he gets hurled off the balcony.

Rick finally opens fire but manages to miss everyone. Then they shoot up the Sanctuary before hightailing it out of there just before the Herd arrives.

Except Rick. He’s trying to shoot Negan, who has somehow ended up outside hiding behind an old car. Maybe he should have used Sasha’s old sniper rifle a while back …

Father Gabriel pulls him away in time, so Rick heads off. Gabriel’s about to join him when Gregory stumbles out of the mess. Stupidly, he goes to help, only for Gregory to steal his car and leave him at the mercy of the Herd.

He makes it into an outbuilding — to find Negan there waiting for him and asking if he remembered to wear his “shitting pants” that day.

That smells like ... well, not what you think. It actually smells like Gabriel will be made a prisoner and be the one to “save” Eugene from himself.

Carol and Daryl are back as a deadly team this season.

The attack is a brilliant strategy. Negan and his base is basically under siege, unable to get in or out, while Rick and the gang are free to start taking down the various Saviour outposts.

However, it does beg the question, what if the zombies get in? That’s a lot of innocent people who are going to get chomped.

To kick off the outpost strategy, the Kingdom guys are about to hit the old radar station that Rick and the gang wiped out in season six, which started this whole mess.

Only that seems to be going wrong …

So there’s plenty of fight left in the old Negan yet.

Episode two screens next Monday on Foxtel’s FX Channel, at 1.30pm express from the US and again at 7.30pm.