Acorn Media International release the second, and final season of The Walking Dead: Word Beyond. This series delves into new mythology that follows the first generation raised in a surviving civilisation of a post-apocalyptic world. Picking up where the first season left off, it concludes the story of Iris, her rebellious adopted sister Hope, the intellectual Elton Ortiz and the mysterious Silas Plaskett – four friends who journeyed across the country on a mission that transformed everything they knew about themselves and the world. As they face off against the mysterious Civic Republic Military and fight for control of their own destiny, goals will shift, bonds will form and crumble, and innocence will be both lost and found...

Before I start singing this show's praises - because I genuinely love what they did with the series - I want to start by moaning about the way the Blu-ray release has been handled. £40 for a 3-disc boxset of just 10 episodes and one extra that really should have been included on the extras for season 1, is taking the Mickey a bit. Everyone knows how Blu-ray works now and to pretend that the discs fit the same amount of content on them as a DVD disc is insulting. The content here would easily have fitted onto a single Blu-ray, so milking fans for money feels a little bit of an insult. Thank goodness then that most online stores are charging around £25 - a much more realistic price tag.

Now I've got that off my chest... The second season moves along at a fair pace. It builds well on the relationships and story arcs from the first season and wraps up everything in a satisfactory manner.

However, considering that the producers knew this was going to be a two-season arc of 20 episodes when they started working on it, I'm surprised at how rushed the final few episodes seem to be. Of course, being an ensemble show, it's important that every character is serviced and all the loose plot threads are neatly tied up, but still I thought some characters were slightly overlooked.

The only extra is The Walking Dead: World Beyond comic-con@home Panel (42 min, 32 sec) which was recorded before season 2 began filming. Because of the Covid pandemic the interviews were conducted over video conferencing. All of the main cast are included as well as crew. But, as is the nature of these things it's fairly shallow and, while the host is excellent, we don't really learn anything new. There's speculation on season two, but as most people watch the extras after watching the episodes on the disc this extra is pretty pointless. It would have fitted in better as an extra on the season one release.

Overall, an enjoyable show that works incredibly well to explore another aspect of The Walking Dead universe. I enjoyed the show and there's an indication at the end that another spin-off series may be on the cards.

8

Darren Rea