Speaking not only as a zombie fan, I have to say that The Walking Dead is probably one of my all time favorite shows. Sure the zombie kills are awesome, but when the show is at its best there is a level of story telling going on that really pushes the envelope into a whole other level of artistry.

Episode 312 “Clear” was a prime example of this. The writing, from new showrunner Scott Gimple was spot on, the direction was great and the performances were some of the best yet for series regulars. I felt like I was watching a short film. It was nothing short of fantastic.

So why all this talk of episode 312 in an article about 313? Because I feel the show may have set the bar pretty high and I’m afraid 313 “Arrow on the Doorpost” may be a bit of a let down. As I sit here still hungover from the greatness of last night’s episode, I take my first look at the teasers for next week.

The first video doesn’t have an dialogue in a 90 second clip. Sometimes just letting the action tell the story is a good thing, but we’re missing context here. Rick, Daryl and Herschel are out on a run. Herschel? Why not bring Glenn or Maggie? And if Daryl is with Rick, who the hell is watching Merle? At least we know that Merle is more than ready to take care of himself.

Clip two is shorter, but has a lot more action. Rick and Governor meet up somewhere that looks like a barn. Could be the barn we catch a glimpse of in the first clip. The cut of this clip makes it more like a montage than a narrative, but the point it makes is clear: people are going to fight. Also we see that the Governor negotiates like Genghis Khan. This could be promising as action episodes are exciting, even if they don’t have the gravitas that episode 312 brought us.

The third clip is similar to the first in that there is very little dialogue and almost no action. It’s just more of Rick and the Governor in the barn. It is interesting to see the two men in the same room facing off. They’re a lot alike in many respects, but the differences are apparent just by looking at them.

I’ll wait till I see the whole episode to pass judgment, but this episode has a tough challenge ahead if it’s going to reach the heights of its predecessor.