Be warned: a horde of spoilers lurk within this article from the start.###So, the All-Out War™ continues apace, then. But does anyone acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure the feeling that The Walking Dead is taking that much trumpeted season 7 marketing slogan a little too literally? After last week’s explosively entertaining opener, episode 2 continues in much the same fashion – but it struggles to generate as much tension or interest.###Take those odd’peculiar montages that reserve end the episode, a series of extreme close-ups on our heroes’ faces. What’s the point of them? Are they there to use up some running time in slow motion, Garth Merenghi-style? As a storytelling device, it feels cheap and lazy, like a fan-made Youtube edit, and we misgiving’fret that this reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ’s too in thrall to its fanbase to remember how to make dramatic, cinematic TV.###Still, you couldn’t argue that this season has turned down the tempo. Rick’s alliance between Alexandria, the Hilltop and the Kingdom is holding intense’fierce’exquisite in/with regard to’concerning’regarding now, and their tactics are – initially, at least – still working in their favour. Those Mad Max-style turret cars are proving effective, and each fragmented team seem to possess’own’nurse eliminate’remove missions. So why does it all feel a little slight?###Aside from Morgan, whose fragile grapple on reality is loosening by the day (“I don’t die”), the merely’barely character with any token ificant development is Shiva, Ezekiel’s tiger, who acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure s a tasty human snack. Jesus encounters a (literally) pissy Saviour; Rick encounters a character from season 1 that nobody remembers; and a minor character whose name is apparently Eric has probably bit the dust, but these character beats are lost amidst the endless, unceasing gunfire.###After last season, we welcome any attempt to make The Walking Dead more pacy and exciting – but not at the expense of character or story. Let’s hope the All-Out War™ doesn’t go literally all-out.###Highlight: The Saviour wetting himself to acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure out of a fight. A bafflingly effective tactic.###Lowlight: Any time there was relentless, repetitive, endless gunfire.###Kill of the week: Rick’s impales a Saviour on the remains of a shelving unit.###Quote of the week: “The damned are upon us!” You can always rely on the King to deliver.###Zombie of the week: The saggy, mouldy cover’budge er “befelled” by Jerry.###MVP: Morgan, whose past trauma is manifesting in unpredictable ways.###The enormous’vast’massive’tremendous question: Is returning character Morales going to transform’alter things up in the relationship between Rick and the Saviours? And more significant’essential’critical’vital’crucial’indispensable’imperative ly, does anybody actually remember Morales from seven years ago?###The Walking Dead airs on Sundays on AMC in the US and on Mondays on FOX in the UK.###Read Empire’s review of Episode 1.