The Walking Dead season 7 episode 3 review: Negan commands every scene he's in

The non-diegetic use of the song - largely uncharacteristic for this series - introduces us to Saviours compound the Sanctuary in a rather on-the-nose but apt fashion. Here is a location fuelled by fear and respect not to mention a points systems that should be obeyed unless you want to be killed, chained up as a walker and made an example of.

This is a fate threatened to Daryl Dixon (Norman Reedus), who - like us - is still reeling from the deaths of Abraham and Glenn. He's taken responsibility for the latter, however. The good news is that Negan's "taken a shine" to him - in that he’s still alive. Daryl's current existence consists of being locked up in a less-than-accommodating cell, the menu of which solely consists of dog food. He can't sleep either; when he does, he's kept awake by the incessant playing of loud music - a known torture tactic designed to dissociate the individual (the song used is a happy-clappy earworm called "Easy Street" and we tracked down its writer to find out how he feels about it being used in such a way).

'The Cell' may present a grim fate for this character but rather bittersweetly signals his most interesting arc yet - these scenes are a far cry from the ones that saw him do nothing but divert a horde of walkers away from Alexandria while riding his motorcycle last season.

We're also given our first look at Jeffrey Dean Morgan's malevolent villain since the ultra-violent season premiere. Assuredly commanding whichever scene he strolls into, the actor is clearly salivating over the dialogue he's been handed - as he snarls his lines with mischievous aplomb, he clutches Lucille in such a manner you somehow believe a baseball bat can live and breathe; someone hand her a credit.

Another character who's back is Dwight (Austin Amelio) who gets the majority of this week's screen time. We learn what happened to him following our initial encounter back in season 6 (AKA how he acquired that facial burn) and it's not pleasant - he permitted his wife to marry Negan in exchange for mercy after they absconded. The episode tugs on the notion that Dwight's fast becoming a man forced to commit acts he's becoming increasingly disgusted by (lest we forget he's the one who shot the arrow through poor Denise's eye) - being in Negan's good books means you're expected to shoot traitorous clan members as casually as you concoct sandwiches, you see. Is he plotting some kind of overthrow? If so, the feeling can't be shaken that the big man himself knows adding a razor-sharp edge to the duo's interplay.

While effectively fleshing out characterisation (for the male characters, at least - Dwight's now-ex-wife Sherry (Christine Evangelista) gets short shrift in a shoehorned cameo - for an episode intended to ingratiate the viewer into the Sanctuary's inner machinations, 'The Cell' feels rather boxed in. Its slight pace could have made more of its absorbing tidbits, namely, the fact a Saviour would rather die than continue living under Negan's rule.

This episode's success, though, abundantly proves this season will see Reedus forced to pull off more heavy lifting than he’s used to - a notion best exemplified in a scene that sees him mourn the death of Glenn. As Roy Orbison’s “Crying” blasts into his cell, the lyrics become infectious; Daryl concedes emotion in the character’s most sobering moment since Beth (Emily Kinney) died in season 5. What's ultimately so ominous about Daryl's situation is how dire the whole thing seems - all it comes down to is one question asked by Negan: "Who are you?" Ask any Saviour and they'd tell you they're all manifestations of their omnipresent leader. Daryl refuses to relent; Glenn's dead and that's on his hands. This is just the start of his punishments to come.

The Walking Dead season 7 continues in the UK on FOX at 9pm