Considering the sheer breadth of The Walking Dead universe at this point, from comics to video games to TV shows, I wasn’t sure if there were any original thoughts left for me to have for the very first time when experiencing this brand. And yet it happened during the cold open for TWD: Daryl Dixon’s second installment, “Alouette,” which offered viewers a look back to what life was like for Clémence Poésy’s not-so-innocent Isabelle right when the world turned upside-down.

The flashback scenes also offered insights into elements introduced in the premiere, showing how Isabelle found her path as a nun, while also laying out the potentially unique origin story for Louis Puech Scigliuzzi’s Laurent.