Season two of The Walking Dead: World Beyond concludes the epic story of Iris (Aliyah Royale), Hope (Alexa Mansour), Elton (Nicolas Cantu), and Silas (Hal Cumpston) — 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.
For thoughts on The Walking Dead – World Beyond: The Complete Second & Final Season, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic here.
Video Quality
The second season of The Walking Dead: World Beyond comes to Blu-Ray with a striking 1080p presentation that reaches the height of the format. Subtle facial features are readily visible, such as the various cuts and scrapes that the characters collect throughout their journey. Colors from the blood and landscapes pop off the screen in a pleasant way. Black levels are very deep and never betray the objects on screen. No instances of compression artifacts crept up during the viewing. The series is filled with intricately curated dilapidated sets and gorgeous cinematography that is presented with perfect clarity on this disc. From the many brightly lit scenes to the darker, shadowy sequences that conjure up dread, the skin tones and facial details are incredibly rendered in a way you could almost mistake this for a 4K disc. This is an immaculate presentation that perfectly showcases a beautifully shot series that deserves such treatment.
Audio Quality
The Blu-Ray disc comes with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that is quite lively. The score and other music brings a richness to the series that fills up the room on this track. When the action kicks in, there is some heft to the low end that is appreciated in a series such as this one. The series is primarily dialogue driven, but there are also fairly frequent moments of zombie altercations that kick this track into overdrive. There is some nice ambient activity in the rear channels, especially as you hear the sounds of zombie moaning approaching. The dialogue primarily stays in front center channels and is reproduced clearly. The track does a good job of making sure neither sound effects nor the score ever overpowers dialogue. This track has a substantial dynamic range that should please fans of the series.
Special Features
- The Walking Dead: World Beyond Comic-Con@Home 2021 Panel: Chris Hardwick hosts a virtual panel with creators Scott M. Gimple and Matthew Negrete and cast members Aliyah Royale, Alexa Mansour, Hal Cumpston, Nicolas Cantu, Nico Tortorella, Annet Mahendru, Julia Ormond, Joe Holt, and Jelani Alladin. In this panel, there are discussions about how this series fits into the timeline of the Walking Dead universe, the expanding world of the second season, working within a contained narrative framework, and more that provides some fun insights into the franchise.
Final Thoughts
The Walking Dead: World Beyond is a series that felt even more essential in its sophomore season as it found what worked best about its story. The drama felt less like a teenage soap opera this outing with the stakes more firmly established, not to mention the fact that it was building towards an endpoint. The series is benefitted by the fact that it was not burdened with a connection to the mothership series, but there are some developments in this season that should please longtime fans of the franchise. RLJE Entertainment has released a Blu-Ray set featuring an excellent A/V presentation and at least one great supplemental feature. Recommended
The Walking Dead – World Beyond: The Complete Second & Final Season is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray and DVD.
Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.
Disclaimer: RLJE Entertainment has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.
Dillon is most comfortable sitting around in a theatre all day watching both big budget and independent movies.
