SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2, EPISODE 3 FOLLOW!
By: Tyler Miller
This week’s Fear the Walking Dead was a big improvement over last week’s episode, which isn’t saying much though since it was largely just filler. Thanks to some great action and some cool crossovers though, this episode was saved from being an episode that didn’t offer much in the way of the plot or character development.
We started off catching up with Alex from the mini-series Flight 462 after the plane crash, and things are looking bad. Survivors are all stranded in the ocean, her teenage buddy Jake has a face burn that would make Two-Face feel bad for the kid, and all they have is a life raft with three other male survivors that are willing to kill to save their own asses. As with all selfish and scared survivors, they all end up dying one by one, leaving Alex and Jake alive on the raft by themselves.
Cut to our main cast and Strand is trying to contact whoever his mysterious friend is, but it still isn’t working out for him. Things get worse when the boat’s engines die, causing the boat to be stalled. Travis goes under the boat and discovers that a walker’s arm is in the boat (coincidentally it’s one of the survivors that was on the raft with Alex), realizing that it’s going to take all day to fix the problem. Meanwhile, Alicia spots the plane crash on a nearby island and she insists on going with Chris and Nick as they’re in need of supplies. Of course Madison and Travis don’t agree, but Daniel agrees to go with them and keep an eye on them. Before they leave though, he tells Madison that Strand plans to go to Mexico for some reason and suggests that she talk to him about it as she’s more diplomatic.
So the land party goes off to search for supplies, and things don’t go as they’re supposed to (when do things ever go as they’re supposed to?). Daniel tells everyone to stay where he can see them, but Chris being the depressed, rebellious teen he is decides to go off on his own. He finds the main body of the plane and discovers that there’s a survivor on it. Unfortunately, this man has a major back injury meaning he won’t be going anywhere. After begging Chris to help him, he performs a mercy kill on the man and sits there to reflect on his decision.
Back on the boat, Travis got the walker out of the boat’s intake and goes back to working on fixing the problem from the inside. As he does this, Madison asks Strand about Mexico and why he’s taking them all there. She has to push some, but eventually he confesses that there’s a house there in Baja that has everything they need to survive: food, water, electricity, etc. Where the hell this house just came from is unknown but it’s the best shot they have right now, so Madison decides to keep going with Strand, but threatens to kill him if he even seems like he’ll hurt her family.
As for the more interesting story on land, Nick is helping Daniel find drugs for Ofelia’s wound when Daniel realizes that he’s been a terrible chaperone and Chris is missing, so he goes looking for him. Some time goes by and then Alicia and Nick decide to look for them, except Nick ends up off on his own and finds a trapped walker that’s filled with crabs. He ends up in the hole with the walker, but manages to kill it before another one falls in the hole as well.
Daniel keeps looking for Nick when he spots someone running down a hill in his direction. Turns out this someone is Alex, who warns him about a large group of walkers coming in their direction. Daniel tries to kill some with his gun along with Alex, when Chris and Alicia join them and assist in the walker fight. Madison notices everything that’s happening and tells Strand, while Travis manages to finish fixing the boat just in time so that they can go to try and get them.
The whole fight is looking like it’s going to be a loss for our protagonists, but then Nick appears covered in blood to save Alicia. He even notices that walkers won’t attack you if you’re covered in their blood! The rest of the group manages to run down to shore to the boat that brought them to land, with Alex telling them that she has to get Jake in their raft. They all get back to Strand’s yacht and Madison doesn’t want to bring Alex and Jake on board, with Strand supporting her. Alicia is adamant though and demands that they be let on, so Travis compromises and says they’ll tow Alex and Jake in their raft, that way everyone on the yacht will feel safe.
At this point everything seems like a happy ending right? Alex and Jake have joined the group, they got some supplies, the boat’s working, and everyone’s alive. There’s no happy endings here though, and at the last moment Strand comes down and cuts the rope that’s keeping Alex and Jake connected to the yacht. That’s cold Strand. Real cold.
Other thoughts:
- As if Chris wasn’t already messed up from his mom’s death, having to mercy kill that guy on the plane is only going to screw with him even more. I wonder how deep his descent is going to go.
- I’m not going to lie, Nick looked pretty badass all covered in blood when he saved Alicia at the end.
- Speaking of the big walker fight, everyone held their own pretty well with their little fighting experience. I was actually pretty impressed with how they did.
- I feel like Strand’s place in Baja is a little too good to be true. There’s just got to be a catch to it of some sort. Perhaps he’s involved in a drug trade? Government connections? Regardless, some people won’t be allowed in once the group arrives.
- I really hope we end up seeing Alex and Jake again sometime this season. Sure Jake is kind of just a liability, but Alex is an incredibly interesting character because we know really nothing about her, but she’s certainly knowledgable and can hold her own. They need to return!
This week was pretty good for the show. It certainly didn’t feel like a filler episode like last week’s episode, due to the inclusion of Alex, the revelation of where Strand plans to go, and the action that unfolded in the last bit of the episode. More episodes like this would be nice for the show, and it seems like next week will be another improvement for the season. Only time will tell.
TheComfySpot 