Once again I spent my Sunday watching the Dolphins play “football” and eagerly awaiting a new episode of Fear the Walking Dead. One of these two things was a bloodbath with my favorite people being massacred in front of my eyes, and the other was a scripted television show. That’s enough about my bad taste in football teams, let’s get down to business.
This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead had a little bit of everything. There was intrigue, violence (duh), and even some semblance of a new romance between two characters.
In the beginning of the episode we’re introduced to a new character who we never get a name for, so from here on out I will refer to him as Mysterious New Guy or M.N.G for short. M.N.G is sharing a cell with Nick at the makeshift hospital, and seems to be the kind of person who is fond of making deals. He saves Nick from being taken “downstairs” by trading the soldier in charge his diamond cuff-links. When Nick inquires as to why he would save him, M.N.G makes it clear that Nick now owes him a favor of some sorts.
Apparently M.N.G thinks Nick has skills that will be useful in their escape from the hospital/prison. I forgot to mention that at some point in his deal-making M.N.G acquired a key to get out of the cell. He seems to have an idea of what is happening to the world outside as he says “The game has changed, we return to the old rules.” His deal making abilities in Fear the Walking Dead will definitely be coming in handy.
I don’t know of M.N.G is going to turn out a good guy or a bad guy, but I like him so far. He adds an air of mystery to the show that was lacking before. Good addition by Fear the Walking Dead.
That covers the intrigue from this episode, so let’s talk about the violence, shall we? We get less zombie related violence from this episode, and are treated to a more personal, torture type of violence instead. Ophelia’s father Daniel is displeased that the military took his wife to the hospital without him, and he doesn’t plan on just sitting around waiting for something to happen.
He uses Ophelia to lure her soldier friend home so that they can tie him up and ask him some questions. What Ophelia doesn’t know is that her father is wrestling with his own inner demons from his past and will do just about anything to get the information he seeks. As it turns out, Daniel’s skill as a barber comes from his past experience as an interrogator in El Salvador.
Shortly after Fear the Walking Dead has allowed Daniel to finish torturing the soldier, Maddie walks in to discover the aftermath of the interrogation. Rather than being concerned, however, she asks “Did he tell us what we need to know?” See? I told you she was the resident bad-ass. What they learn from the soldier is that the military is planning on evacuating the town. Unfortunately, they aren’t bringing any of the survivors with them, and they are going to “humanely exterminate” everyone at the hospital/prison first. I can only assume that this is going to lead to quite the showdown in the season finale next week. Color me excited!
While Daniel is busy in Fear the Walking Dead carving information out of a soldier’s flesh, Travis is still struggling with the idea that the infected are no longer human, but rather walking corpses. He can’t bring himself to shoot a zombie when given the opportunity with a military sniper rifle. Travis is going to have to come to terms with the fact that these people can’t be helped, or he isn’t going to be around very long. One of the most important attributes to a survivor in a Fear the Walking Dead zombie apocalypse is how quickly and effectively they can kill said zombies.
Finally, I must address the blossoming romance we see in this episode of Fear the Walking Dead. Unfortunately one of the characters at the heart of this new development is none other than cry-baby Chris. Though in the beginning of the episode he’s his usual whining self, something about him intrigues Alicia, who invites him to hang out with her in an abandoned house.
Fear the Walking Dead decides to have them play dress-up and Chris gets what I can only assume is his first glimpse of a bare female shoulder. I’m not sure that anything will come from this flirty behavior, and God I hope not. I’m a big fan of Alicia and I really can’t fathom her seeing anything in Chris. This has nothing to do with jealousy or the minor crush I have on Alicia. I swear. It does, however, have everything to do with how much I hate Chris and all that he stands for.
This episode of Fear the Walking Dead finally adds some mystery and gives viewers a stronger reason to come back and see how it plays out. Along with the mystery, this episode brought with it a promise of an epic showdown that I cant wait to see. The Walking Dead is known for its fantastic season finales, and I can’t see why Fear the Walking Dead would be any different. I look forward to next week and being extremely disappointed by how many months I’ll have to wait until season two hits TV screens.
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