We've spent quite a bit of time hearing about the Red Hand this season and its ruler Escorpion. This is puzzling because the real Escorpion is Hector and he has been travelling with Warren and Co in a bid for personal redemption. I suppose this was an attempt on the part of Z Nation to tie off a lingering story line but it really didn't make much sense to me.
Let's start at the beginning with Warren breaking into Murphy's compound in Spokane. She manages to slip in by cutting the fence but is quickly detected by the zombies because she's not a Blend. Warren finds herself cornered in an outhouse and has to cut the back out to escape. The riled up zombies of course comes to the attention of Murphy and he quickly surmises that Warren has been to his new paradise.
Now that she knows for sure that getting Murphy on won't be as simple as a snatch and grab, Warren meets up with Hector and Sun and announces that what they need is an army. They need people who are prepared to do violence, murder and die if necessary. The only group she knows like that is the Red Hand and so Warren decides that it's time to meet up with Escorpion. Hector is quick to suggest that this might not be the right path and that it will change Warren forever but her path is set.
When they finally meet up with Escorpion it turns out that he's very familiar to them. Vasquez has taken on the identity of Escorpion and seems to have absolutely no memory of who he is. Hector decides that it's time to come clean and announces that he is the real Escorpion and shows his tattoo to prove it. This not convincing to Vasquez, as it turns out that he has his own tattoo. In frustration, Vasquez orders Sun and Hector taken away but allows Warren to stay.
Clearly this is not a situation that calls for blasting away the enemy, so Warren take a different approach and turns on the charm using her sex appeal. She talks about his injury and their plan to get Murphy so that a vaccine could be made. When Warren believes that she has lulled Vasquez into acceptance, she uses his real name but this turns out to be a mistake because he reaffirms his identity as Escorpion and demands she be taken away.
Warren is tossed into a cell with Hector. With few options available to them, they start to make a plan. Warren is the first to realise that if they cannot get Vasquez to remember that they're going to have to kill him. Ever wary about the cost of killing, Hector grabs Warren from behind in a choke hold rendering her unconscious. Clearly, he's decided that if Vasquez needs killing, he's going to do it in order to spare Warren.
When Warren wakes, Hector is gone and she's facing Escorpion's men. She's taken back to Escorpion but their exchange doesn't last long because Hector shows up determined to take Vasquez out. Hector puts up the good fight but is quickly overtaken by Vasquez's men. Hector asserts his identity again and admits that he is the one who killed Vasquez's daughter and wife. This time, Vasquez gets a flash back to how his family died and he responds by stabbing Hector repeatedly. A horrified Warren looks on before grabbing a cutlass and killing Vasquez. Warren announces that she is giving Vasquez mercy before cutting off his head and rushing to Hector's side. Hector is quickly bleeding out and so Sun injects him with her zombie shot. The men of the Red Hand pick up Vasquez's head and make it clear that they view Warren as their next leader. Sun and Warren are shocked that Hector died but take hope in the fact that he didn't turn.
Back in Spokane, we got caught up with 10K, who's being held captive by Murphy. 10K is brought to Murphy, who wants to know exactly what Warren is planning. When 10K isn't forthcoming, Murphy offers 10K a shot which will return his humanity. 10K doesn't even think about Murphy's orders for a moment and simply says that Warren is coming for Murphy's ass. A frustrated Murphy orders 10K removed. Alone once again, he hears the phone ringing. Murphy follows the sound and finds a phone in a closet. Surprise surprise, the person calling is Citizen Z and he wants an update as to what is going on. Murphy makes it clear that Operation Bite Mark is over and that he's doing is own thing now. Citizen Z is shocked and doesn't get a chance to rally because Murphy tells him not to call back before promptly disconnecting the call and pulling the cord out of the wall to stop any further contact.
Back at the Red Hand compound, Hector sits up and now his eyes are a sickly colour. It seems that Sun's vaccine just might have worked but we have no idea what Hector is now.
Ooops, I almost forgot about Addie and Doc and I don't think you can blame me after suffering through last week's episode. At any rate, Addie and Doc finally come across Murphy's daughter. It turns out that she's quite a bit older than she's supposed to be which suggests that the zombie virus accelerated Lucy's aging process. Lucy's career makes his way onto the porch, sees Addie and Doc and fires his weapon. We all know that they made it out of this situation but Z Nation decides to do a fade to black at this moment.
I remember when season three first started I was really confused about what happened to Vasquez. It turns out that I was right to be because he showed up as the ruler of the Red Hand. It's a strange if not slightly predictable twist. I am however shocked that Warren so easily chose to end his life given that they spent a season building up a report. With the death of Vasquez, Warren now has the army she so desperately wanted. I have no doubt after watching her kill Vasquez that she will have no problem getting ruthless with Murphy however, as Hector warned, it's clear that this action is going to come at a cost for Warren. Warren needs to see herself as acting on behalf of the good and therefore in the moral right. Her decision to go after Murphy is going to come with some actions that aren't necessarily so cut and dry.
What the hell is Hector now? It makes me wonder if he is being set up to be a second Murphy. Will he use his power to counter Murphy? Will he end up just being a weapon in Warren's hands? I'm not really sure where Z Nation is going to go with this one but hope that they use this to make interesting conflict.
