Ok… so that happened?
We’re focusing on
Morgan. Yes from The Walking Dead who has jumped ship to Fear the
Walking Dead on the much vaunted crossover. Presumably because Morgan has
run out of people to mope at in The Walking Dead
It may actually be
good for his character though as it means he won’t be acting as Rick’s personal
moral warning system all the damn time
So he hangs around in
the junk yard to get on with life as a happy hermit. Except Jesus visits. And
Carol. And Rick. All of them trying to convince him to return to the fold and
mope at them close range, and telling him how awesome he is and how they’re
there for him
It’s hard to be a
hermit who keeps getting guests so he sets out wandering, dodging zombies,
running across occasional people until he runs into John Dory
John looks like a
cowboy, is a quick draw and very good with a gun (though he badly needs to
learn the first lesson of the zombie apocalypse - MELEE WEAPONS). He also seems
to be a genuinely nice guy, charming, kind and just nice. He’s also been alone
for a very long time, he mentions not speaking for over a year since he was
split up from the woman he loves who, I think, carries an antique revolver twin
to the one he has. It’s not surprising then when he kind of latches on to
Morgan who keeps trying to ditch him
When a gang of bad
people lead by a man called Leland (so you know he has reasons to be angry with
the world) who decides to capture Morgan and steal his stuff. Gunslinger is a
nice guy, has decided Morgan is his friend and he runs to the rescue and is
captured himself - because there’s so many of the gang.
Which is when a big
swat truck covered with guns arrives. It’s driven by Althea and she has a much
more effective rescue (and is also willing to trade for them) so escape time.
Althea is a journalist, or used to be when journalism was a thing, and is still
collecting people’s stories for reasons.
John Dory is happy to
tell of his lost love, his isolation and his determination for a happy ending.
While poor Morgan is doomed to be the only man in the apocalypse plagued by
people who want to talk about his feelings. He clams up, absolutely refusing to
talk and tries to trade food instead of actually talking. She refuses so he
just leaves - with john proving he is utterly the nicest man in the apocalypse
by chasing him with socks. Because he needs socks.
Which is when Leland
and the gang catch up to try and steal Althea’s truck so we have lots of
fighting, Morgan reminding us he’s a major martial artist and John showing off
some impressively accurate quick draw skills, there’s also a snake. Eventually
the big guns get fired because you can’t have a big gun and not fire it.
Morgan is also shot
in the leg. But it’s noteworthy he does try to save one of the attackers from
being eaten by Walkers. Pacifist Morgan is back
We have a reference
to flags with 51 which is apparently a thing now. And Morgan finally tells
something of his story: he was with a settlement of good people but left. Since
he doesn’t really explain anything Althea isn’t entire satisfied and plans to
push more.
Which has Morgan
leave again, even though he can barely walk, and has to be rescued by the
Nicest Man in the World John saves him again and they’re all together on their
road trip
Until they’re
ambushed: by Alicia, Nick, Luciana and Strand. Hey they do still exist
I’m saying this now,
John is going to die. No-one on the Walking Dead who appears to be
anything like a moral compass lives long. They just don’t. And a guy this nice
- he carries sweets to give to people for crying out loud - is long for this
world.
Morgan needs to learn
some middle ground - no wonder his moral compass always causes him pain. He’s
either slaughtering unarmed prisoners and people who have surrendered like a
serial killing death machine or refusing to kill people who are literally
shooting at him. There is a middle ground between Hannibal Lector and the Dalai
Llama.
So this whole episode
stinks of soft reboot. We’re introducing new characters, bringing in the
crossover and moving the focus. And I seem to remember that Fear the Walking
Dead was set a long time BEFORE the Walking Dead so Alicia et al
must have leaped quite far forwards in time.
