Fear the Walking Dead
is doing the whole
past and present melded together for big meaningful moments with extra
artisticness involving blue flowers. It’s well done but a pain in the arse to
recap
The main lessons in
the past is Nick being all devastated at having to destroy the infested crops
he worked so hard over and finally going out with Madison. Madison has embraced
a whole new level of shiny happiness and seeing the good which you know will get
her killed. But out and about looking for supplies they find that one of the
Vultures have got there before them with lots of taunting. Nick nearly attacks
him but Madison stops him - not least of which because Charlie is watching and
they still want the little girl to join them
This is why Nick
doesn’t like being out the walls - because it turns him into this angry,
dangerous person. He’s afraid of what the outside world will turn him into
And I can’t help but
think again of early days Alexandria and how this group haven’t realised that
having a settlement doesn’t mean you’re free from making the hard choices and
you’re just one Negan, one Governor away from the same kill or be killed
narrative
Which brings us to
the present with Alicia, Nick, Luciana and Victor all holding Althea, John and
Morgan captive in Althea’s big SWAT truck until Nick gets too close to Althea
and there’s violence, a car crash and in the end result the truck is stuck in a
ditch and now Alicia, Nick, Luciana and Victor are captives and John, Morgan
and Althea are free. How things turn
But Althea is still
an altruist, as Victor notes. She does want something from them and she doesn’t
have any dodgy motives. She wants their stories. In return she’ll tell them
where they got the Vulture flag (I don’t know if the Vultures have taken
something the gang wants - Madison maybe? Charlie? Or if we’re just on a
revenge kick). There’s a lot of back and forth but a deal is struck to winch
the truck back onto the road getting equipment with most the group while Nick
and Morgan stay with the truck - Nick as hostage
Morgan doesn’t feel
the need to tie Nick up - as proven when Nick tries to jump Morgan and gets
poked and prodded by Morgan’s supreme skills. Nick does find Morgan’s tape he
made for Althea and tries to poke him about his past - but Morgan isn’t a
sharing sort. Things seem peaceful until a hideous blue car drives past which
nick clearly recognises as one of the Vulture’s and he squabbles with Morgan to
go follow - in doing so he knocks the horn on the truck which won’t turn off.
Nick chases after the Vulture and Morgan follows because the noise is going to
attract lots of walkers
Which means Morgan is on hand to save Nick from being eaten and can now follow him on his vengeance quest. And when Morgan realises it is a vengeance quest he does everything he can to dissuade Nick from it. He even tells him some of his past, that he used to kill, the people he lost and that he ended up in exactly the same vengeance fuelled place Nick is in now. He even tries to give him the book he took to learn Akido and value life again - peace and love and all that. After all he has the same struggles Nick has had - afraid of what he will become
When Nick finds the
Vulture - the same Vulture from the flashbacks, he goes into a complete rage
and won’t be restrained by Morgan (at least not without Morgan resorting to
violence) and he attacks… there’s lots of struggling and the Vulture dies
almost accidentally, impaling himself on a sharp hunting trophy when he falls
Nick is covered in
blood, Morgan all disapproving… and we see Charlie with a gun. The little girl
(who hasn’t aged much at all) shoots Nick and runs off
After winching the
truck out of the mud (and making a deal for future co-operation) everyone
catches up with Morgan and Nick in time to fret over Nick’s body… and watch him
die
Ok, I’m going to say
I’m very surprised with Nick dying - not least of which because it sets Fear
the Walking Dead apart very much from The Walking Dead. These series
play “anyone can die” but we know that’s not true. Oh we get surprises like
Carl, but Rick? Rick is immortal. Ultimately The Walking Dead is the
story of Rick. But Fear seems to have avoided that. Originally I thought
it was the story of Madison, but she’s not around. Alicia is prominent but,
let’s face it, Nick has always been the darling of the show. I felt sure he was
edging into the protagonist spot… and now he’s dead. Alicia? Maybe she could
(Victor has never been treated as that important) but I think we’re seeing a
whole different theme here. Not the story of one person, but a group, where
literally no-one is safe. But also where no one person’s story is the defining
element here - where, maybe to run with Althea’s raison d’etre, everyone’s story
matters.
I also have to say
I’m also glad that these frees Morgan. Seeing Morgan becoming the mentor and
guiding light for Nick worried me. Because Black man with zen-like almost
quasi-mystical quality dishing out wise advice and guidance to a white guy is a
trope which needs to be avoided. And I don’t buy Morgan running away from all
he knew to start becoming a mentor and teacher
