Strand’s past and secret liaisons are revealed while Alicia’s old radio buddy attacks the Abigail. Those are the main points in this latest Fear The Walking Dead recap
We’re back with another Fear The Walking Dead recap for episode 4, which is officially titled Blood in the Streets. This time our characters will yet again be joined by a few new people, but these are definitely foes and not friends. First things first though, as the episode starts with Nick swimming to the coast where he immediately enters a camp, lures one of The Dead into a trap and disembowels the now-dead Walker, and covers himself in blood, after having picked up on this messy camouflage trick last episode.
Though I must admit, I’ve never understood how a body with no heartbeat or need for oxygen has so much fresh blood. In any case, he arrives in a neighborhood that’s still being built and where he meets up with someone he was apparently looking for.
We recognize the man from flashbacks – we see throughout this episode – as the trusted assistant of a rich businessman, who Strand steals a small fortune from in New Orleans. This flashback takes place after Hurricane Katrina hit, so that takes us back to some time right after August of 2005.
I’ll be happy to state that during their first scene together, when they first meet at a bar and strike up a conversation, I said out loud “Just kiss already” because no one talks with their faces inches apart while looking at each others lips, without it screaming “I want to kiss those lips and so I’ll stay close and stare till it happens”. Had it been a man and a woman in this scene, anyone would’ve seen it from a mile away, but I think others were surprised when the two later holds hands and talk about the importance of “we” and “us” against the world.
Fortunately, they also share a kiss in a later scene just to eliminate any doubt that these two men are in fact lovers. The kiss is shown in a scene when Strand wants to go to L.A. just as the outbreak begins. He’s hoping to buy some cheap land since the city of angels is clearly heading straight for Hell. Thomas doesn’t want him to leave since it isn’t safe, but they’ve both always done business based on the saying “When there’s blood in the streets, buy land!” Also, there’s the reason for the episode title for you.
Oh yeah, and the relationship between Victor Strand and Thomas Abigail – yes, like the boat – happens after Strand steals the man’s credit cards. Thomas gets very drunk at their first “meet-cute” at a bar. Hell yeah, I’m milking this gay interracial storyline for all it’s worth before it’s time for the usual “bury your gays” routine and one dies.
In any case, Strand spends a small fortune on getting himself back on track – he had invested in New Orleans right before Katrina hit and lost everything. Thomas seems to respect how he used the stolen money and takes him along instead of turning him in to the authorities. Well, that and there’s clearly love in the air as we discover later.
Meanwhile, back on the Abigail – the boat, not Strand’s secret lover, who is clearly the reason they’ve made it this far thanks to the boat – there’s a whole lot of drama. The people, who had been chasing the Abigail since the season premiere, finally get to them and very easily take over the boat with just three people: A real bad-ass psycho (Jesse McCartney), a very pregnant badass lady (Veronica Diaz), and finally Jack, Alicia’s radio buddy, who’s played by Daniel Zovatto (It Follows).
I’m very happy to report that Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) continues to do better, and in this episode, she’s working Jack as best she can to get the situation under control. Before things get that far, Jesse McCartney’s character continues to threaten everyone with murder, to get the boat started. However, Strand had the keys, and he jumped ship the moment trouble began, and the three weird pirates shot up Strands lifeboat, so he’s fighting to stay alive.
Of course, he already knows Nick is on land, so he probably has a plan to get to Nick. But this was my only real problem with this episode: I didn’t buy into the way they did the “Nick leaves the Abigail in the middle of the night and tells no one”-storyline. Apparently, Strand sent him to the coast with an address for the rendezvous we’ve already seen happen with Luis (Arturo del Puerto), but there’s no way Nick wouldn’t tell someone, anyone else, that he was taking off. Sure, we have the fun little mystery challenge of guessing what’s going on, but it went on for far too long and seemed out of character for him and the group dynamic in general.
Anyway, back on the boat Travis buys time by promising he can hot-wire the boat since the bad guys insist on shooting his annoying teenage son, Chris – who I’m happy to report was finally a lot less annoying. When the leader of the pirates’ group, Connor, arrives, things go a lot more smooth, and talking takes over from threats of murder. Suddenly Alycia is agreeing to leave with Jack as some sort of security that the others won’t try to escape. Again, I didn’t really buy why this was necessary, but she’s trying to clean up her own mess… it just felt more like a plot device for later episodes than anything else.
Alycia leaves with Jack and Connor, and that’s when Nick returns with a boat and Luis. Nick sees something is wrong, and Luis is quick to clean up this mess, sniper-style.
Nick gets back on the boat with Luis, and they’re quick to get Strand out of the freezing water. Or actually, Madison is the one who goes out to get him right before hypothermia takes him. See, Madison is good at her word to Strand, and I like her more in every episode. Though honestly, I’ve always liked her. And I’m sure everyone would be just fine with Strand letting them know that the man with the plan for safety, is his lover, Thomas Abigail. Better than this secrecy, which certainly doesn’t help with trust issues.
Nothing on the last two survivors from Flight 462, but hopefully we’ll get back to that next week. Just a quick mention about how Travis wasn’t happy they were left behind and then there was a new mess to deal with.
For the record, this is the official episode plot:
The group lets a family in distress board the Abigail; Strand’s past begins to come to light; Nick looks for an associate of Strand’s.
Read the recap for episode 3 right here, if you missed it. We’ll be back next time with a recap for episode 5.
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