Careless people on this week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead and quite a few things were just plain stupid – including actions from Madison and Strand.
After the midseason premiere last week was all about Nick, this week also follows up on Madison, Alicia, Ofelia, and Victor Strand. In other words, we still need to catch up with Travis and his son Chris. The title of this episode is Los Muertos and honestly, it’s surprising that anyone is still alive on this show.
Nick (Frank Dillane) wakes up in the infirmary of his new home, but the village (or compound, if you will) seems almost deserted. He discovers that everyone has gathered on the outskirts, and he sees a young girl quietly crying for her father. It turns out her dad is about to sacrifice himself to the infected, who are kept as a wall between the compound and the outside world of The Dead.
Meanwhile, Madison (Kim Dickens) has been forcing her group all around Tijuana to look for Nick. Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is tired of running around after her brother, who chose to leave his family. Ofelia (Mercedes Mason) and Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) agree with Alicia, and they decide to go back to the Abigail [boat].
Once they reach the shore, they discover that – of course – someone has taken the Abigail. When Alicia suggests they go to a nearby hotel instead, to find shelter, Madison is nervous Nick won’t be able to find them. Alicia again reminds her mom, that Nick isn’t looking for them. However, knowing her mom won’t give up this idea, she comes up with the plan to leave a message for Nick, so they write in the sand that they’ve headed North.
They reach the hotel and it seems deserted. After having searched part of the hotel, they reach the bar, where Madison and Strand stay, and Alicia and Ofelia go looking for supplies. Madison refuses to let Alicia leave her sight first, but that’s one battle she doesn’t win.
When searching the hotel, Alicia and Ofelia discover that someone has marked all the hotel doors, so there’s a “Do Not Disturb” sign on all rooms with infected inside. They find a room with some clothes and some peanuts in the minibar, but that’s it. However, there’s also hot water, so they’re able to take a shower.
Nick discovers the compound is running low on water and Luciana (Danay Garcia) brings him back to the wall. Of course, she refuses to tell him what’s going on and insists on only speaking Spanish, even though he keeps letting her know that he doesn’t understand. She brings him to “the wall”, which is where they keep all their infected. There she immediately grabs one of the infected, where she crucifies him by using two knives and a third one to slash the infected man’s throat to get some blood and camouflage her scent. Then she talks to Nick in English and explains both the rules – all of them are that he needs to be quiet – and that they need to go get supplies.
They reach a supermarket, which is controlled by a gang. In exchange for some medicine, they get to fill up one shopping cart with whatever they want. Nick tried to take some candy, but Luciana informs him that they’re only getting necessities like water and baby formula. Apparently, breastfeeding isn’t a viable solution even though we’re in the middle of a zombie apocalypse. Also, they used to get two shopping carts as payment for the medicine, so this isn’t really the best shopping trip.
While “shopping”, Nick spots a girl, who seems pretty out of it, and this turns out to be a pretty good observation. It should come as no surprise, that Nick has grabbed the candy anyway and when they’re leaving with their cart full of water and formula, they’re stopped and Nick is thrown to the ground. They find the candy, so out comes the machete, because the punishment is getting your hand chopped off. The fact that the candy could easily have been in the cart is beside the point.
However, it turns out Nick is a super negotiator and guesses that the junkie girl, who seemed very out of it, was probably the sister of one of the gang members. Instead of getting his hand chopped off, he manages to scare the gang member with the idea that his sister without drugs – the drugs they’re trading for water – would be worse than any amount of infected. The result is that he gets them two carts of water and formula instead of just the one, and leaves with both hands intact.
The fact that Nick is able to terrify these men and get more out of the deal, instead of being punished, is a reminder that a white boy can still get away with an unbelievable amount of shit. Just like we know it to be the case in the world now!
They head back, and the blood makeup doesn’t really seem to be important anymore since it disappeared before they ever reached the supermarket and it’s never reapplied, so I guess the camouflage works even if we can’t see it.
When they return, Nick gives the candy to the young girl, who lost her father that same morning. Then Nick has to answer to Alejandro (Paul Calderon) for his stunt at the supermarket. Alejandro is actually a pharmacist and not a doctor, as many probably thought after last week’s episode. Also, he was bitten and has survived it – probably because he cut away the flesh around the wound as he’s missing a chunk near his shoulder. In any case, this means he’s now a preacher of sorts as well, and it turns out Nick has basically landed in some sort of cult.
They believe that they’re the chosen ones because they have faith and believe all of this is happening for a reason. Scary fanatics. That’s what I see and Nick seems to be a bit on the fence, but also feels like he belongs.
Back at the hotel, Madison and Strand are playing “Let’s pretend this is the good old days” and getting wasted on tequila – after starting with a few martinis. Madison talks about how Nick has been slipping away since the day she gave birth to him. He has his father’s darkness. Strand asks about how their dad died, and Madison says that while she told the kids she thought her husband fell asleep behind the wheel when he had his car accident, she seems to think it was intentional. They start acting like drunks when Madison throws around shot glasses and Strand plays piano in the bar.
Alicia comes out of the shower and Ofelia is gone. Earlier, Ofelia mentioned that she understood people who gave up and took their own lives, while Alicia insists that you never stop fighting. This conversation must be replaying in her mind when she sees a body flying down past her window. She goes to the balcony and sees infected falling out of windows and balconies.
Apparently, all the wonderful noise Madison and Strand are making is attracting a lot of attention from the infected, who are heading toward it. Alicia heads towards the bar, while still looking for Ofelia. Of course, she runs into some infected instead. Madison and Strand discover they have a problem when 40-50 infected are closing in on them.
This is where we leave everyone: Nick is at a wake of sorts, where they believe all of this is merely a cleansing of the Earth, and those of faith are saved. Madison and Strand are drunk and fighting the infected. Alicia is battling her own bunch of infected and Ofelia is missing.
For the record, this is the official episode plot:
After the compound falls, Madison, Strand, and others move forward in search of safety. Nick has joined a new group and gets picked for a dangerous assignment.
We’ll be back next time with a recap for episode 10, which looks like one crazy ride. Alicia Clark sure gets to kick some infected ass.
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Photos: Richard Foreman/AMC
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