‘Fear The Walking Dead’: The 11 Most Pressing Questions We Have Going Into The Midseason Finale

Fear the Walking Dead bounced back from last week’s disappointing episode with “Sicut Cervus,” which was either a good episode or a mixed bag, depending on how things shake out next week. That’s because one plotline concerning a new character, Celia, is either recycled from The Walking Dead or, hopefully, has an interesting twist that could dramatically improve next week’s midseason finale.

The episode was also a heartbreaking one that saw the death of Thomas Abigail and, in the process, gave depth to the Strand character, who put aside his mysterious stoicism and, in demonstrating his love for Thomas, displayed some of that acting talent for which Colman Domingo is known in the theater world.

The tragedy and the psycho at the center set up an intriguing midseason finale. Before we get there, however, here are 11 questions we need answered:

Why did the parishioners want to kill Celia?

When Thomas arrived, the parishioners were preparing themselves to attack Celia’s compound and kill her, but Celia got to them first by poisoning the communion wafers. The preacher and the parishioners knew what was happening inside Celia’s compound: The work of someone testing their faith in God, someone trying to lure them into evil.

Is Celia Fear‘s version of Hershel and the barn, or is there something else going on?

I believe, perhaps too hopefully, that it was more than another Hershel’s barn situation. I think as the parishioners’ thought: That Celia is more than in denial about the zombies; she’s genuinely evil, not in the mean, cruel way, but in the demonic sense. She has no fears or concerns about friends and family members turning into zombies because she believes it’s just the “next part of life.” I think she’s part of a weird death cult where she believes that the zombies are somehow majestic, otherworldly creatures. Hershel believed that he could somehow find a cure for the zombies and bring them back to life. The way Celia reacted to the death of her own son, Luis, suggested that she believes zombies are connected to God, or at least to the cult in which she believes.

In fact, I think Celia is killing off members of her own family in a Jonestown sort of way, because it brings them closer to her God/Devil.

Why did Daniel throw away his own medallion?

Because Daniel saw the owl on the medallion. He was spooked by it. He understands the significance of owls in Mexican culture, and that the medallion is probably connected to a death cult or even Santa Muerte. Daniel wasn’t being cruel. He was like the preacher in the opening of the episode: He understood the evil that the medallion represents.

Will Nick become a zombie sympathizer?

Madison was right about Nick: He is impressionable and fragile, and it does appear that he’s bought into Celia’s belief system. It didn’t take long to brainwash him into believing that zombies are undead angels, and he thinks he can be their spiritual leader. Oh, Nick. This particular development, however, is what gives me hope that the Celia situation is not exactly the same as the Hershel situation.

What’s the state of the apocalypse in Mexico?

I’m not sure, but it’s apparently in better shape than the United States. They’re still using money (Luis was going to bribe Mexican police with gold bars). They still have a police force guarding the borders, and there was an entire church of people who had not been infected (until Celia poisoned them). Mexico — or at least Baja — seems as though it had been somewhat spared from the worst of the zombie epidemic until now.

Is Chris turning into a full-blown psychopath?

Yes! The show might want to suggest some ambiguity — that Chris killed Reed because he was turning, or that he was in Alicia’s room grabbing a knife for a reason unrelated to wanting to kill her and Madison — but it seems fairly obvious that Chris is sick in the head. The death of his mother pushed him over. With the survivalists, he got a taste for killing. Seeing the man with the broken back in the airplane wreckage completely broke his brain. Reed further got into his head by suggesting that Chris wanted to have sex with his stepsister. Chris is gone. Chris is Lizzying. Chris is dangerous.

How will Chris’ mental illness affect Travis and Madison’s relationship?

Chris will have to be put down. The question is: Will Travis have the courage to pull a Carol and kill his own son for the good of everyone else? Or will Madison have to do it? Because this is not a situation similar to that of Nick’s addiction. Nick was a danger to himself. Chris is a murderer-in-the-making. If Madison is forced to kill Chris to save Alicia (and everyone else), will that sever the relationship between Travis and Madison? I don’t see how the inevitable death of Chris won’t profoundly affect Travis in some way. Ultimately, Travis may be a casualty of his son’s illness, as well.

What is Daniel’s crisis?

Daniel is suffering from PTSD. He can’t kill children. He’s terrified of Celia and, as Ofelia has suggested, Daniel has lost his way when it comes to his faith. Daniel, however, is still the strongest member of the group. He may be shaken, but he has not lost his wits. If anyone is going to, it will be Daniel who either leads the rest of the group out of Celia’s compound or he will help them to take it over from Celia.

How will Celia react to Strand’s decision not to take his own life?

This is where next week’s episode gets interesting because Celia will probably be disappointed in Strand for not taking his own life and entering the “next stage” along with Thomas Abigail. However, she will probably be furious with Strand for putting a bullet in Thomas’ head and preventing him from entering the next stage. It will validate all of her previous feelings of dislike for Strand. She won’t trust him any longer. She won’t trust any of Strand’s group. Without Thomas, there’s no longer any connection. Celia will be coming for the rest of them, and I don’t think she plans on zombiefying them. She wants to kill them dead dead. A battle is brewing between Celia and her people and Daniel and his people. Will Daniel, Strand et. al escape? Or will they fight? The most likely scenario is what happened with Hershel’s barn: The caged zombies are set free, killing everyone who fails to escape. The Mexican villa location is toast, and everyone heads back on the boat.

Who will die next week?

Chris is beyond help. Best case scenario, he dies protecting Madison or Alicia, proving that he wasn’t as bad as they thought he was. Worst case? Madison or Travis put a bullet in his head. Celia will also have to die in the midseason finale. Nurse Ratchet above is also not going to make it.

What the hell is happening in the sneak peak for next week’s episode?

Here’s a sneak peak of next week’s episode. I can only assume it’s a dream sequence meant to fake us out. That’s kind of lame.

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