This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead, “We All Fall Down,” may have been the best episode of the series outside of last year’s season finale. The series finally figured out what it takes to make a better episode, and not a moment too soon. With Game of Thrones kicking off season six next week, Fear was already going to lose a lot of attention. A bad episode ahead of Game of Thrones could have been lethal for the series.
The episode, however, was mostly self-contained, and while it made for a more interesting story, it didn’t present a lot of open questions for the rest of the upcoming season. Nevertheless, here’s a few nagging concerns we had after last night’s episode.
1. Where are they taking The Abigail — It is apparent that Strand is steering them toward Mexico, and now having seen Strand’s maps, Daniel Salazar knows that, too. Why they’re going to Mexico or who they are going to see are still open questions, but next week, Daniel is going to share their ultimate destination with the rest of the passengers, and we should see some more internal conflict between them, especially between Madison and Strand, who nearly came to blows over keeping the little boy this week. Madison and Strand clearly aren’t on the same page.
2. Satellite phones work in the apocalypse?
I guess so. I mean, on the one hand, there’s no reason to think that the satellites are down only a few weeks after the apocalypse, but on the other, it feels like a little bit of a cheat.
3. Is Strand a good guy or a bad guy?
We still don’t really know, and it may be that he’s neither. Or both. I don’t think owning a gun makes him a bad guy. It may also be that he stole the yacht, but that just makes him a survivor. Maybe he’s got a farm in Mexico and he’s keeping the rest of them around to work on it? I really have no idea, but it’s the closest thing to a decent mystery that Fear has going for it right now. I also really appreciate that Strand refused to let the kid — “the very definition of dead weight” — onto the boat. That would’ve been a disaster.
4. Will Nick ever get rid of that old-man jacket?
At least he changed his shirt this week, but dude! The jacket has got to go.
5. Why was Nick going through the Geary’s pharmaceuticals?
Don’t worry. According to showrunner Scott Erickson, it was purely an information-gathering mission. Nick was not looking for a fix or a way to deal with his withdrawal. Nick is not only clean, he is finding himself — like Daryl on The Walking Dead — better suited to this world than the old one.
6. What was that symbol that Alicia drew on the board?
Remember, that was the symbol that Alicia’s boyfriend drew on her arm before he died. I guess Alicia is thinking more about him now than Chris, with whom it appeared she had a romantic interest in before Chris’ mom died. That symbol, by the way, cleverly resembles a Marilyn Manson symbol from the “Eat Me, Drink Me” era.
7. Speaking of Chris, where is his character heading?
Chris clearly likes to kill zombies, which can come in very useful in the zombie apocalypse. His family is going to find that a little strange now, but in the weeks to come, it may come in very handy. Chris has just adapted before everyone else. Also, he may have a sociopathic streak. In either respect, it’s the first interesting thing about the character, so far. Is Chris a Carl? Or a Ron?
8. Will Madison ever start to prioritize her own family over the lives of strangers?
Madison has got to stop trying to save everyone. Salazar seems fine with leaving others behind. Travis has realized that his family comes first. Strand doesn’t want anyone else on the boat. Madison has got to understand that the only people worth saving are the people who give them a better chance to live. Children do not fit within that category. As the nominal lead in the show, Madison is also the biggest dead weight on the series. Kim Dickens deserves a much better character than this.
9. Is Nick responsible for the deaths of those Geary family members?
Indirectly, yes. He found the power pills, and Willa wouldn’t have discovered them if not for Nick. Is that going to weigh on Nick’s consciousness? It seems unlikely. Thank goodness he did find the pills, though, because the sequence with zombie Willa and her mother was the most interesting thing that’s happened on the series in a long time.
10. When will the passenger 462 passenger appear on the show?
Next week, according to the preview. I still have no idea how a plane that was going down over Los Angeles at the end of season one ends up near Mexico, where Strand is heading in next week’s episode, but a new character certainly can’t hurt right now.
