RECAP: Fear The Walking Dead — Survivor’s Dilemma [Season 2, Episode 3]

On Sunday’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead we open to a plane crash survivors floating on a raft on the open sea. We are introduced to Alex, THE Alex from the #FTWD web series. Now I want to go back and watch the full series.

Alex takes leadership of the small raft by killing off one of the remaining four, a survivor who tried to kill her friend, Jake, a badly burned teen who is slowly dying. What irony! The man she killed is the individual who killed the fifth survivor, earlier that day, after realizing the man had been bitten. Once he is gone, the third surviving passenger tells Alex that it is time to put the kid out of his misery, he will turn soon. Alex feels she owes Jake, but Jake realizes that he has to go and tells her that it’s ok to do it. Right now, I know that I would take any of them, including self-sacrificing-soon-turning Jake, over the current crew we have.

I hope Strand is willing to pick up Alex and the remaining survivors, since it seems that his connection to whomever he was supposed to meet is gone. All he picks up is static on his radio and he may need allies with Daniel lurking around. I am about to pick my dinner up off the floor watching Maddie make out with a distant Travis (who may be thinking of Liza, or at least in my meanie pants world, he is). The ship suddenly stops. Travis rushes to meet with Strand and Daniel. He realizes that something is blocking the intake valve and rather than go back to bed with Maddie (my sentiment, not his) he offers to go out in the middle of the night to clear the blockage. He was right. The thing blocking the valve is a walker. He looks like the man who told Alex that it was time to kill Jake. A smart Strand would want this woman as an ally! #DontMessWithJake

By daylight, Travis is in the engine room clearing the pipes of zombie pieces and zombie goo. An anxious Strand not only fails to thank him, but is pissed off that Travis is taking so much time to get everything done. He snidely “sweet talks” Travis when he realizes his displeasure with Strand’s tone. On the other side of the boat, Daniel notices that Ofelia, who is out of antibiotics, is sporting an infected wound. Daddy dearest wants her to keep the news between them. Topside,  Alicia spots a mountain of luggage onshore. Daniel supports the Clark siblings plan to go ashore to collect much needed items. Maddie reminds them that it will be getting cold soon, grab coats and sweaters. Daniel tells a surprised Maddie that it will be warmer, in Mexico. He talks Maddie into asking Strand about his plans to land in Mexico. Clearly he can’t do it given how he found out. Daniel joins the teens on their scavenger hunt.  He is no doubt going to  look for antibiotics for his daughter. Chris gives Daniel a “rebellious dumbass teen” look when he tells them to fill their bags quickly and stay where he can see them. If I was betting folding money, either Chris or Travis – who is back under the boat to work on it, will become walker food this episode.  Travis has killed  and freed the walker who was covering the intake. When Chris decides to wander off, I start praying to #TWD gods that it is him.  Hell, on #TWD, most of our beloved died just for being selfless heroes (::chest thump:: RIP: T-Dog, Bob, Hershel, Tyreese, Andrea, and even Merle).

Chris, dumbass extraordinaire, has wondered onto the hull of the crashed plane. He is feeling brave when he runs into walkers who are trapped in their seats and even taunts them. He is stunned when one of the seated bodies turns out to be a living survivor asking for help.  Onboard, Strand is fighting with Maddie,  curious about how she knows about his plans. He is upset that no one trusts him.  He tells her about a fortress in hills outside of Rosarito, California (in Baja). After hearing about the safe space there, Maddie is still angry and focused on why he lied.  She wants to know if he was planning to dump them. These people are seriously dumb.  If he left them all on the boat and headed for HIS home, they should still be grateful.  Strand tells her that he had no plans of abandoning them, but he reminds her that while she doesn’t trust him, he has no reason to trust her, either.  Maddie makes a threat to throw Strand over if he even looks wrong at one of her family members.

On shore, Nick catches Daniel searching for pills and realizes that they are for Ofelia. He begins helping him. Just then Daniel notices that Chris is gone and begins calling for him. Chris is still on the plane trying to free the badly injured survivor. It is clear that there is no hope, given the gaping hole in the man’s chest.  The survivor gratefully  submits to having his skull crushed. Daniel is outside roaming the island calling out for Chris, no doubt attracting the dead. As Alicia and Nick go to find Chris, he, luckily, finds a first aid kit.

On deck, Maddie shares her news with Travis, who is upset to know that she has made the decision to trust Strand without talking to him. She reminds him that Strand has always come through. This conversation is a 180 from the discussion she had with Strand, in which she all but called him a sociopathic killer waiting to end them all. On land, a woman is running toward Daniel as if the devil is chasing her. In essence, it is, in the form of dozens of dead. It is Alex, and as she falls into him, she warns him to run as she keeps going. He is Daniel, so instead of running, he pulls his gun and begins shooting. Before the gunshots, Nick is unaware of what has happened with Daniel and falls into a pit while watching a walker being eaten by crabs. Chris returns to the scavenge site, but Nick is still stuck in the pit as another walker falls in. He was just barely able to kill the first. They all hear the gun go off, including Maddie on the deck of the boat. Before long, the small island group is surrounded.  

Alicia struggles to find something to kill walkers with, while Alex is hitting them with her shiv. Being driven closer to the edge of a cliff, the group keeps fighting when Alicia, who is about to lose her battle with a walker,  is saved by a blood soaked Nick. He frees the group but delays in joining them. He toys with a walker, standing face to face with it. It does not recognize him as human and he mimics the sounds it makes. He tells Alicia he is fine, as he finally rejoins the group, promising he has not been bitten. When they all arrive at the boat, Strand refuses to allow Alex, and a reclaimed Jake, to board. Alicia fights for them, as does Maddie and Travis. It seems that Jake still  has a chance to survive, if they help him. Travis makes the compromise to tow their raft until they reach San Diego, giving them food and water.

Inside, a restless Strand is pacing. Nick is on deck handing Ofelia a rosary, laughing when she tells him that he smells like death. I like them together. These two, and Alex/Jake, are the highlight of the evening for me. On the raft, Alex tells Jake that this is the worst and that things will never hurt as bad as they do now. She is wrong. Just then, an angry Strand cuts the raft loose and walks away. Maddie is livid. I am livid that we didn’t get to trade Maddie for Alex.

The good times continue… next week. Harry on the shore waving good bye. Alex in the raft, filled with fear. Good times.

 

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