Fear the Walking Dead S2.05 review - What we do now

The thing about zombie apocalypses is that even if you think you’re ready for them, you probably aren’t. More precisely, the part you’re ready for is the later part - when most of the world has turned and you’re scrambling for survival on an hour-to-hour basis. In some ways, the full-on apocalypse is easy to parse - kill or be killed. Those early days, on the other hand, are far more confusing because the veneer of civilization is still in place, and normal life is still a strong memory. The crew of the Abigail is struggling less with the undead and far more with trying to figure out who they are in this awful new world.

Madison is frantic about trying to keep control of something, and given that Alicia is off with Jack and Connor, that means ordering Nick around and scolding him for… well, for being capable and adaptable, really. Criticizing someone for becoming comfortable with a pistol seems rather absurd under the current circumstances, but in her defense, Nick slipping off to fetch Luis without telling her was a pretty crappy thing to do. Sure, she would’ve only told him not to, but she’s still his mom. There are rules. With Strand under the weather, Madison takes charge of the Abigail and, once Daniel has a conversation with Reed (who’s still impaled with a crowbar and still a complete tool) that helps him figure out where Connor’s base is, heads off to rescue Alicia and Travis. But weren’t they supposed to be on their way to Mexi--NOT WITHOUT MY FAMILY. NOT TODAY, SATAN. NOT TODAY. Well, ok, then.

Nick may be settling into his new zombie-filled life with relative easy - and dare we say happiness - but Chris isn’t faring quite so well. He feels really guilty for letting Reed and his jerk pals board the boat, and is desperate to make it up to everyone. He feels useless, because compared to the other men on board - Strand, Travis, Daniel, and Nick - he is. He offers to guard Reed, and ends up shooting him, because “he was going to turn”. Umm… suuuuuure he was, pal. Which wouldn’t be a big deal except that Madison had just made a deal to trade Reed to his brother Connor in exchange for Alicia and Travis. So, that’s a bit of a problem. Something else Chris screwed up. If we can play armchair psychiatrist for a moment, it seems fairly likely that Chris is going to keep trying to prove himself and failing to greater or lesser degrees, until he grows so desperate that he does something really stupid or dangerous. The sad thing is that it’s totally reasonable for him to be screwing up, because what teenager is prepared for hostage situations and reanimated corpses? 

Checking in with our last teenager, Alicia is doing a pretty good job of keeping Jack on her side as she tries to navigate her situation. Connor’s base of operations is a drydocked fishing boat, though he has some smaller crafts at his disposal. Even after she realizes that Reed totally didn’t get her family to land like she was assured he would, she bats her eyelashes enough for Jack to stay besotted with her. They make a plan to steal one of Connor’s spare boats and run away together, and Jack sneaks her in to see Travis, who’s locked in a cage belowdecks. Travis urges her to escape without him if she gets the chance, but she’s not having it. Girl’s got some grit to her.

More importantly, she’s swiftly learning to think on her feet and not just wait for good things to happen. She’s canny enough to give Jack the slip and brave enough to jump off the boat to get to the Zodiac when Madison comes to make the trade. More on that in just a sec, but quick aside - Jack is genuinely shocked and hurt that Alicia would rather rejoin her family than run away with him, a guy who lied to her and whose friends would’ve happily shot everyone she knew. He’s alive when last we see him, so what are the odds he comes hunting for Alicia sometime later? Pretty good, I’m thinking. 

Ok, so remember how Chris shot Reed, thus making trading him to his brother somewhat problematic? Fear not, for he is risen! Risen and trying to bite everyone, but a quick bag over the head fixes that. A few moments of subterfuge later and Madison is swapping a slightly past-his-sell-by-date jerk for her husband and fishing her daughter out of the water. As for Reed? Well, he takes a nice chunk out of his brother’s arm and causes a bit of a fracas. Even dead, he’s still a tool.

Everyone rescued? Good. Let’s head to Mexico. We’ll worry about the whole not having enough money to bribe the border guards thing when we get there.