After last week’s Labor Day hiatus, Fear the Walking Dead returned right where it left off. We get a quick glimpse of each group. Travis and company still in the barber shop, and Madison and her children hiding out in their house. Travis makes empty promises to try to keep everyone calm and Daniel Salazar reveals a bit more of himself to Travis as he sees the real danger going on. Things are quickly upended as the rioters set fire to the building next door and it quickly spreads. The Manawas and the Salazars stick together as looters rush in and they are forced to make their escape. Chris quickly notices that something is really wrong with the situation, as we see one officer eating the face of another while the rioters ignore what is happening.
No Time For Games
The Clarks try passing the time waiting for Travis to return with a game of monopoly. I have a feeling that this is going to be one of the few peaceful moments they will have. Then, we are quickly brought back to Travis and Daniel as they lead their families to Travis’ truck. Unfortunately, they do not make it unscathed as a scaffolding collapses and crushes Griselda Salazar’s leg. We jump back to the Clark’s house, and Nick seems to be dominating at Monopoly when Madison seems to come back to reality after the slight distraction of playing with her kids.
Travis drives his family and the Salazars to the hospital only to witness something completely unexpected. Cordoned off, the police surround the hospital and open fire on what we know to be zombies, but the group is yet to know. Daniel seems to take note on how one of the victims took a bunch of shots to the body, but it was the head shot that dropped them. The Salazars convince Travis to take them back to Madison’s house, and on their way through Los Angeles you get the eerie view of each power grid losing power one by one.
The Reunion
Madison’s children don’t have much faith in Travis returning and try to convince her to leave, but Madison remains convinced that Travis will come back. Alicia notices something outside and Nick tries to get his mom to tell Alicia what is going on. Surprisingly, they find a dog outside their sliding door and after letting it in the house, it warns the Clarks’s what is outside their front door. At the same time this brings the zombies’ attention to their house. Madison and company follow Nick to their next door neighbor’s house where Nick knows there to be a shotgun. The power flickers on and off while Madison and Nick gather the shotgun shells and Alicia looking out the window sees someone enter their house where a short time after they hear the pained cries of the dog they had let in. It is shortly after this when Travis and company shows up back home and Madison goes running out the door to warn him of what awaits them in the house.
The Dog
Travis, Chris, and Liza slowly enter the house and find the ghastly sight of his next door neighbor munching on a dog. Travis shows he truly doesn’t understand what is going on yet by trying to reason his neighbor Peter, who only keeps trying to bite him. Alicia rushes back next door to grab the forgotten shotgun shells and it is up to Daniel Salazar to put a stop to their neighbor Peter, as Travis is unable to do it. Chris runs outside to vomit only to hear Alicia as she screams and tries to escape from their neighbor Susan. An elbow from Alicia caused Chris to end up with a bloody nose, and Nick just spits out the truth, they’re dead. This finally clues Alicia into what is happening to have a near breakdown as she worries over her bitten boyfriend Matt. Travis and Chris have a moment in the bathroom that brings father and son closer together than the series had previously shown.
Both groups convene in the living room, and while something seems up with the Salazar’s, Travis and Madison argue over leaving for the desert right away or staying until morning. They decide to stay, but Travis is forced to drag Peter outside and bury his body. A conversation between Liza and Travis in the kitchen leads Liza to believe that Griselda is only going to get worse, which Liza fears will end up with her dead and attacking them. We get a moment with the Salazars where we learn that they have no family to come pick them up after telling Travis that was the case. Ofelia is obviously scared and tries to convince her father that they should stick with Travis and Madison. It appears from that conversation that Daniel and his wife have lived through some difficult times back in their home country, which foreshadows that Daniel may yet have a bigger role to play in the group’s survival. Liza tries to have a heart to heart with Madison about what they need to do, but the conversation is quickly turned into Madison asking Liza to be the one to end her if she becomes like her neighbor.
Help Is Here
The next morning arrives and Travis and one of his other neighbors bring out their trash to the curb like nothing is wrong. He walks back into the house where he sees Daniel showing Chris how to use the gun. Travis is apparently very anti-gun as he gets in a disagreement with Daniel and Madison over it, and it makes you wonder when and if he realizes that he is going to need one to survive. Madison decides to take a hammer outside to put Susan out her misery, but is stopped by Travis who feels that Susan can still be saved. The Salazars stay put as Madison and Travis load up to leave. It is on their way out of the block that they notice Susan’s husband Patrick pull into his driveway. You can hear helicopters overhead as they rush back to the house to stop Patrick from being bit by Susan. He mentions how the airport was shutdown, and as Madison runs into the back yard Susan has someone shoot her in the head. The helicopters overhead are the national guard. Our group seems safe, at least for now.
What have we learned in this week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead? Travis, from all appearances, is the least cut out for what is going on. The reality of the dead coming back to life is just beyond him and he appears to be a liability to the group. Daniel Salazar is a man that has seen the hardness of life and looks like he could become a valuable asset to the group. Nick’s addiction is still controlling him and that it is likely to lead him and his family into trouble. As a viewer, it can get a bit frustrating when you know what is going on, but you see that the characters do not. It adds an interesting twist, and has only helped the show get better episode after episode. While the national guard seems to have everything under control, it is obvious they are uncertain on how this plague is actually spread, and it will be a wild ride watching how things fall apart with their involvement.