Blood in the Streets
This Fear The Walking Dead episode “Blood in the Streets” opens with the seas at night. A lone man is swimming when it becomes clear it is Nick and he seems to be frightened. Making it ashore and getting dressed, he wanders across a sea of abandoned tents. Again he uses the trick from last week by covering himself in walker blood, but it is still unclear why he is alone. The second season of Fear the Walking Dead has shown some improvement, but has yet to make you care for the main cast of the show. While some characters have showed promise, it has been slow going and with only a handful of episodes left, they are running out of time to connect to the audience.
The Past Catches Up
Travis is venting to Madison about Strand cutting Angela loose last week. Madison tries to reason with Travis on how they need him. A tough position to be in, but both point of views make sense. Use, but don’t trust, is how I would call it. Ophelia and Chris share a bit of their past with one another, bonding over past relationships when a raft arrives. Finally the group of Strand’s boat meet the ways of the new world. Alycia’s radio friend from the season opener came a calling under a false flag and took over the boat. The dead aren’t the only thing to fear as Fear the Walking Dead introduces a new enemy. Humans. Jack and his crew take down everyone quickly, but Strand remains free and perhaps this is why Nick was swimming to the beach. Jack’s friend seems to be the guy in charge and when they spot a raft floating away, he fires two shots, seemingly hitting his mark.
Flashback to Strand at a bar talking to another man right around the time of Hurricane Katrina. They seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum and have some type of chemistry when Strand leads the drunken stranger back to his hotel room. The man is too drunk or drugged when Strand swipes his wallet. Flash forward to it being Strand who was shot in the raft along with the raft having a hole. This could be interesting. The leader has put Chris’ life on the line if Travis fails to start the boat. Alycia uses this distraction to talk to Jack and while he doesn’t realize, he seems to give her information he probably shouldn’t.
Cut to Nick during the daytime walking through some town looking for a specific address. We again flash back to Strand, but this time it is several years ahead of where we last saw him. The man he stole from has caught up with him, yet instead of heading for a world of pain, it looks like a partnership is being formed. Travis seems to be playing the leader of the small group as the rest of the group plans a way out of the mess they are in. Alycia finds herself alone with Jack again right after he talked to more of his crew, who seem to be heading their way in another boat. It seems that certain people are adapting quickly to the new world.
Timely Arrivals
Nick finds the residence he is looking for when we see a familiar face from Strand’s past. It isn’t Tomas, the man he met, but the guy he brought with him when he found Strand. He grabs up a ton of supplies and then forces Nick to go clean off all the blood. Madison is talking to the pregnant woman trying to get inside her head. Ophelia joins in and the mind games are afoot. Nick and the stranger make their way to a top-notch motorized raft but it seems from listening that this guy doesn’t really have a clue or just takes everything for granted. He seems to find everything a joke. This leads to a flashback with Strand and Tomas in Mexico at a beautiful idealistic getaway. Perhaps I’m a bit oblivious, but it appears to me that Strand and Tomas are in some type of relationship. It would make sense as the boat they have been using is the same as Tomas last name, the Abigail.
The boat with Connor finally arrives at the same time that Travis gets the Abigail to start. Connor is an older gentleman and their arrival signals the departure with of Travis and Alycia. The rest remain under guard with the leader of the first group seems to become more and more unstable. This is the same time that Nick and his new friend arrive to save the day. An excellent shot takes down the female guardsmen, with Chris stabbing the leader in the gut. The new friend refuses to lead them to Mexico without Strand and that’s when we get another quick flashback. This one though has him heading to L.A. at the start of the outbreak before they knew what is was. He kisses Tomas goodbye when we jump to the future and Strand’s apparent rescue.
“Blood in the Streets” is a very intriguing and enjoyable episode. Finally the pay-off from the first episode that introduces us to Jack and a small portion of his unknown group. Fearing the Walking Dead did an excellent job of finally giving us a deeper look at Strand. Finding out that he is/was in love adds another dimension to his character and fleshes out his motivations. Nick seems to be stepping up with his secret mission being so successful and “Blood on the Streets” finally shows the more naive members of the cast finally catching on that the game of life has changed.