The fifth episode of Fear the Walking Dead’s debut season continues its slow burn approach as we get closer to the season finale. Once again a week without much mass destruction, this week’s episode introduced a new character along with showing how the characters we already knew have changed in just the first five, episodes. As viewers you start to get a sense that the military may not be the good guys our cast of characters was hoping for and that there is a lot more to Daniel Salazar than just a barber trying to protect his family.
Silver Tongue
We get a glimpse of where Griselda, Nick, and Liza were headed to last week and it looks and feels a lot like an internment camp. We open up with our newest character, Strand, getting inside the head of Doug, whom we met last week, and we see the pressure of him trying to adapt to their new way of life drove him a bit mad and causes a complete breakdown that leads the military staff to drag Doug away. Coincidentally, they both share a caged off area with Nick.
Opposing Sides
Ofelia is throwing bottles at the fence with the national guard on the outside demanding the release of her mother. Her boyfriend, or at least a new friend from last week, steps in and prevents her from being handled forcefully by the national guard for causing a ruckus. Dissension is growing between guardsmen as their actions are not sitting well with all of them. Travis and Madison are discussing the situation from last week when Chris tries to join the conversation. He is obviously upset for the way his mom just left last week and doesn’t appreciate Madison jumping in with his discussion with his dad. Dr. Exner and Liza are going around helping who they can, but Dr. Exner appears to be trying to keep Liza from seeing Griselda, who is in recovery after losing her foot.
Desperate Times
Madison finds the letter that Alicia wrote for Matt if he was to come to their house and find it when she hears a noise in the basement. Grabbing a knife, she slowly makes her way downstairs where we see Ofelia, her father are standing over a strapped down and taped up Adams, who was the man Ofelia was making out with last week. Adams tries to talk Daniel out of whatever he is planning and acknowledges that what happened in last week’s episode with the military barging into Madison’s house was wrong. Ofelia believes her father when he says that they are going to use Adams to trade to get their people back, but after Ofelia leaves, Daniel tells Madison not to come back down and to keep Ofelia away.
Desperate Measures
Lt. Moyers and Travis are talking as Moyers does his best to explain how he is trying to keep up morale, but when Travis asks for his people back, Moyers takes it as a threat and decides to take Travis, whom he calls Mr. Mayor, to the interment center. Lt. Moyers shows a bit of his dark side as he tells Travis that he can do whatever he wants as he has the guns, and then gets in the face of one of his own soldiers. We end up back in the basement with Daniel and Adams when Daniel admits that he lied to his daughter in telling her that he wouldn’t harm him. Adams tells Daniel he will tell him whatever he wants and while Daniel acknowledges that, pulls out some sharp instruments.
Travis is now in the Humvee with Lt. Moyers and his men as they come to a quick stop when a walker is spotted. Lt. Moyers then tells Travis to take the shot. Travis objects; as we discovered in the past episodes that he isn’t a fan of guns, but Lt. Moyers keeps on goading him refusing to let his own men take the shot. Travis has the shot lined up on the walker, Kimberly, but is still unable to see them as not being people. We jump back to Liza and Dr. Exner and this is where Liza learns that the disease is spread through bites. Still on their way to the camp, Travis and the Humvee take a detour to an area being overrun with walkers. Travis hears screams on the radio as the soldiers head into the building and it is quickly made clear that they are going to get overrun.
Last Bit of Fun
While Daniel is torturing Adams, he gives us a glimpse into his past. He talks of how he was brought before the men in charge in his youth and was forced to make a decision. The question he keeps asking Adams is, “what is cobalt,” and every time he is refused, he takes a piece of skin. We go from that dark moment to a bit of lightness with Alicia and Chris. It’s a bit awkward as the last time these two talked Alicia elbowed Chris in the face, but she seems to be doing what she can to help him keep his mind off of his missing mom. A bike ride to a random house in the neighborhood lets them play dress up and perhaps the beginnings of a bit of sexual tension between the two.
Disarray
We get a glimpse of the seedier parts of the military as those at the internment camp seem to be playing by their own rules. Nick is about to be dragged away when our newest character, Strand, bribes the soldier with earrings to allow him to stay. We jump back to Travis when all the soldiers, except for Lt. Moyers, come running back to the Humvee and hightail it out of there telling Travis that they’ll drop him back near his neighborhood. From the questionable action of the soldiers to Daniel Salazar; we get another look into his past and what he did to survive the war in his home country. Unfortunately for him, Ofelia saw what he was doing and sent Madison rushing into the house curious if Daniel got the answers they needed.
Answers
Back at the medical base/interment camp, Liza finally finds Griselda only to find out she is in septic shock. We quickly shoot back to Chris and Alicia who are having their own brand of fun by destroying everything in the house they were in playing dress up. Travis returns to find Ofelia in shock and when he gets back to the house it is obvious she told him what her father was doing because he then questions Madison about if she knew what was truly going on. Adams either finally broke or decided “to the hell with it” as he is telling Daniel about how he witnessed 2,000 turn and be locked in a stadium. He finally reveals what “Cobalt” is and what that means for Travis and company. It is the removal from the Los Angeles base of only the soldiers and then the ‘humane’ removal of everyone who is left there starting at 9 am the next morning.
Deal with the Devil
Nick’s withdrawals are still holding him down and we find out why Strand saved him from being taken off. Strand reveals that he didn’t save but made it so that Nick will be obligated to help him escape when the soldiers leave. He seems to be a man with information and has his escape planned. Alicia and Chris are on their way home when two military vehicles pass them by without addressing them being out after curfew. Griselda is speaking in Spanish while Liza and Dr. Exner look on thinking she is talking nonsensically. What we gather from the subtitles is that she is talking about her and Daniel’s past in their old country during the war. Unfortunately, her brain swells and causes her to die and this is where Liza is informed that even without being bitten, if you die you turn. Liza takes it upon herself to use some type of pressurized gun to make sure that Griselda doesn’t turn. The episode ends with Daniel sneaking to the stadium that Adams mentioned under his torture and confirms that there are 2,000 walkers within.
Despite its slow pace and jumping around, this week’s episode taught us a few things and asked a couple of questions. Daniel Salazar has a dark path that should he survive will be an immense help to the group. The military has both good and bad guys in it and this week’s episode shows that they aren’t as well equipped to handle the problem as Travis thought when they first showed up. Liza holds the key to the group’s survival in that she knows how to put them down, and that even if you are not bitten that when you die you turn. Travis has showed that he might not be long for this world, while Madison showed us this week the lengths she is willing to go. Los Angeles is about to be bombed back to the stone ages and only a select few seem to know about it. Will our group of characters team up with some members of the military? What will Strand’s role be going forward?
“Cobalt” wasn’t a great episode, and I have to admit that if the season finale doesn’t deliver then Fear the Walking Dead is going to lose a lot of viewers due to its slow burn approach. This week’s episode set up a lot of what we can expect next week and going forward into next season with a look into some of the character’s darker aspects.