Fear the Walking Dead
Season 6 Finale / Episode 16 - "The Beginning"
The season finale is divided into titled chapters focusing on six sets of characters. As each chapter starts, to give viewers a sense where each chapter falls on the timeline since the finale of the E15, a radioed "final" message from Morgan is heard.
1. Promise me you'll find someone.
Rachel: with baby Morgan and their dog Rufus are stranded three miles from a coastal entrance, with a blown tire. Rachel uses her walkie to call for help, but hears Morgan's message referring to an "end." Rachel--despite seeing the missile launch in the distance ahead of her--is determined to survive, but as she continues to pull on the tire, the jack slips, dropping the edge of the tire on her calf, ripping it open, breaking her now protruding fibula. In total agony, Rachel uses a stick to act as a splint, while she hobbles on a makeshift cane. Bleeding and knowing she cannot travel far or survive the injury, the emotionally broken woman makes a decision. She tells baby Morgan "this is the end for me...not you", takes a rope, ties one end to Rufus, the other to her waist, and tells the dog "You're good at finding people. Promise me you'll find someone...please?" She keeps baby Morgan strapped to her back in a knapsack, takes her head scarf and ties it around her jawline, with the largest end stuffed in her mouth...
The woman stabs herself in the stomach and in moments, she dies...
2. ¡Dame el arma! / 7. I know how to survive.
Luciana / Sarah / Charlie / Rabbi Kessner / Wes / Daniel / Rollie / Riley: In the SWAT van, Daniel hears Morgan's message, and another--a woman's voice (he recognizes, but cannot readily identify - SEE NOTES) who gives him coordinates for a rendezvous point. A truck--carrying Wes, Rollie and a captive Riley speed up, just as Daniel notifies the others about the message. They wonder if he really heard anything, considering his recent mental issues, and even he cannot be sure...yet he is. Rollie claims to have coerced Riley into divulging the location of the resort/bunker where Alicia is being held, and suggests they can ride out the warheads' effects. Daniel does not trust a smug Riley at all, but the others agree to go to the bunker.
As they travel, Daniel questions Riley, asking why would he reveal the bunker so close to the end, when his intention was to die for the cause. At that moment, the van's brakes give out, and while Sarah and Kessner perform a quickie repair job, the others kill approaching walkers. Riley explains that he knows Daniel and the others believe Teddy's group are insane, but parrots that "the end is the beginning" and that they'll "rise like the Phoenix". With the brakes repaired, Rollie prepares to climb into the driver's seat, but also uses the same "Phoenix" expression to the letter. Alarmed, Daniel asks a confused Luciana for her gun (in Spanish), and shoots Rollie dead, explaining he had to have been the mole who informed Teddy's group that they were headed for the sub (and conveniently knew about the bunker). Before he can continue, Riley was rushing toward Daniel, but is shot in the back by Charlie. Mortally wounded, Riley still mocks the group's efforts to survive, saying it was Daniel's mental breakdown which caused dissension at the dam site, leading Rollie to seek another life and become that mole. Desperate, the others agree to follow the coordinates....
Arriving at the location, but finding empty fields, Riley--clearly dying--again mocks the heroes, saying he told them there was no escape. Angrily, Daniel grabs Riley and hurls him to the pavement, where the man dies. At that moment, Charlie hears a CRM helicopter approaching. With everyone running to the helicopter, Wes takes out a can of spray paint and writes something on the pavement. The pilot holds up a radio, where Althea's voice tells them not to ask any questions. Rabbi Kessner--who doubted having any faith at all when introduced, takes off his yarmulke, kisses it, then places it back on his head. Luciana--who believed in Daniel when others doubted him, reminds him of her faith in the man.
We see what Wes was spray-painting: "THIS ISN'T THE END", with part of the message painted across Riley's back. Wes is the last to board the helicopter and as it takes to the sky...
3. Enjoy the view, asshole.
Dwight and Sherry: the couple--on horseback--race to find shelter, and come across an empty house. Sherry just hopes they might come across some beer and pretzels as it was what they promised to consume if they reunited. Entering the house, Sherry sees a photo of a husband, wife and their newborn, which makes her think about a life she could have enjoyed with Dwight; although she believes their cross-country reunion was no coincidence--that it meant something, she laments how much time she wasted trying to fight the bad guys who "always win", but Dwight assures her that fr everything she had to do, she should not feel sorry about any of it. Suddenly, the man (Kevin Larson), woman (Kim Larson) and daughter (Briga, now an older child) from the photo get the jump on Dwight and Sherry. The family thought Dwight and Sherry were with two armed men who forced the family to give them access to their storm cellar, men who were spouting off about "the end is the beginning". Without hesitation, Dwight & Sherry volunteer to get rid of them.
With a rope tied the horse and the other to the door handle of the cellar, Dwight smacks the horse's rear, causing the animal to take off, the strength and speed of the horse tearing the doors off. In an instant, two men run out of the shelter with rifles at the ready, but Dwight & Sherry--waiting to ambush them--kill one, and wound the other in his leg. The wounded man screams at Dwight to just kill him, but "D" decides to do to the man what he and Teddy's group are doing to everyone else: allowing him to live to experience the coming nuclear blast. To make sure the man does not escape, Sherry shoots his other leg, telling the man, "Enjoy the view, asshole." As the warheads separate, Dwight & Sherry join the Larsons in the storm cellar...
4. You have nothing to be sorry about.
Teddy / Dakota / June / J.D., Sr.: Teddy and Dakota drive to the top of a hill overlooking the valley, intending to have a front-row seat to nuclear devastation. Dakota repeatedly seeks confirmation that she was "fine" as is, with Teddy telling her that he did see commonality between the two, and that none of his followers ever really understood his mission (SEE NOTES). At that moment, J.D. arrives, holding Teddy and Dakota at gunpoint, with J.D. telling Dakota that he forgives her for killing John. To prove that, he lowers his gun to the ground, giving Teddy the chance to draw his gun, only for the weapon to be shot from his hand by June, who also forgives Dakota for murdering John. Teddy interjects, still trying to accuse others of not accepting her for who she is, while he does, leading a crying Dakota to scream a mix of accusation and denial at June & J.D.
Dorie Sr. looks to the ground and notices a handle to a metal door, which leads to an underground shelter. Calling Teddy out on not being for "the end," Dakota demands to know what the purpose the shelter served, and if he ever meant any of the things he said to her. Teddy stammers with his answers, but J.D. provides an answer: Teddy only saved Dakota because he needs a second person to accompany him back to the sub to turn the other key to the missile launcher. Outraged, Dakota is more confused than ever, save for her incessant argument about being who she is. Suddenly, they see the warheads separate, and begin to fall to earth.
The sobbing Dakota aims her gun at June and J.D., telling them that they will stay above ground too. J.D. gets Dakota's attention, allowing June to shoot the gun from the teen's hand. June and J.D. waste no time climbing into the underground shelter, but Dakota--much to J.D.'s visible regret--refuses to follow saying if she has to die, she wants to see it. Dakota retrieves her gun, aiming it at Teddy. She demands to know if he ever "gave a shit" about her, or did he only need her to "turn that key." Not giving a straight answer (only uttering the nickname he gave her as if he was readying another excuse), Dakota shoots him in the chest, and says, "that's what I thought!" then finishes the psychopath with a bullet to the head. With one parting comment, she adds--
"You said I should never change. Well, I'm not. Now, you never get to see your ending."
5. Which man are you?
Strand: The injured Strand is alone, and rides his horse to what appears to be an abandoned, unfinished office building, with a herd of walkers coming after him. As he enters the building, walkers emerge from various rooms, and the man manages to fight them off until he reaches a floor that had been used as a campsite--some of its occupants still there as corpses--some with head wounds.
He hears music playing a few floors above him, and upon reaching the source, discovers the entire floor furnished and filled with apparently valuable art (the Alamo flag, fine art, Western Expansion-era rifles, music, etc.), and a working record player. A man sneaks up behind him, aiming a rifle at his back; disarming Strand, the man acknowledged that he witnessed the missile launch, and is resigned to his fate. He reveals that he is Howard, once a teacher at UT, and after the world fell, to preserve human history, he helped himself to the university's books, art and other cultural artifacts, storing them in his dwelling. When Strand recalls how he was on the sub trying to stop the launch, he notes that he was with another man, and between the two, one was willing to die to stop the launch, while the other was there to stop it--if he could gain all of the glory from doing it. When the teacher asks which man he was, Strand lies, telling him he was the one willing to die, and that his name is...Morgan Jones.
Strand notices Howard is wearing a religious medallion similar to the one he gave Alicia, or as he refers to her, "A dear friend." He asks if the man is religious, to which the man replies, no, but his wife (assumed to be dead) who gave it to him for protection, was. Soon, the men hear the warheads separate....
6. I can hear her.
Morgan and Grace: As the missile streaks upward, Grace--now alone atop the submarine--becomes frustrated, and enters the sub, taking a gun from the body of a walker, then makes her way to the missile control room. There, Morgan furiously makes random keystrokes on one of the launch control boards, but is getting nowhere. Grace indicates that in the event they survived the blast, the fallout and radiation poisoning would be on a level none of them want to live through, as it will be far worse than Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Chernobyl. She recalls watching that happen to someone at the plant, but does not want to see that happen to someone else she loves, adding that being honest with her feelings until its too late has always been a problem for her. Morgan finally admits he loves her too, and after sharing a kiss, she sets her pistol on the board, Morgan comprehending what that means. Both express regrets--about losing Athena, Morgan feeling that with Grace, he wanted to be a husband and father again. Grace says they can be all of those things...just not in this world.
Hearing the sound of the warheads separating, Grace says they do not have much time left. Placing their foreheads together, Morgan aims the gun at the back of his head with the intention of the bullet ripping through both. Just as Morgan is pulling the trigger, Grace believes she's hearing Athena crying; Morgan hears crying too, and learn its coming from the external comm system. Climbing out of the sub, Morgan is heartbroken to see the reanimated Rachel (with the crying baby Morgan safely strapped to her back) being pulled--as she intended--by Rufus. Grace detaches the dog from Rachel, as Morgan puts her down, and pulls baby Morgan to safety. Morgan is chuckling with joy, telling Grace that baby Morgan feels like a gift from Athena. The expression on Grace's face is one of uncertainty....
7. I know how to survive.
The warhead strikes:
Strand and Howard walk to a window and see one of the warheads fall in the distant city-scape...
Dakota stands at the railing of the hill and closes her eyes, as warhead detonates in close proximity to the hill. A blinding, thunderous flash follows and the teen is consumed in the flash, but as the light fades, all that is left is her partially charred and burning corpse still standing there...
In the shelter, the force of the blast sends June and J.D. toppling across the space...
At the Larson house, the blast sweeps over the home, while it rocks the storm cellar, sending dust and debris on top of Dwight, Sherry and the Larsons, but the bast effect subsides, as all survive...
After the CRM helicopter is far in the distance, a reanimated Riley rises, just as the warhead's blast consumes walker-Riley and everything is the surrounding area....
At the resort/bunker where Alicia is imprisoned, all that can be seen is her POV from the vault window as the blast rocks the resort, sending part of the ceiling and other debris to the floor. There's no indication if Alicia survived or died....
At the sub, that dreaded flash & a mushroom cloud is witnessed by Grace and Morgan; they race to and hide under an abandoned tanker to avoid the brunt of the blast; Rufus the dog--sharp as a knife--also senses the danger and jumps into the backseat of a wrecked car for safety. Under the vehicle, the blast sends waves of sand over Morgan, Grace and the baby, but eventually, the blast dies down.
Strand and Howard close their eyes, waiting for the inevitable, with the former teacher tightly holding the religious medallion--apparently finding his faith. Both open their eyes, seeing the mushroom cloud form in the distance, and thanks to said distance, the blast never reaches them. Seeing Strand laughing, he asks why he's so happy, and Strand says its because he's alive. "After all I've done, I'm still alive." That line frightens the teacher, leading Strand to admit he's not the man she presented himself to be: he's that "other man," the one who went to the sub seeking glory, and he's not Morgan Jones.
Strand admits to other immoral acts, but tries to justify it by explaining he did it to survive, and "despite the critics"--as he puts it--he's still here. He continues, saying he came from nothing, and had to build and rebuild over and over again, but now, he sees an opportunity to build a future, with good bourbon, art, books and music. He sees this as the start of a new day, but the teacher is left frozen with fear....
Morgan, Grace and baby Morgan get to their feet, surveying the area around them, and exchanging uncertain glances when another war head detonates, leaving the pair just staring at each other, possibly wondering if Morgan should have pulled that trigger....
NOTES:
Teddy showering Dakota with compliments--reinforcing the idea that he wanted her to be with him, then his hugs and kisses was highly suggestive off his having pedophilic interests in her, rather than just using her to complete his mission. Watching their scenes again,Teddy carries that molester stench in the manner in which he was manipulating the teenager.
As I predicted, Althea located the CRM / Isabelle, sending them to rescue her friends. In fact, it was Althea's voice that fed Daniel the coordinates for the pick-up site. Now the question centers on the CRM, and if they will rescue the others in time, do they have the means to treat any radiation sickness, and will the CRM appear to be friends, but turn out to be as controlling / engaging in one-sided "bargaining" as TWD's Saviors?
Then there's Alicia and the impact of the detonation...
The survivors of the bast have earned the "right" to continue into next season, but without some medical miracle, I see a lot of tragedy coming for some of the series' most popular characters, which is a shame, after a season of reaching so many creative highs.
While Season 10 of The Walking Dead was--by far--the best in at least three years, season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead was the series reaching the pinnacle of its Morgan-driven format / potential. Its never been better, and nearly every character had some deeper emotional investment into not only the main plots, but the lives of each other that truly serve the story, instead of things happening just because the writers and/or showrunners say it supposed to (like a few Berlanti DC series I will leave nameless).
It is also rare to have two strong villain arcs in any series' TV season, and as abusive and sadistic Virginia was, Teddy topped that, more than justifying the Pioneers' (Virginia's group) whispered concerns of another threat / dealing with the terrorist hits at their oil field and other properties. Not a single main character did not have some opportunity (large or small) to shine as part of the developing drama, although I have pointed out that the Luciana character was neglected earlier this season, but thankfully, she was given a stronger leadership presence as the season was building toward its finale.
I will add that this is a very unique year for TV fantasy series in that three fantasy TV series (and undoubtedly the best) were led by a black male actor (Cress Williams in Black Lightning, Anthony Mackie in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and of course, Lennie James in this series), which is a historic achievement no one would have seen even a decade ago, though I doubt it will become any sort of standard, since Black Lightning was cancelled, and from reports, Mackie and Company will leave TV to tell their next story in Captain America 4.
GRADE: A.
