Spoilers Fear the Walking Dead - Season 6

Okay, that was an interesting episode, which I was enjoying up until the end. It was sort of like the prologue to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, but with a dark twist. Morgan has survived his near-death experience (so near that the Zombies were accepting him as one of their own), but he has undergone yet another radical change of character. He has abandoned his stick and adopted the battleaxe and admittedly cool hat of the bounty hunter and is about to embark, apparently, on a crusade to take out Virginia and save his friends. I don't like this. I liked the old Morgan. Well, the most recent old Morgan.

This episode was notable for several cool sets and settings. I loved the hideout in the water tower and I'm sorry it only lasted a few minutes. Also, the panorama of the dam, with it's annoying Zombie horde was very nice. But I especially liked the idea of the town that was drowned by the artificial lake being revealed when the dam broke. Very clever that this makes it invisible to Virginia because the lake would still be on any old maps.

None of the other main characters appeared in this episode, apparently because the first half of the season will take an anthology format, focusing on a single character per episode. So it might be a while before we see Morgan again. Maybe then we'll learn who was heroic enough to save him, yet incompetent enough to leave him to die with a half-assed patch-up job.

 

Considering Morgan's previous personal ended up shot, left for dead, then patched up with the bullet still lodged in his chest resulting in him so near to death the walkers accepted him, it's understandable that Morgan might feel after surviving all that that it's time for another personality makeover.

Besides, he does look all kinds of boss with that had a coat riding a horse at the end.

 

It felt to me like they were setting up the formerly flooded town to be the characters new home, so I'm thinking we'll probably be seeing it a lot more. They just seemed to be giving it an awful lot of background for a one off location, and if they are all back together before they resolve things with Virginia, it makes sense they would go their to hideout.

 

That's my concern; he has overcome so much since his introduction in TWD; Eastman's teachings set him right, and after facing the Wolves, the Saviors and now Virginia's group, he knows there's no balancing act between good and evil. In other words, he's conning himself if he thinks being some sort of cold death-dealer is going to give him peace, or help his companions. It would make sense if this adopted attitude backfires on him.

 

You saw the boomer right?

One...two...three turn——one...two...three, release.

You have to have TWO keys to launch nukes

 

^^ I think I missed that.

It's very understandable, I just don't like it-- or at least I hope it doesn't last long. I prefer the "I am Caine, I will help you" Morgan.

No doubt about that.

I hope so. It's a much cooler spot than the warehouse.

I hope so-- just not too catastrophically.

 

So, for a few episodes at least, we are basically just going to be focused on individuals, right? Won't be connected till later?

They said there would be a time jump...so maybe we will see Grace at least 6 months form now (after having given birth)?

I hope they do jump enough to get us closer to the timeline of the other 2 shows

 

I think I read somewhere that they will have Fear lined up with the original TWD by the end of the season. Isn't The World Beyond set later than where the original is?

Oh yeah, I didn't pick up on that until someone else mentioned it in an article I read.
I was right, and the characters weren't just split up individually. According to the description on TV Guide tonight's episode is about Alycia and Strand.

 

The season 10 finale of TWD might be a year behind World Beyond, but by season 11, I think it could easily match up,

Screen Rant did a timeline, so they said World Beyond was mid 2020 while TWD was late 2020. And Fear should be about April 2013.

Thanks for the update!

 

Here's the description, in case anyone was curious:

 

Fear the Walking Dead
Season 6 / Episode 2 - "Welcome to the Club"

Alicia / Strand: I assume Daniel is playing his part as a beaten, amnesia victim--possibly to test Strand's motives, since I cannot see any other way he could be reduced to a passive barber. Not with his past in the military.
Its nice to see Strand valuing his relationship with Alicia--they are the among the few original characters left, so they should be pretty inseparable, after all they experienced / lost. More on that in the notes.

Virginia and the Gang: The cowardly guy ("41") predictably survived...then died. The molasses in the room should have hindered the walkers' movement more than the living. Further, the prisoners had the advantage by just standing back, and as the walkers slipped and crawled forward, it would be easy to kill them, but..the episode's setpiece required their survival for another 25 minutes.

Virginia--despite warning Morgan to stay away--still has her murderous bug up her ass. Enlisting Strand to be the leader of an "army" seems like that's part of her plan to kill Morgan. The question is whether Strand will go along with that when the inevitable conflict comes....or will he sacrifice himself..possibly taking Virginia along with him...which I would not want to see.

Charlie: Good to see her back in the fold, and I hope the showrunners break the pattern of "sisterly" relationships ending in a bad way (e.g. Beth and Enid to Maggie). I sense a forced connection between Charlie and...

Dakota: At first glance, no one in their right mind should trust her. Charlie being saved by her could be (or should be considered to be) a loyalty test to serve as a plant on Virginia's behalf.

Morgan / Daniel: So, Daniel was feigning amnesia after all. I thought it was about testing Strand, but it almost appears he was doing it so Charlie would not feel so connected she would resist following orders to leave...and become a liability.

NOTES: Now Strand--like Morgan one episode ago--is shedding his true self? Methinks this will be a running subplot throughout the season, until both realize they were already the individual they needed to be (including Strand pulling a Shane and injuring another to act as walker-bait).

It was sad to see him part with Alicia, and as noted above, they way he said goodbye leads me to believe he might end up being one this season's major deaths...unfortunately.

Next week, Morgan still wonders who he is, while Dwight runs into...

GRADE:B.

 

That Virginia haircut doesn't seem too challenging.

I wasn't feeling this one last night and gave up at some point and will give it another shot later when I'm in a different mood.

 

I am glad Daniel was faking...i would have been extremely disappointed if THAT was how his character ended. Now, i will anticipate how he plots to spring a trap. That should be good. I wonder how much it hurt him to bring up Ophelia? If he did before, this would solidify his ruse even among his friends.

They cast Dakota very well. She DEFINITELY looks related to Virginia..but when they said her name, i suspected she would be a relative (a sister or daughter)... i mean, Virginia, Dakota.. Maybe there was a third sister named Carolina that is "home" or died?

Who was the "new girl" that seemed to know Strand and ALicia very well? Was she from last season? Or a new friend they met at the camp. They don't need a flashback or an origin episode (seems reasonable they would make a friend they feel they can trust in 5 weeks) -- but seemed kinda random

i would agree with @TREK_GOD_1 and give it a B as well... but my wife isn't so enthralled.

And i wonder about the lack of Chris Hardwick... i mean man, they ought to have HEAR The Talking Dead show on. ANd with 2 shows... NOTHING to talk about? Would it be REALLY that hard to talk for even 1/2 an hour per show?

 

Not bad. Strand is as ruthless as ever, though they seem to be adding more depth than his usual shifty manipulations to come out on top, with him clearly clearly feeling guilt and remorse over doing what he needs to to get by. This episode also did a good job exploring the relationship between Alicia and Strand, who when you think about should be the closest among the show's main cast, given their history goes all the way back to the first season.

They did a nice bit of misdirection with the whole thing about saying there was a weapon in the storage shed which was "the key to the future." Given the fixation of keys last week which everyone is speculating is related to the beached submarine, I figured it was a literal key in there. But it turns out to have been a test for Strand, who passes it and is now one of Virginia's rangers.

Was rather convenient that so many of the main cast were reunited this week, but whatever. TV runs on convenient things lining up.

I figured he's in a "intelligence gathering" phase right now. He's posing as a passive amnesiac barber so that Ginny and the rangers lower their guard around him, maybe let slip something important, and when it is time to make a move, it'll seem all the more unexpected that the passive barber is suddenly a threat.

I think you're talking about Janice who was in the last three or four episodes last season.

What's there to wonder about? Aside from the premiere, finale and midseason episodes, there was no Talking Dead during season 5 of Fear, so I guess they're doing the same this year. Regardless, they said on the Talking Dead that followed Walking Dead's finale and World Beyond's premiere that the next Talking Dead will be November 22, which seems a bit of a random date. That's the night episode 7 of Fear and episode 8 of WB airs. I guess it's possible Fear only has seven episodes available at the moment, making episode 7 the midseason finale. Or they're airing both episodes 7 and 8 the same night, which has been done before. Well, we'll find out November 22.

 

yeah, i was only expecting Strand and Alicia... Charlie and Daniel were a surprise for me.

Now, I am not sure how much time has passed since last episode, so not sure how long Morgan has been surveying the land. But it was cool to see him and Daniel connect. Daniel's only seen good things with Morgan, right?

Yes...i am looking forward to that. It kinda reminds me of Carol "reverting" back to her mousy housewife persona.

Thanks! I guess i didn't notice there with everything else.

Well, Talking Dead seems to be an even CHEAPER and SIMPLER show to produce nowadays. With it being aired with NEW episodes, which i figure HAS to cost less than $50,000 an episode to produce (essentially projecting a Zoom call, with maybe some editing if they do a In Memoriam segment, or some trivia segments) , and actors who want to shine in the public view, and fans who just want to talk publicly... this just seems like the perfect way to show new episodes and get ad revenue. (The ratings ought to be higher than repeat episodes or a movie)

And at least Chris Hardwick has an HD camera, so at least his shots look pretty decent... maybe spring for a new computer (or an HD camera) for guests (adding what, $3000 at most per show?). It would be worth AMC to show it. But if viewers ar elike my wife, they might not stick around long enough to watch it, which might be why they aren't trying to have such a show right now.[/QUOTE]

 

The trap--or intelligence gathering will likely take place (in association with Morgan) in the town Daniel and the ranger were traveling to, but I also believe it will not go smoothly, as in some unforeseen Virginia ally will be a problem (e.g. the spraycan duo looking for that key). At this point, expect Daniel to warn Morgan against trusting Strand if a conflict breaks out. In fact, do not be surprised if Daniel tries to kill Strand.

Yeah, now that the sister's name was revealed, its too on the nose, as if the writers are too stereotypically naming characters like that you would see in a western movie, because at this point, the imagery, costuming and names like "rangers" have shifted FTWD into a zombie old west series. That, and it might be a nod to the Zombieland films, where the characters name themselves after known locations (e.g., "Wichita," "Little Rock", et al.).

 

Didn't Daniel try to kill Strand at least once, if not several times? Hopefully there will be many more twists to this.

But it is a sure bet that Daniel's plan will go awry!

Wow-- never thought of the ZOmbieland reference -- but yeah, that would make a lot of sense. FOr me, i was think that so far they have used names of 4 states (each pair sharing a part of the same name)...and if they reference a sister or mother named Carolina, then....

ANd the WIld West theme.... i guess they have been inching there for while. Was it when Morgan arrived that they had that Wild West mini-theme (as opposed to the horror movie type sound in season 1)?

 

I suspect the Talking Deads connected to Fear likely weren't doing well in the ratings back when they were a regular thing, otherwise they wouldn't have scaled them back the way they did for season 5. And I imagine doing Talking Dead From Home still costs some money, which in the end is likely money that AMC feels can be better spent elsewhere.

 

1.55 million for the second one, only a small drop from the premiere. Looks like the ratings for fear has stabilized.

 

So in this one we catch up with Strand and Alicia and Charlie and somebody else from last season who I had forgotten about-- not to mention Daniel. Everybody is in the clutches of Virginia, who is all kinds of crazy, but clever and manipulative. Strand and Alicia, having been sent to clear a warehouse of Molasses Zombies, concocted a plan to kill their overseers and escape, and somehow it all worked out that Strand is now one of her right-hand men and everybody is still a prisoner. Strand cracks me up. He's become somewhat of a hero of the ZA, but he's still Strand-- tossing the cowardly guy to the wolves to save his friends.

The Molasses Zombies were pretty cool, I thought. All goopy and slimy and sticky. If there was an explanation for how they got that way, I missed it, but that's okay. I come from a city that suffered a terrible molasses disaster that killed umpteen people, so I know what a deadly threat molasses can be!

The most interesting part of the episode was that Daniel turned up as part of Virginia's entourage-- with a head wound and amnesia, and seemingly quite docile. Never underestimate Daniel, though. It turns out he's plotting and planning on his own, and the only one he was willing to reveal himself to was Morgan. Because he wants to give him a haircut.