Madisons neighborhood has been quarantined. In the span of nine days, the military constructed a fence around the neighborhood, cleaned out the dead, and deemed the place safe. Outside the safe zone, everyone is dead – at least that is what the military says. Chris, while documenting the new world order from the roof, spots a flash of light from a distant apartment building. Thinking that someone is alive and signaling for help, Chris takes his suspicions to Travis, who blows him off. With Liza out helping the ill in the quarantine zone, Chris takes the video to Madison. Madison, who is stressed out (mainly over Travis naive everything is fine attitude) blows off Chris, until she hears that Travis blew him off, too. She agrees that it looks like someone is signaling.
Madisons other major worry is Nick, who claims he has tapered off and doesnt need the booster pill his mom pushes on him. That is because he has been sneaking over to the next door neighbors house. Liza has been helping out Hector, who is in coronary failure, by hooking him up to a morphine drip. After Liza leaves, Nick sneaks in, lays under Hectors bed, and mainlines the morphine between his toes.
The military is continuing their health screens, but Doug Thompson refuses to be examined. The commander goes to Travis for help. Travis doesnt want to get involved, but the commander tells him either Travis can ask nicely, or the commander can ask, not so nicely. Doug has barricaded himself in his bathroom, scaring his wife and kids. He is a mess, and doesnt know what to tell his kids when they ask questions about what is going on. Travis advises him to just tell them everything will be fine. Doug knows this would be a lie, but he goes along with it, and allows the military to examine him.
Later that night, Dougs wife comes over to Travis in a panic: Doug is gone. He just got into his car and left. Driving is forbidden in the quarantine area, so Maria assumes the worst. Travis goes looking for him, and eventually finds his car in an abandoned section of the quarantine area. Doug is not in sight. The commander finally admits to Travis, after much cajoling, that the government took Doug away. He was an emotional mess and they didnt want him causing panic or worse. No one told Maria because, according to the commander, he is military, not a social worker.
After nine days, the government finally sends a doctor into the quarantine. Dr. Exner arranges for Hector and his wife Claudia to be moved to a medical facility. This causes problems for Nick, who goes over for his morphine fix and finds nothing. Madison finds him in the house and hits him several times, mad at his lies. Exner also pays Griselda a visit and makes plans to take her and Daniel to the medical facility.
Madison, worried about the maybe-living person signaling across town, sneaks out of the quarantine area. Walking around town is traumatizing. Missing posters and vigils for the missing and the dead appear in enormous quantities, and many houses are spray painted with the ominous No Evac designation. The stench of death is almost overpowering, and there are dead bodies everywhere. Military forces come down the street and Madison hides under a car with a corpse until they leave. When she returns home, she tells Daniel what she saw. She is particularly concerned about the multiple bodies she saw, shot in the head, but with no signs of disease. Daniel is, sadly, not surprised by this.
Alicia has gone over to Sue and Patricks house, looking for answers. She finds Sues suicide note, which reveals that she saw something that, at first, she thought was an aberration; then she decided it was gods will. Thats why she killed herself. Alicia was very close to Sue (as evidenced by a drawing, framed and hanging on the wall, that Alicia made for Aunt Sue) which is a fact that could have been helpful to know before we discovered Sue suicided. Before she leaves the house, she gives herself a jailhouse tattoo over the image her boyfriend drew on her arm. Nearly two weeks later, and it was still on her arm, though fading. Seems like an infection waiting to happen.
When the military returns later that night to retrieve Griselda, they dont have Daniel on the list. They do, however, have Nick. Alicia advises him to run, but he doesnt get very far. A mild melee breaks out, but the military ends up taking Nick with them so he can get treatment. Madison blames Liza for this, for narcing on her son, which, by the transitive properties, means she blames Travis.
This is what I have been waiting for with Fear the Walking Dead. I want to see how the government, the military, the medical establishment handles things. It feels a little bit like a cheat that we didnt get to see the military roll in, cleaning out the DZ (disease zone) and setting up the quarantine area. It also seems highly unlikely that the government could get anything done in only nine days. Regardless, this show is finally getting interesting.
Check out a sneak peek and clip from next week’s episode below!
