Travis, Chris, and Liza are still holed up in the barber shop with Daniel, Griselda, and Ofelia. They have no plans on leaving until a fire breaks out next door. With no choice, they unbolt the door – and a flood of rioters storm the barber shop. They are not zombies, and are more interested in destroying property than faces, so the sextet make it out unscathed. The streets are a war zone. We only see one zombie trying to eat through the riot gear of an LAPD officer; the rioters are far more dangerous.
As Travis leads his team through the streets, they duck under a scaffolding just as the cops are unleashing the hoses. The powerful stream causes the scaffolding to collapse atop Griselda. Her foot is crushed, but she is otherwise unharmed. they get her into the truck bed and Travis zooms out of the war zone, with nurse Liza doing her best to fix the foot. As they drive home, the power across the city goes out, sealing all of Los Angeles in darkness.
At home, Madison tries to lead Alicia and Nick in a game of Monopoly. A noise brings them to the window, and Nick pulls back the drapes. Just the dog, a beautiful German shepherd. He is covered in blood, but Nick doesnt think it is the dogs blood. Rover runs into the house, barking angrily and hiding in a back room. A zombie looms in the street, and Nick leads Alicia and Madison to the neighbors house. Susan and Patrick are close friends, so even though they are not home, the family uses a spare key to enter and find a shotgun and shells. Alicia looks out the window in response to Rovers barks, and sees the zombie move towards the dog. His squeaks signal he has become a zombie snack and Alicia alerts her mom that someone is in the house. (The fact that she is not at all concerned with her dogs safety is disgusting.)
When Madison notices Travis driving up the street, the family runs out to warn him away from the house. Alicia forgot the shells, so she runs back to the neighbors house. While there, she sees an empty bottle of pills, and hears a thunk. She sees feet behind a screen and runs out.
Travis arrives at home first, and yells frantically for Madison. Instead he disturbs the zombie, feasting on Rover. Smelling fresh meat, the zombie moves towards Travis and a struggle ensues. A gunshot rings out: Daniel has met up with Madison and is using the neighbors shotgun to kill the zombie. He goes down on the second shot. But Alicia still isnt home; she has tangled with zombie Susan in the garden, in what almost seems constructed to specifically be a Halloween maze. Alicias family saves her, and traps Susan on the other side of the fence. Travis assures Alicia Susan is just sick, but Nick corrects him: Shes not sick. Shes dead. Alicia starts to freak out, thinking that is what happened to her boyfriend Matt, and Travis is offended that Nick would suggest something so heinous.
In the momentary calm, Madison is desperate to leave town. Daniel has called his cousin, who will pick them up there in the morning, and Travis wants to hunker down with them and wait out the night. It will be safer to move out in the daylight. Madison doesnt like this, but she concedes – provided Travis takes care of the zombie body that is now stinking up the living room.
Morning comes. Madison, Liza, and the kids finish packing up the cars while Travis finishes burying the zombie in the yard. The Salazars plan to remain in Madisons home, and she doesnt seem to have a problem with this. Madison pays Susan a visit, hammer in hand. She worries about Patrick coming home and finding his wife like this, but Travis stops her, wresting the hammer from her hands. You dont know if she is dead; we dont know anything, Travis insists. If there is the slightest chance she can be saved its not your call. Madison leaves Susan as she is. Daniel, watching from the house, mutters, weak.
As the caravan of cars leaves the neighborhood, Madison sees Patrick arrive home from a business trip. Fearing what will happen if he finds Susan in the state she is in, Madison turns around to warn him. He doesnt listen to her, and she chases him down, desperately trying to warn him that Susan isnt Susan anymore. Patrick doesnt understand and reaches out for his ill wife. Before she can take a bite, a gunshot splatters her head and drops her like a stone. The military rushes in, take Susans corpse, and quarantine Patrick. They ask some questions about the residents of the house (Travis includes the Salazars) and Madison asks about how this virus is transmitted. No one knows anything. Travis is relieved – now that the military is here, things are going to get better. I am not sure if it is his misplaced faith in the United States government or a military stronghold, but they all go back in the house.
Through the window, Daniel watches the military paint an X on the house across the street. Its already too late.
Three episodes in, and the only character I respect is Daniel. Travis is a giant pussy; Madison is too willing to let her man be the boss; Alicia is an annoying waste of screen space; and Nicks addiction – which could have been an interesting wrinkle – is just making him a hateful character.
One thing that didnt sit right with me was Susans apparent suicide. At first, I thought that Nick had just raided their medicine cabinet. It is hard to have any feelings about a character committing suicide when you have never seen the character or heard a single thing about her until she shows up as a monster. She had a loving husband and a good friend next door, and while I know that having a strong support system doesnt necessarily mean someone wont take their own life, when it is a character that we have no knowledge of, it just comes across as awkward. Even a throwaway line from Madison saying I helped Susan through some bad times would have been enough for her suicide to make sense.
You can check out both a preview and a clip for the fourth episode, titled “Not Fade Away,” in the players below!
