Fear the Walking Dead Midseason Finale Recap
Daniel is in the midst of various nightmares when he is woken by Strand shooting Thomas. He checks in on the ruckus, where Celia is telling Strand what a horrible person he is for lying to her “son.” Daniel finds Ofelia outside and hugs her tight. He is scared. Strand wants to bury Thomas, but Celia says he doesn’t deserve to. She wants him, and those he brought, out of the Abigail compound. Nick convinces her to give Strand some time. She agrees to one day. By sundown the next day, she wants them gone.
Travis can’t find Chris, and he entreats Alicia to help find him. She refuses, and tells Travis that she woke to find Chris standing over her bed with a knife. Travis insists Chris would never hurt her, but doesn’t push further. He continues searching, and sees him through the thick fog, moving between the crops. Chris runs, and Travis gives chase. He looks all through the night. By sun up, he still hasn’t found Chris, but he has found a zombie with a knife in its eye. He takes the knife, but doesn’t notice that the zombie has an empty gun holster. From afar, Chris watches his father, the gun in his waistband.
The day wears on, and Travis still hasn’t found Chris. He is exhausted and in pain – he went out without shoes and his feet are bloody. He sits on a broken chair, but isn’t down for a moment before he hears a noise in the tiny house behind him. He finds an angry, living guy in there with a weapon. They face off, and Travis insists he is just looking for his son. The two men cool off, and the guy offers Travis some water. He doesn’t speak English but he allows Travis to rest his blood-soaked feet.
Madison tells Nick and Alicia to pack whatever supplies they can. This place is dangerous, and she wants to go back to the boat. Madison believes Travis is coming back. Nick believes he can talk Celia into letting them stay.
Nick returns to the compound, covered in zombie goo, with a bound, gagged zombie Luis. Celia is happy to see him. He is changed, but he is still her son. She has a couple farmhands put him with the rest of the “changed,” then tells Nick he belongs here with her. She believes this is not the apocalypse; it is the end of death. She wants him to stay, but he won’t stay without his family. Celia thinks they are the monsters, destroying that which they “don’t understand.” She finally concedes, but he is responsible for them. And she won’t change her mind on Strand.
As Nick showers by the pool, Madison notes that he is different. She doesn’t understand his fascination with the dead. He has drunk Celia’s Kool-Aid, insisting they are not dead. Nick feels like his mother is talking to him like he is using again, but he promises he just did what he needed to to get his family to stay. Then he offers to bring back Travis. “They won’t touch me,” he says, claiming that while he was on the beach, he came face to face with a zombie. No fear, no hate. He moves among them as if he is invisible. “I will not die.”
Strand is digging a grave for Thomas on the property. Daniel begs him not to put Thomas in the ground, claiming this place is unholy and infected. “Thomas will not rest, he will come back for you,” Daniel tells him ominously. Strand senses something is wrong with him. Daniel rushes off, and finds Ofelia lighting a candle at the altar. He grabs her and drags her off, saying that her mom is waiting for them outside the gate. “This place is evil. If we stay, we die.” Ofelia tries unsuccessfully to pull away. Some farmhands separate them, and beat Daniel into submission.
Madison goes to Strand with sympathy, and to ask for help with Nick. Strand doesn’t want to be his stand-in father, and tells Madison that Celia has her hooks in Nick with her quasi-religious bullsh*t. Strand has taken a liking to Madison. He plans to go back to the boat (if there is a boat) and invites Madison to come with him. She won’t leave without Travis, and clearly the invitation is only for Madison.
Celia gives a touching eulogy for Thomas as they bury him. Though not of her body, she raised Thomas like her own, and considers him her son. She then goes on about how this is the rebirth of the world, and all sins are forgotten. She tells Strand it is time for him to leave, but he is not done yet. He will go at sundown. Ofelia asks about her father, and Celia promises he is resting someplace safe.
Travis is grateful for some shoes offered to him by the man, and notices a framed photo of his son, Ramon. The man gets more anxious and tells him his son went east. Travis notices an English-language book on the couch, and sees a shadow pass beneath a closed door. “Is someone in there?” The man whispers to Travis in English to go, “he will hurt my son.” Travis bursts into the room and finds Chris holding Ramon hostage at gunpoint. “Why can’t you just let me go?” Chris whines. He turns the gun on his father, as he defends himself. “They look at me like I’m disgusting, a monster.” Chris looks to Ramon, and Travis uses the opportunity to knock the gun from Chris’ hand. Chris runs; Travis tackles him; Chris grabs his dad’s knife and tries to stab him. Travis gets the knife away from him, and the two men catch their breath. “I should have helped you,” Travis concedes. “I’m no good,” Chris counters.
Daniel is tied to a chair in a storage room. Celia brings him food; he refuses. She recognizes fear in his eyes; he fears the dead. Celia can see they haunt him, and his wife echoes in his mind. Celia presses him to confess his sins to her, but in Daniel’s mind, his wife reminds him that he confessed his sins to her, every one. Daniel has nothing to stay, and Celia promises to take care of him. She leaves, but Daniel’s “wife” stays. He promises he won’t let Celia touch Ofelia; he thinks she is a demon. His wife is mad that he never buried her. He told her his stories, gave her his sins, and she carried them. Now she is waiting for him.
True to his word, and drenched in more zombie goo, Nick finds Travis and tells him he came to bring him back. “Madison is hurt.” Travis declines to go: Chris can’t go back, and he won’t leave his son. “Tell your mom you never saw us,” begs Travis.
Madison confronts Celia about filling Nick’s head with falsity. Celia doesn’t take kindly to that, and reminds her they are only there because of the “light” she sees in Nick. Realizing that logic won’t change Celia, Madison asks to understand. Celia takes her into the Cellar of the Damned, where the zombies are feasting on pig bits. Celia opens the gate and walks in, unafraid. Madison follows, more cautiously, but then slowly falls back as Celia waxes on about what she wouldn’t do for her kids. Madison slips out and locks the gate. Celia looks back at her, but does not panic. She accepts her fate.
Night falls, and a guard comes to check on Daniel. He unties one of his hands so he can feed himself, but Daniel’s hand trembles and he drops his spoon. When the guard reaches for it, Daniel headbutts him and frees himself. “You know what you must do, for our family,” his wife tells him. Daniel takes a lighter out of the guard’s pocket. He takes a can of gas and pours it in the Cellar of the Damned. The zombies come towards him slowly (I guess when they are full they are slow). In his mind, he sees the zombies revert to humans, and his wife appears. She is pleased he found her. Daniel drops the lighter and flames erupt.
Strand is being escorted out the front gate. As he climbs into his truck, he sees the flames. Nick, on his way back from “not finding” Travis, sees the compound engulfed in flames. It goes up quickly. Madison finds Alicia and Ofelia, who is looking for her dad. It is too late for him. Luckily Strand came back and he scoops up the women into the truck. Madison refuses, believing blindly that Travis will return. She sees Nick in the distance and runs to him, but he insists he couldn’t find Travis. She accepts this, and Nick asks about Celia. Madison chooses not to answer, and Nick realizes that Celia was right: we destroy everything. A horde of zombies is moving into the compound, and Strand drags Madison back into the truck. Nick heads off to join his new zombie friends. Still covered in blood, they do not notice him. (It seems like Nick is channeling the Whisperers here.)
You can watch a preview for the show’s return on Sunday, August 21 below.
