On last week’s ballsy episode of Fear The Walking, they killed Nick. Not only has he been on the show since season one, he literally was the first character we met on the show. Nick has gone through the series addicted to one thing or another, in the end, his addiction to revenge ended up getting him killed. His death by “sweet little” Charlie showed that this little girl who was first introduced as helpless, is a true villain. Whatever hopes of redemption we might have had for her went out the window when she put a bullet in our fan-favorite character. However, we all like Dwight on The Walking Dead, and he was a scumbag when we first met him, so anything’s possible.
Nick’s dead, but Alicia, Luciana, and Strand have to keep moving forward. After dispatching the zombies around (and putting a soon to revive Nick down for good), the group tries to mourn their loss of a dear member of their makeshift family. Al being the filmmaker she is, still wants to document their story of how they came to be where they are. As she turns her camera on, each member of the team tells her how Nick’s death could have been avoided.
The good thing about this show existing on two different timelines (now, and before: when they were dealing with The Vultures and their food shortages), is that we still get to see Nick. As they are telling of how they came to where they are, we get to see that the group is suffering under the watchful eye of The Vultures. They really aren’t “bad guys” per se, they are just “vultures,” and they are better at picking up the scraps than our heroes are. Mel, the leader of The Vultures continues to taunt Madison by telling her that her way of doing things will eventually get all of them killed. He tells her a story of his family who tried to do things the way Madison did before, only for all but him and his brother ended up dead. He offers yet again for them to join The Vultures, and once again, she refuses.
She sends her people on runs for food in the hopes that they find places that The Vultures haven’t picked dry. Strand goes off with Cole, as the two are starting to like each other (once again, I like how Fear The Walking Dead shows a gay relationship as “normal” as it should be in modern television). Strand is playing hard to get, and he eventually reveals why. As they find some plants to use, Strand lets Cole in on a little secret. He’s been hoarding supplies on his own. The supplies are enough for two people, and he invites Cole to come along with him and leave everyone else behind. Even though he carries a piece of the dam as a reminder himself not to be selfish, he’s still selfish. Cole doesn’t agree to go along with him, forcing Strand to once again appeal to his angelic side. He takes the supplies back to the baseball stadium. Madison, none the wiser, things he and Cole scored a big haul and thanks him. Strand tells Al that this was one of the biggest mistakes he could have made in hindsight.
Nick and Luciana are going on their own haul in the flashback. He continues to tell her to search a library. She thinks it’s a waste of time as books can’t feed anyone anything. Nick argues that people need more than food. They need knowledge, they need hope. While there, they find a zombie, a man who was hopeless and ended up slitting his wrists. Not wanting to end up like that guy, Luciana finds a book of maps. She tells Nick that the two of them should just leave and go to whatever place they find on a random page of that book. She reveals to Al that she should have never opened up that book, as it led to their downfall.
Alicia goes on a run with newcomer Naomi. The two go to what used to be a former waterpark in search of some churros. The park is infested with zombies, who happened to be in the kiddie pool area. They successfully navigate past many of them and go up the water slide. There, they come across some medical supplies. Naomi finds some car keys and pockets them without Alicia knowing. After she gives Alicia some medical supplies, she tells Alicia that she can see more things to raid in the distance, and she then leaves her alone. Turns out the car she was going to escape with was out of gas, and Alicia catches up to her. Naomi goes back with her, but she’s hopeless. While she believes the stadium will not last, she reveals that she has some nursing experience, and agrees to remain with the camp as a nurse.
In the present, the team goes to “bury” Nick. As they dig up the supposed grave, it’s revealed to be a hidden weapons cache as the team wants to go and kill The Vultures who they blame for their current circumstances. Having not told Al the whole story and not needing her to find the mystery of the flags anymore (as the dead Vulture from before had a map), they are going to enact their revenge. They welcome Morgan, Joe, and Al to come with them. Joe doesn’t want any part of killing but he notices Alicia’s bag, it belonged to his beloved Laura. Turns out “Laura” is really Naomi. A flashback reveals that she has the second revolver that matches his loved one. He asks about Naomi and her whereabouts. Alicia reveals that she’s dead, saddening Joe. Morgan ops too remain behind with Joe as Al goes with the group to look for The Vultures.
Next week, we finally get Joe’s backstory and how he met Laura/Naomi.
