"Fire, earthquake, flood. You bought it all, didn't you? That's not a question. I'm not asking, I'm telling you. I look at a person like you and I know. You are a buyer. How do I know? Because I am a closer. I can sell anything, everything. Ask anyone. Except, uh, insurance." - Victor Strand
Chris told both Travis and Maddie about what he saw in the distance. Neither one of them truly believed it, until they saw it themselves.
It reminds me of my mom. No, seriously. Who here didn't have a mom who questioned what their kids saw, even if it was the honest truth? My mom would never believe me if I told her something in the house was broken, although it was, it was just because she never saw it herself.
This leads me to Cobalt, which unlike many second-to-last episodes we've seen in The Walking Dead franchise, this was a huge crescendo which led us to the finale. Cobalt was actually the working title of the series Fear The Walking Dead.
Another thing we need to see to believe is that, sometimes we are better off not knowing certain actions taken by others to get to the bottom of something. We hear about government or military agencies torturing others to get the answers they need. Prisoners of war are taken to get information about the enemy. We hear later about their inhumane treatments. We like to believe that humans are incapable of torturing others, since we are all thinking and feeling beings. But as Daniel Salazar said in the earlier episode, men do these things because of fear, not evil. Hence, "fear the walking dead."
What we are discovering in this new world order, that no sense makes sense.
This bubbles over in this episode.
We open up with Nick in a cage with a guy, who before I knew his name, I called him "the man who sold the world." (We find out later his name is Victor Strand, and he becomes a critical character later). It's clear, to the viewers, that he's one of those dynamic people who can talk his way out of pretty much anything, he's very smooth. We don't know a lot about this mysterious man. He talks, almost preaches.
The neighbor Doug, who we were told had run away, is actually in the cage. Strand's preaching upsets him, and he's taken away.
Doug is not the only person who is losing his grip on reality. One of the National Guardsman leaves his post over by the fences, he says that he's "out." The pressure is starting to get to people. I think those especially who are used to a certain working order, way of life. What we used to know is no longer. People are cracking.
Ofelia, meanwhile, is angry that the military has taken her mother without any family or anyone she is familiar with, except for Liza. The military looks to do away with her, but her soldier boyfriend, a soldier named Adams. Adams says he can keep her calm.
Family dynamics are still working normally, with surly teens and grumpy parents. Of course, the adults are supposed to know what the fuck is going on, exactly. Neither Travis nor Maddie know anything or can answer to it. Chris is upset that his mother went off abruptly. He takes his anger out on Maddie, and Travis tells him to apologize. He storms off.
Travis decides he's going to try to find Liza and bring her back. Maddie says he needs to find Nick too.
Liza is working with Exnor, in the makeshift triage unit. Griselda, it seems, has lost her foot to surgery. Liza wants to see Griselda, saying she may "scared," not knowing anyone. Exnor has a very steely and cold reserve, and says, "Well, we wouldn't want anyone to be scared, now would we." (I'm certain this is a slam that everyone is scared, just some people are handling it differently. Someone like Exnor is very cold - someone like Doug, however, is a threat).
Maddie goes back to Susan and Patrick's home, and starts to take supplies, then sees Susan's letter to Patrick. She then hears something that gives her pause. She goes to the basement, and finds Daniel holding Adams hostage, to get answers on Griselda and Nick.
Maddie loses her fucking mind. She says, "You have a U.S. soldier held hostage in the goddamn basement!" Daniel explains that he's using him as collateral for a trade, to get their family members back. Adams knows where Griselda and Nick, even Liza, are.
Daniel coolly explains, "I've seen this before." Maddie says she doesn't want Adams hurt. Daniel asks if she just doesn't want to know. Meanwhile, Ofelia has run off. Daniel explains that he was in military in El Salvador. He's tried to shelter her from who he was.
As I said earlier, there are some things in life you need to see to believe. And even when you see it, it's easier to pretend it doesn't exist.
Daniel proceeds to torture Adams with his hair cutting instruments, using the shaving tools to take off layers of skin. This is brutal, of course, and painful for viewers to watch and see. Daniel still coolly explains that the each layer gets more painful than the last, but he'll ultimately pass out from the pain and fear.
Travis, in an effort to retrieve the members of each family, strikes up a conversation with Moyers, one of the soldiers whom he trusts (or thinks he should). Moyers instead takes him on a run with the convoy and other soldiers. This is clearly a mission to clean up the dead.
While in the truck, Travis hears the radio say, "Cobalt initiation." When Travis asks about it, he also notes that the soldiers are "hurting" some of the infected. (Travis is still incredibly naive about what's going on in the world around -- again, it's easy to believe what you want to believe).
Moyers sets us Travis with a rifle to shoot. Everything is in place to shoot a walker in a donut shop. Clearly, she was a waitress, with a name tag. Now, she is infected. Moyers goads him into shooting her, says she's not human. Travis, however, still believes that she may be cured, hope upon hope. He doesn't see the nobility of a mercy kill, yet (oh and trust me, he does later).
Moyers is almost disappointed, that Travis still sees the infected waitress as a "person" still. It was the same with Susan in her backyard. In a way, I suppose it's a good thing that the military intervened. In the series Band of Brothers, one of the bad ass soldiers saw that one of the other soldiers was having a hard time adjusting to war. He explained that it was because he saw himself and others as "still alive." They weren't. If they thought they were dead, it was easier to take care of the task at hand.
One of those necessary evils we have to hold onto with our military. They sometimes have to do things for the greater good, even if we don't necessarily put it into a pocket that we agree with in our every day lives.
As they drive around and take out more of the infected, Travis asks why people stayed behind and didn't go when the military told them to. He's told, "Some people stayed behind, they don't trust the government. Imagine that!" Kind of dry humor in a way. Soldiers need to survive with dark humor, usually. But Travis is almost antithetical in that he still has a belief and hope that the military and government somehow have his best interests at heart.
However, Travis is still having his eyes opened as to what is going on beyond the fences. The commanders tell him that he is now on his own. Soldiers have begun to bail. It's every man for himself. He knows more than ever, he needs to get his family back from the compound. But he needs help.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch (in the basement), Adams is being skinned alive, tells a little about "Cobalt," which the viewers have surmised is a military action. But he claims that the highers up only know, not him. Salazar persists. When Ofelia sees what her father is capable of, she runs off. Maddie, meanwhile, is also very calm, and asks if he was able to get the information he needed.
The sidebars with the kids also provide a dichotomy of what each kid is going through. Chris is a surly young teenager, probably a loner, who likes to video things. He's got a lot of anger towards the change in his family dynamic to begin with, but also that his mother has left with in his opinion no explanation. Alicia is still withdrawn over losing her boyfriend and her sheltered world falling apart, that she can't do anything about it.
Chris and Alicia go into an abandoned house, "rich people," as Chris says, who are the "last to move in, first to move out." Alicia thinks they will get caught. "They are not coming back," Chris says. They get dressed up and act all high society. I'm sure it was very therapeutic for them. Chris and Alicia start to bash the house in and break valuables.
Meanwhile, Nick is in lock up with Strand, and the soldiers prepare to take Nick away. Strand works out a deal to keep him there. Nothing is said this episode, but Strand sees some qualities in Nick that will be good when he makes his escape. This is more alluded to, not spoken about. But it's clear to the viewers that something is up with Strand. He's a man of wealthy means, and makes trades that in this new world probably aren't worth a damn thing. (You won't be able to eat money, that's for sure)
Later as Nick is going through his withdrawals and vomiting in a bucket, Strand keeps his cool and jokes that he wanted something to mask the smell of urine, but this is taking the stench out. He then says that Strand has "obligated" Nick, by keeping him from the soldiers. "I require a man of your talents as I make my move."
Strand sees a quality in Nick that can survive even in the roughest of conditions.
Exnor tells Liza that Griselda made it through surgery; however she is now in septic shock. It's a matter of time before she passes. When she passes away, she is speaking in Spanish about torture. Exnor explains to Liza that to keep the dead from turning, Griselda needs to have a traumatic brain injury, and uses a prod to do it. Liza does it, since she knew her. Shows the difference between Liza, who is front and center with death and can handle it, but Travis still believes that this will end soon and cannot take care of a person he does not know.
Travis arrives back at the house, talks to Ofelia who is upset about Adams. Travis confronts Madison, if she knew the whole time.
We now hear what Adams knows about Cobalt, a lot more than he was leading on. First, we hear the story of an arena, where people were turning so quickly, the military had to shag ass out of there, and locked the infected with the living. Probably about 2000 locked up in there.
When Travis confronts Daniel, he tells Adams to explain what "Cobalt is."
Cobalt is a military command to initiate the evacuation from the Los Angeles base.
Travis asks when they are leaving. Adams says, not you. It's for us, the soldiers. Termination of operations were to take place 0900 the next day.
Each person is seeing the ramifications of the soldiers leaving people behind. Meanwhile, Daniel arrives at the Forum, the arena where they locked the infected. Everything is boarded up.
At one point in time, you could hear music from the outside of the arena.
Now, you can hear the dead.
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