Episode 13 Synopsis: Shiva

"This is not the apocalypse.  This is our beginning, Nicholas.  The end of death itself.  Life.  Eternal."  - Celia Flores

It looks as though IGN and I have split again in rating the midseason finale for Season Two.  They rated it just under 7 as an "okay" episode.  I actually might be more of a 8.5 or 9.  In my opinion, the story lines are getting more interesting, and we are also learning more about the components of the team, as opposed to the "sum of the parts," and what each individual is contributing.  Maybe, I will concede, the writers are getting a bit predictable.  As an example, during a scene involving Daniel Salazar, my husband and I both said out loud, "He's turning into Morgan."  Though I feel as though Morgan will end up doing something stupid to get his tribe and himself killed, I can't help but like him.  I happen to think Daniel's character is very savvy and smart and I really really like him, like, a lot.  Plus Ruben Blades was featured on Talking Dead post show, and I nearly peed my pants because I LOVE RUBEN BLADES.

I will say this about the episode.  There was a LOT going on.  Dream sequences, hearing voices (looking at you, Daniel), families divided (the ones we "choose" versus blood), dead, living.  Memories and demons.  And guardian angels, if you believe in that type of shit.  It was easy to get lost, but if you follow me, there is a clear pattern of narrative and connection.

Episode 12 left us with Strand shooting Thomas in the head once he had passed.  If there is anything we know, when it comes to dying, is that we are all infected, and a traumatic brain injury is needed to fully *pass*.  However, in that same episode, we see that Celia Flores, I guess the "house mother" of the Abigail vineyard, sees things a bit differently.  I know it's especially prevalent in Mexican culture, and some Latin American cultures that the dead walk among us, it's just that they are not visible. (Editor's note: my husband is Boricua, and he says that his mother honors her passed loved ones on November 2nd, the Day of the Dead, but it's not nearly as a big a thing as it is in Mexico).  The writers did a great job of incorporating this way of thinking.  Besides Herschel in the main show, no one ever though of the infected or walkers being a "good thing" (unless you are using one as bait to ward off more infected). 

The difference though between Celia and Herschel is that Herschel kept the dead "living" because he felt there might be a cure for this virus, so it was "humane".  Celia is a little more sinister: she is playing g*d, acting as though it's better for them on the other side, that death is peaceful, it's just another form of life.  Now it's just out in the open.

Oh, for the love of Pete.

The way the writers left things at the end of this episode, it seems like we will see some separate stories come about for each of the characters, as opposed to the group staying together.  Strand has been a solitary man but has pretty much used the Clark/Manawas and Salazars as a means to an end.  He's found them useful, but it seems as though Maddie is the only one he really relates to.  In fact, though they are both "alphas," he kind of digs that she doesn't defer automatically to him and challenges him somewhat.  I think most of the audience was looking to Travis to be the "leader" since he is a guy.  It appears as though we are going in a different direction, as Madison is priming herself to be the Rick of the group.  Which I think is good because she seems pragmatic, smart, cold to a point (where she can make decisions without emotion) and can even show a little more compassion than Strand ever would.  Think about what Madison was doing in the very first episode: she is an administrator at the school, knows everyone's strengths and weaknesses and is seen as a go-to.  Travis, on the other hand, is a follower.  He likes order and structure and a clear pecking order.  I think it's evident after this episode, he may resent this leadership quality about Madison in their relationship.  Just a hunch.

So everyone is woken up by the gun shot that we heard in the last episode.  Madison and Alicia were sharing a bed, when they woke up by the noise, Chris was standing above their bed with a knife.  This has also been a source of contention with Travis and Madison, that he feels as though he was more supportive of her trials with Nick as an addict, than she is with Chris and his falling apart.  What Travis fails to consider is that Madison's coldness is establishing priorities.  Chris falling apart is hurting the team; Nick's addictive personality seems to help them (though she clearly has a problem with this as well).

Everyone gathers in Strand and Abigail's room.  Celia is losing her mind.  Strand believes this is the humane thing to do, and she obviously has a different point of view.  Nick and Celia have formed a connecting bond since meeting.  She sees the culture of death and killing is wearing thin on him, and she senses a weakness that she can exploit to her advantage (well he's an addict, what the fuck do you expect??).  Nick pleads with Celia, hoping to use their new found relationship to his advantage.  She says that she wants them all gone by sundown.

So we start to see the first divisions of the families.  Travis asks where Chris is.  Alicia flips out, says that he was holding a knife over Madison and her as they lay sleeping.  Travis is in disbelief.  I don't know if he didn't believe her, but maybe he just doesn't see the magnitude of Chris falling apart that badly.  Looking for Chris, he sees him running through the vineyard, and Travis chases after him.  Of course, he's not wearing any shoes and runs for miles and miles to catch up.  Very John McClane of him.   Perhaps in the biggest symbolism of the night, Travis and Chris are now separated from Madison, Alicia and Nick. 

So then we have the relationship of the Salazars, Daniel and daughter Ofelia.  What we have learned about Daniel is that he was part of special ops in El Salvador, and in the last episode he had visions of a child being choked.  We learn this child was him.  He's been surrounded by death his entire life, and escaped it by coming to America to start a family with his wife, Griselda.  As we remember, Griselda was one of the first casualties of the new world order.  In the last few episodes, Ofelia has seemed to make peace with her mother being gone; Daniel, on the other hand, is feeling some guilt by not giving her a proper burial or saying goodbye.  This coupled with all the death that's around (and the death ranch of Abigail's in Mexico), a lot of stuff is coming to a head with Daniel.  He starts having recurring dreams about Griselda, how she is haunting him, and he feels the earth and soil at Abigail Vineyard is "unclean" and "unholy."

Travis continues to search for Chris.  His feet are all sorts of fucked up.  He sees someone has killed an infected person - Chris, with the knife he took from Madison's room - and he takes the knife as a weapon.  He notices a gun is missing - implied that Chris took it as well.  Travis appears upon a house, and takes refuge.  A Spanish speaking man is there, and trying to help Travis but is simultaneously rushing him out.  Travis notices an English language kids book, and asks about his kids.  He notices a door is closed - he breaks the door down, and there is Chris, holding this guy's son hostage with the gun.  Smooth move there, ex-lax.  Chris demands to be left alone.

If I was Travis, I'd have fuckin left him there.  But as we know, the new world needs to hold onto the old world somehow, and we gotta keep the family together and all that shit.  Clearly, Travis is going to choose his own son over the blended Clark side of the family.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch (uh, literally), Madison is in survival mode.  Taking Celia's words to heart, she says they need to leave and gather supplies to get back to the boat.  Alicia and Nick balk - they are not going back there.  Nick is so laid back and arrogant too, he says, "I'll talk to Celia to get us to stay."  Like, NBD, right?  Madison warns them, these people are not our friends.  When Travis returns with Chris, we make our move and leave. 

In a peace offering gesture, Nick retrieves Luis' body from the boat.  He brings him to Celia.  Celia with her belief system is obviously touched, that this is her son.  He's different, but still him, nonetheless.  She wants to Nick to stay, that he is not fearful of death.  He negotiates to have his family stay.  She agrees, but says that he is responsible for their actions as long as they are there.  He agrees.

It makes sense, you know, that Nick would want to walk among the dead.  Most addicts I've come into contact with, once they've gotten the courage to want help and end their problems, they say they wanted to come as close to dying without dying.  Almost like if they overdosed, it would be no big thing.  Nick walking among the dead without fear has given him probably a high like heroin.  If you look at this way, he keeps going back.

Madison is concerned about Nick.  How he is going on errands for Strand, retrieving Luis, he's different.  Nick tells her that these people are not dead...wow, a complete 180 from the episode where they saw their neighbor Susan in Season One, where he was the only one who acknowledged that Susan had passed.  Giving Luis as a peace offering to Celia has kept them safe on the ranch.  Madison feels no safer there than on the water.

Daniel sees an opportunity to leave with Ofelia, and she tries to stop him, not understanding what he's doing.  The Abigail estate "muscle" take him away and separate him from Ofelia.  Very Governor-like, he is kept in a holding area, tied up in a chair by Celia and her henchmen.

Strand is burying Thomas.  Prior to being imprisoned, Daniel pleaded with Strand to not bury Thomas here.  That the soil is unclean and unholy, that he won't rest.  Strand continues to dig, and Madison talks to him.  He plans to go back to the boat once sundown comes.  Madison wants to go with him; however, she doesn't want to leave without Travis.

Travis is going through some shit of his own, because Chris pulls the gun he had on Travis.  Travis knocks it out of his hands, only to have Chris pull a knife on him.  Chris is going rogue.  Travis sees this.  So on one hand, I can see Travis wanting to hold onto the old Chris, but Chris needs to put his fucking big boy pants on and deal with it.  But we are seeing how a villain is being born.

Nick locates Travis on the grounds.  The family is waiting for him.  Travis tells him to let the rest of the family think that Nick didn't find him.  Chris isn't ready to come back, and he can't leave Chris.  I can only presume that Nick likes this arrangement.  He goes off and leaves Travis and Chris together.

Madison and Celia talk back at the house. Madison says that Strand shouldn't leave, that he saved and helped them.  Celia says that the only reason she is still in this house is because she sees the light in Nick.  What's funny is that Celia and Strand were on the same page about Nick.  They saw something in him that Madison either didn't nor appreciated.  Celia starts to use Nick against Madison, says that he will choose between the two of them.  Madison tells Celia that she wants to learn what they know.

Clearly, Madison is playing Celia, and gets Celia to take her to the cellar where she has locked the dead.  Celia, who is worshiping the dead, sees no problem with going in there.  Keep in mind though...SHE IS STILL FUCKING ALIVE.  But Madison quietly backs out of the cell, locks her in there.  It's implied that the dead, once they are done gorging on whatever animal they are eating, will turn their energy to Celia.   THAT SHIT IS COLD MADISON.  (I like it though. Keep that shit up).

Daniel, meanwhile, is having visions of Griselda, who has served as a center for Daniel.  He starts having visions of being a child and taking a gun.  Griselda assures him, the first victim was you.  I think Daniel honestly just needed to hear that this suffering then and now were never his fault.  I do believe there is a goodness in Daniel, but he's just been asked to do things that conflict with his conscience.  He's had no choice as he's had to choose survival over anything.  Which of course makes him fucking PERFECT for this new world.

The Abigail henchman named Jorge comes into the cellar where Daniel is being held.  Daniel attacks him with the chair and manages to escape from being tied up.  While Strand is being escorted off the property (and he makes it to the truck), Daniel torches the holding cell where the dead are.

Strand makes it back onto the ranch and takes Maddie, Alicia and Ofelia.  Ofelia, seeing the flames, believes Daniel is dead. They do not know he escaped, nor that he was the one who set the fire.  (Editor's note: in Talking Dead post-show, it's implied that Celia is gone, but Daniel is still coming back...it was tough to understand the Daniel scene mostly because he was having flashbacks, but seemed at peace with his decision, that was doing the right thing for everyone's survival).  Now that the fire has spread and quickly, the only refuge the team has is to leave and do it quickly. 

Nick returns and tells Madison that Travis is missing, he couldn't find him.  Just like Travis had told him.  Madison actually seems oddly calm about it all.  I think she realizes that she can't wait anymore and needs to escape, whether or not the group is intact.  Strand implores them to get in the truck.  Nick tells her that he is staying.  He walks among the dead, protected by the dead's blood.  Madison goes cold turkey by no longer enabling him.

Three women and Strand make their move to leave the property.  Sounds like a movie.

So what I found most interesting is that each family is now torn apart.  Forget Clark/Manawas, the Manawas are together, but now the Clarks are disjointed, joining Strand's new team.  Ofelia believes Daniel is gone, but she escapes with the new tribe.

Who doesn't believe that they will not be reunited by the last episode of the season?

Rest of the season starts in mid-August.  Dig it.

Episode 12 Synopsis: Sicut Cervus

"This world was never good enough for you.  Let it go." - Victor Strand

Though IGN rated this episode as a 7.4, higher than last episode's extravaganza, I wouldn't go that far.  In fact, I'd even go to say that this was the one episode that made my mind wander than any thus far.  Looking back, I think it's mostly the walker and infected references.  I know that's a big draw for people who watch the main show.  The reality is, while the infected serve as a giant metaphor for me as a viewer, and I know they have to go, lobbing their heads off just doesn't do much for me.

Not to mention there was a lot of fucking shit going on this episode.  But a few things that left me a little restless.  We are fully introduced to Luis Flores' mother, Celia, and we've only had limited interactions with her thus far.  We know their intended destination is Baja, the Abigail estate vineyard.  Yet, the writers took the easy way out, as far as I'm concerned.  If you've watched 10 seconds of the parent show, you know that there are characters who get under your skin (in a good or bad way) and characters who absolutely lose it.  Mentioning Shane or Herschel or Morgan or just anyone in the main cast to anyone will certainly summon up enough passion from a true follower, you'll get them talking for sure.

I say the writers took the easy way out because each of the characters is starting to shape their personality in the new world, and each one I can easily say they've got a parallel to a character in the main show.

And I HATE the main show.

Furthermore, does anyone truly believe that the Abigail estate is the last destination, that it's totally safe (with or without watching this episode)?  We know there are no safe havens in this new world.  Why are we thinking this place is totally cool?

So, I give this episode about a 6 star rating out 10.  But I do look at this way, the predictability of the writers: the next to last episode before the midseason finale is always a slow one.  So I expect a big to-do next week.  With some major predictions I will give at the end.

Let's discuss some of the pivotal scenes.

The show opens up in a church with parishioners and the Padre is preaching about how people are thinking that g*d has abandoned them, but this is not g*d, this is ourselves.  Blah blah blah.  Keep their faith that they will get through it.  Blah blah blah.   Have no doubts.  Yada yada yada.

The parishioners take the sacrament, and go outside to grab some tools.  Now at first, we think that the Padre has given them permission in a way to take out the infected.  From the appearances, the church is in a rural place, and it's possible they just don't have the ability or technology to take them out.  Or the whole Catholic guilt thing.  Whatever the case, it looks as though they are ready for...something.  We just can't see what. 

At this point, Strand's buddy (lover?), Thomas Abigail pulls up in a truck, pleads with the Padre to leave the dead alone.  This is a new twist, obviously.  As the crew we've been chilling with so far has figured out, immediately, that we need to take out the infected and the dead.

As Abigail pleads with the parishioners, people start bleeding out of their eyes.  While watching this unfold, I said out loud, "Is THIS how people turn in Baja?"  My husband joked and said, "Don't drink the water!"  But then as the scene wound down, he said, "Wait a minute.  What was in the sacrament?"

We both figured out they were poisoned.  But by Abigail?  (Spoiler alert: They were poisoned, but not by Tom).  The whole scene was very Day of the Dead inspired.  I said that aloud, and it was confirmed in the Talking Dead episode. 

Scene goes out, and we join our tribe on the Abigail yacht.  Chris and Travis are talking. Madison told him that Chris had shot the hostage Reed because he was "going to turn."  Meanwhile, we all know that isn't true.  He wasn't shot in the head, and he did turn just to make the hostage exchange.   Travis is kind of a pussy. Doesn't press Chris at all for his role in the almost botched hostage return. 

We all know Chris is going through some heavy shit as a teenager.  His mother died (bitten and infected, and shot by his father as a mercy kill), his life has been uprooted (fuckin Gen Y millennials, put your big boy pants on and fuckin deal with it), and now he's adjusting.  Sure, that's a lot of stuff for everyone, but it seems as though everybody, even Ofelia whom until this episode I was convinced was just window dressing, is contributing.  This is endemic of what's going to get them all killed or more aptly, Chris killed: the fact he's being coddled at a time where he shouldn't be.  Chris is setting everyone fucking backwards.  No bueno.  Chris just reassures Travis that he thought Reed was going to turn and that was that.  Of course, Travis gives him the benefit of the doubt.  We all know he's not being honest.

Strand and his henchman Luis Flores are on the main deck, and Madison is with them.  They see the flotilla guards in the distance, tell Maddie to round up the crew and bring them below deck.  Daniel listens in, as the deal is being made in Spanish.  Seems as though the guards want to do a financial exchange for the boat.  Strand tells them not to talk financials. 

Of course, within minutes, we hear a commotion and gunshots.  Two flotilla guards are down, along with Luis Flores.  Strand of course makes it out alive. 

Daniel takes care of the flotilla guards by stabbing them in the head.  But then Luis, as he laid dying, gives Ofelia a coin, with an owl on it.  Begs her to give to his mother.  Daniel chucks it overboard.  But doesn't give him a brain injury.  Do they ever fucking learn?!

Finally we make it to Baja.  Promises of a better tomorrow welcome the gang.  They make it to the church.  I'm guessing this was an agreed to exchange point, because Abigail's truck is still there, yet no sign of him.  Oh, but the poisoned parishioners?  They come out.  Everyone grabs a weapon and starts going to town, defending themselves. 

Daniel starts having flashbacks, of either a child he had choked or of himself (brought up as a twist in the Talking Dead episode, right after this one).  Ofelia ends up killing the infected herself.  She was pretty bad ass for someone who was just there to look pretty before hand.

Chris freezes, again.  Madison is brought down by an infected person, she starts to struggle.  He stands there, watching.  Alicia yells at Chris, then takes care of the dead herself.  It's clear that right now, Chris is getting his kicks from killing the still living or barely living.  Whether Chris is upset or holding a grudge because Madison told Travis about the Reed thing, we don't know.  Or if he just "froze," which seems to be the case with him.  Snap out of it, man!  It's also evident that he's not Maddie's biggest fan.  Right now, there's no time for grudges.  Time to man up or ship out.

Up until this point though, everyone kind of worked together to fight the real enemy: this virus.  Now it seems as though everyone's "stuff" is coming to the surface in this episode. 

We arrive at the Abigail estate, greeted by beautiful acres of land and a hospitable hostess.  Yeah, right, as if that shit is going to last.  They ask for the crew to surrender their arms.  Except for Daniel, no one raises a fuss.  Not sure why, but they easily believe the staff that there is no need for them here.  (Really?)  Daniel surrenders his weapons.  Which is odd because Daniel inadvertently put them at a disadvantage on the boat when he disabled Strand's arsenal.  Now he's putting himself willingly into a position without his arms.  I guess he's gonna go full Carol at some point, manage to retrieve some of the arms back.

Meanwhile, we know as viewers one simple fact: It's always a mistake to be without a weapon.  Looks like they didn't get this memo at Abigail in Baja.

Strand asks to see Thomas, and Luis Flores' mother, Celia, who has worked on the Abigail estate for years, takes him there.  Thomas is infected and getting sicker.  He's been bitten, presumably by one of the parishioners. 

Alicia and Chris have a show down in the living room.  She accused him of letting Maddie get attacked and wanting her to die.  He says, once again, "I froze."  Seems like our boy likes to freeze at the absolute wrong fucking times.  He begs her not to say anything.  Chris is going full Shane, as the Walking Dead enthusiasts like to say.

Nick seems to be bonding with Celia, as she serves him some pozole stew.  He tells her that Luis was asking for her as he passed.  He tells her he is sick of all the killing.  "None of this is new, Nicholas.  Dead always walked among us.  Now they're just visible."

When she said that, I remember thinking to myself that she's clueless.  Also, I have a Latin mother in law.  Respect for the dead and mourning and all that shit is a BIG thing in Latin cultures.  I had to think that she just believes that instead of being in "heaven," we now see them as walking among us.  Which is horseshit.  She's just in denial.  We also start to see that she will not be dependable in this world.  Noted and filed away for the future.

Madison goes to talk to Strand and meet Abigail.  Abigail is in bed, slowly dying, and he asks Madison to take care of Strand when he's gone.  It's weird, I haven't really thought much of Madison as a leader of this group, since at the end of the day, she seems more concerned with her own family's well being.  Yet, I have to believe that she and Strand have soft spots for each other, even Strand described her as "fierce."

Later, Madison and Alicia talk in the television room.  Alicia tells Madison that Chris threatened her, after she saw him watch Madison get attacked by the infected.  Madison then raises all holy hell (no pun intended, with the church and day of the dead references) to Travis.  What did you two talk about, she demands.  Maddie meets her match, as Travis won't back down from her challenge.  She says that Chris needs help.  Travis guilts her by calling Alicia "their" daughter, and that when Nick needed help in the outside world with his addictions, he always was there for her.  Now she wants to throw his son under the bus. 

"I helped with Nick.  Help me help Chris," he begs Maddie.

Meanwhile, Strand makes a suicide pact with Thomas.  Says that when he goes, he will go with him.  Once Thomas is gone, there is nothing left for him. 

Outside, Daniel takes a walk on the vineyard grounds.  He sees a little boy put a live dog down a chute.  Alarmed, he follows the little boy to the servant quarters.  He hears and sees a little bit of the boy as he talks to his "madre."  Daniel asks to talk to her too.  The little boy says, he can come see her behind the cage.  Of course, there's not only his mother but a shitload of infected people behind the cage.  OF COURSE THERE IS.  Like we didn't see that shit coming a mile away. (And this is why I gave this episode a 6 star rating. You could see that the writers got lazy with this one).

Ofelia takes a walk with Nick to the wall with pictures of the dead.  She wants to pray for her mother and for strength for her father.  Ofelia asked Nick when was the last time he was in a church.  I rolled.  We all know that was when he was in the shooters den and saw his friend eating the face of another person.

There is a big wooden carving of an owl.  What we find out later is that the "owl" is a symbol for "Santa Muerte."  Literal translation: Saint Death.  (That's comforting).  But it's also bringing the whole Day of the Dead references to light. 

Daniel confronts Celia about the dead "living" in the cellar.  She's not only poisoned the sacrament in the church, but they were coming for the dead in the cellar.  That was why Thomas was trying to stop them, and ultimately, got himself dead.  Celia tells Daniel very calmly that these people are family, they've worked there for years. 

"Over my dead body would I deny them shelter," Celia tells Daniel.

Wild Prediction:  Celia dies in the next episode.

Thomas is taking his last breaths as Strand lays with him.  Celia had prepared the "sacrament" for Strand to sacrifice himself.  He walks past it.  Despite his speeches of obligation and all, Strand felt obligated to make sure that Thomas didn't turn. 

The house hears a gunshot.  It was Strand taking out Thomas.  We all know the damage that happens once someone turns.  Strand has seen it.  Once again, we have a mercy kill for someone one of the main characters cares about.

The gunshot wakes up some of the sleeping houseguests, including Maddie and Alicia who are sharing a bed.  When they wake up, Chris is standing over them, holding a knife.  Are you fucking kidding me Chris?  It's either the worst timing ever, or he was planning to do something to them.  They both freak out, send him running.

Up to this point, while I've seen some parallels here and there, the writers finally went full TWD and gave their characters their identity.  This is where I can kind of give the comic writers of the TWD comic credit because their story lines have managed to keep their viewers coming back, no matter how many spoilers they have.  I feel like that might even give the viewers a bit of a comfort level too.  The character of Daryl is someone invented for the show, and everyone seems to really like him.

I guess in this new world, and you're in a tribe there will be alphas and there will be subserviant people.  The issue is that I see mostly alphas, so they will all clash.

Up to this episode too, I thought FOR SURE that Ofelia was gonna go in the last episode before the midseason.  Yet, this episode brought out her character in a different way, that she wasn't afraid to take out an infected (we hadn't seen her do that yet), and that she was still serving as a conscience of the group. 

Chris is going full Shane.  And what we've learned is that once one of the living becomes a threat to the greater good of the group, they themselves will be taken out.  I feel like Chris has got his toe tag fitted and ready to wear.

As for Celia, we saw in a preview that she is incensed that Strand took out Abigail.  Strand knew it was necessary.  I see Celia going.  Daniel has a sense that she can't be trusted, and he's been proven right. 

This episode left me like, meh.  I didn't love it, nor did I hate it.  However, in true writer fashion, I'm expecting big things in the midseason finale next week.  How did this fly so quickly?!

Episode 11 Synopsis: Captive

"I've known men who inspire fear.  One thing they have in common: they never say how dangerous they are."  - Daniel Salazar

When this episode ended, my husband went to read the IGN review on Episode 11.  Before he read the article, he asked me what I thought of the episode, on a scale of 1-10 (this is how IGN rates the episode, 10 being "best").  I said, eh, I'd probably give it a "seven."  It was good, but after episode ten, it was almost a let down.  Not that is was terrible...just that after the big crescendo of last week, it would be hard to top.  But still better than average. 

Turns out, IGN agreed with me.  Then again, if I know how The Walking Dead operates in a given season or half-season (and we are approaching the end of the FWD half-season...sheesh, didn't it just start yesterday?), there's usually a crescendo, a lull, then the big BAM at the end.  One of the worst kept secrets is how TWD ended their last season (Negan bashing his bat into...someone, one of Rick's tribe), and who was it? Was it Glenn, who Negan killed in the comics? Someone else?? Cliffhanger!  Since I'm not emotionally invested, and I kinda dig Negan, I don't really care who gets offed.  They're all fuckin annoying anyway.

I digress.  So while "Captive" wasn't the best episode thus far, I really enjoyed the character development, especially when it comes to Alicia Clark.  She's so far taken back seat to the dynamic and complex character of her brother, Nick, who is a recovering heroin addict and literally not afraid of anything.  Also, the adults Madison (her mother) and Travis (her stepfather) have taken the helm as the de facto leaders.  So since she is of the "helicopter parent" generation, I wrote her off as boring and as a millennial.  Turns out, she was looking for her big moment.  And boy, was it ever.   

What I've noticed though is that these kids should not be underestimated.  They're ready.  Almost a little **too** ready and eager.  Nick is willing to swim to shore in (well, what I think are) shark infested waters in the cover of darkness, kill walkers and wear their blood as a shield.  Chris took out a guy who he knew had no chance of recovery in the plane wreck.  As far as Alicia goes, and besides Ofelia (and I have my theories about where her character is going), she's by far the most sheltered from her perfect little world.  Then again, she is also the sister of a drug addict who has seen the worst of humanity already.  Who knows?

So basically episode ten left us where Alicia and Travis were taken as human collateral for a trade off later, both assumed to be put to use on Connor's team.  We don't know a lot about Connor.  Some of his henchmen (and women) are a little jumpy and eager to shoot people, like his brother Reed.  Jack, the person Alicia had been talking to over the radio in the first episode, seems also a little sensitive and a keen observer.  I'd like to think in a different time or world or place, Jack and Alicia might have, you know, been something special.  Or some shit.  It's Jack who tells her that without Connor, he wouldn't have shelter or the tribe he's in, since he lost everyone close to him. 

So moving right along, we know that Travis and Alicia are taken, the others just don't know where.  Strand's buddy, Luis Flores, and Nick shot the point people Connor had sent to guard them and return the Abigail to them.  Reed, who was also left behind, was severely injured by Daniel. 

The scene opens up with almost a previous world experience.  Someone is going to great care to cook a good meal, with garlic and parsley and steaks.  I'm not crazy about steak.  But if I were in a world where my last good meal was Daniel's eel that he caught, I'd probably want to devour that shit.  Alicia is sitting at the table, and Connor is going to great lengths to make her comfortable.  Of course, a little *too* comfortable.  He says that she has some good qualities and wants to "put her to work."  She asks questions about her family, about Jack, about Travis.  Where is Travis?  Can she see him? 

Connor again puts her at ease, tells her to eat a little, and he leaves.  She starts to eat.   She seems impressed, but then the angry pregnant girl takes her food away, and locks the main door.  Alicia is locked in.  Alone, she runs to the top of the stairs, which leads her to the outside. 

She sees that she is on a boat, what turns out to be a giant tuna boat.  However, it is in dry dock.  They are not floating at sea.  They are taking shelter in the ship, but on land.  Almost, the best of both worlds. 

Jack finds her upstairs, and tells her that she shouldn't be there.  Alicia won't let up and keeps asking questions about her family, especially those on the Abigail.

Certainly, Connor and his team wouldn't be too happy if they knew their people were taken out already.  They are expecting the Abigail to come into the port, and part of the "deal" was that the Strand tribe was to get to safe passage at least, and not be harmed.  Right now, nobody knows a damn thing about the other.

Daniel is cleaning Reed's wound, and he's tied to the chair.  Chris is with Daniel, and Reed starts taunting Chris about his father, his family.  (Since he heard Chris ask if he should shoot them in the previous episode, Reed sees a weak link).

"You don't look like your 'sister,'" referring to Alicia.  Starts to try to "get in" about his background.  Daniel tells him to not engage, and burns his wound with the antibacterial stuff (remember when we'd have a knee scrape as a kid, and that Bactine shit burned like a mofo??? Imagine that with a giant stab wound...ow-ee). 

I really love Daniel's character and that we learn more about him and his background.  He and Chris leave the room, and Chris was very angry.  Daniel tells him that Reed is scared, that scared people "talk" and that he actually gave him some valuable information about the other side.  Chris didn't want to leave Reed by himself (considering that the Abigail team was able to get out of their restraints fairly easily, can't say I blame him).  Daniel, in again possibly one of the worst decisions ever made, tells Chris to stay, but "don't engage." 

I'm sure you know what Chris does (the exact opposite).

Strand, meanwhile, is still recovering from his bout with hypothermia and being out in the water for all that time.  Madison is caring for him while righting the ship, literally and figuratively.  Daniel comes upstairs from where Reed is, and says that Connor is the leader, Reed is his brother and the  boats they need to get Alicia and Travis from. 

Maddie starts taking the boat north.  Luis Flores, Strand's friend and "muscle" apparently, tells her she needs to go "south," there is a window of opportunity to get to Baja.  Maddie firmly tells him, she is not leaving without her family.  He says a few words to Strand in Spanish (which, idiot, you do know that Daniel Salazar SPEAKS fucking Spanish), and he tells him that "you know we only have enough money for two people to cross."  Strand tells him that everything is a negotiation. 

Madison tells Strand that they'll need a half day.  Then they can head to Mexico.  She said that she could have left in the water, but she didn't.  Strand agrees to the negotiation.  He says it's considered even.  Guess that saving him in the raft and from certain death gave her an upper hand of some sorts.

Maddie and Daniel discuss their next steps, as they are now the figure heads of this team (Strand is too incapacitated at this point, and even tells Flores that "You can't tell this woman what to do," so in a sense, he's met his match in personalities on the yacht).  Daniel says they need everyone to storm Connor's group and get their people back, even the kids.  Maddie is hesitant to use Nick or Chris in this.  She feels they are not ready.  Daniel says, "They're not children anymore."

Again, holding onto the old world, and even Madison who had somewhat coddled and handled Nick because of his issues can't see that this doesn't serve them well in this world.  This entire episode, when it came to "the children," I couldn't help but think this was a symbol for millennials in this country right now.  I kept calling the Alicia and Jack scenes, "Zombie Dawson's Creek."  Just because there was a lot of tension between them, and it was almost instead of bonding over ship information and SONAR, it was like chemistry lab or something.

Alicia has been playing Jack.  I don't like using that word to describe their relationship, because in the short time they've known each other, I do believe they care about each other.  Again, it's such weird circumstances, it's tough to get a read on anyone, really.  He has a knife in his back pocket, that she takes without him looking.  This entire time, Alicia has been looking for a way out or a way to notify their families. 

We finally get to see where Travis is.  Unlike Alicia, who is seen as a valuable tool in the operation, Travis has been locked away in a cell in the bowels of the ship.  He's fiddling around with the door and lock, to no avail.  We hear footsteps...slowly...getting louder as they approach the hall.

It's Alex.  The woman from Flight 462 and the raft that Strand had cut (BOOM). 

Alex, who had been calm and pretty even keeled the entire time, even when they were starving and near death, seems a little unhinged now.  She went to great lengths to try to help and save Jake, and she ended up having to take him out as he laid dying and dump him in the ocean.  Whatever happened to his family, well they will now never know what happened to their son, that he hung on for a long time.  Travis empathizes, as we all know he had to take out Liza before she turned, and says to her, "You did what you had to do."  Alex tells him, it was what HE (Meaning: Travis) made her do. 

Connor found her floating out in sea, asked her what she could give him.  She offered up the Abigail and everyone on it.  But told him to take Travis.  Her anger is really towards him.  Big props to super fan Yvette Nicole Brown for calling it.  It would've been easy to overlook how angry and cast aside Alex was because we knew that Alicia had been chatting up Jack in the first episode. 

Unfortunately, what Alex doesn't know is that Strand had betrayed Maddie and Travis' trust a lot more than Travis had cast her aside.  I'm sure if it were up to him alone, he would've taken them in.

Maddie admonished Strand for using Nick for his errands, when he could've been hurt.  Strand tells her, calmly, that Nick volunteered.  He noticed potential in him when they were in that lockup, and she still has no idea what he's capable of.  Maddie gets firm: "Do NOT come between me and my son."

Jack shows Alicia where all the points are in the SONAR, and what they are scoping out as a team.  MY44 is Abigail's code.  However, they notice it's two hours ahead of schedule, coming towards them.  Alicia freaks out, thinking that her family was taken out and demands to know what's happened to the others.  "What happens on the other boats???" Alicia asks.  Jack tells her that it's not Connor, it's Reed.  He must've gone off plan.  (Little does he know, that's partially true).

Back to the Abigail, Maddie is still treating Nick as though he's had a relapse in his care.  She doesn't realize though, the bigger picture.  Nick had gone off without her permission or knowledge, yes.  But without him returning with Luis, who knows what would've happened to the Abigail or the group.  There were a lot of factors she isn't taking into consideration that Nick getting Luis was actually a good thing for the group overall.  They'd all likely be gone or fending for themselves with no Abigail (and let's not forget what Daniel did to Strand's arms that were disabled...that put them at a severe disadvantage too, and Daniel thought Strand was the only threat on the boat).

Travis and Alex are still talking.  Mostly, it's Alex telling him that he knew the right thing to do, but he chose "the other." She's raging, and can't say I blame her.  However, she has been failed by mostly every human from the get-go, and now Connor's team is her savior because they were able to use the information she had to their advantage. 

However, I can't say she sees the whole picture.  Travis put her in the raft with provisions.  Strand was the one who decided to cut their lifeline.  They put up a united front, and then Strand went against their agreed to deal.  But all she sees is Travis telling her to get back in the raft.

He empathizes.  He says, "I have a son.  He watches me.  I try so hard not to be a part of it.  I can't tell you what you want to hear.  I'm as bad.  What you did to the boy, I had to do to my son's mother." 

Everyone has changed as a result of the world events in the last few weeks.  Even Alex, who has probably come out for revenge. Alex says that Connor can use her.  Seems like this is how Connor builds his team, they all have qualities he can use to get what he wants for their safety.  It's almost like being a project manager.  Hey, it's California.  Maybe that's what he did...

Now Chris is with Reed, and he's holding a gun while standing guard at the door.  Reed is still trying to talk to him, and Chris is engaging.  What did Daniel fucking tell you, Chris?? DON'T ENGAGE.  And you're doing it.  I swear, if this family gets it, it's because Chris does something fucking stupid.  Reed tells him that they're a lot alike, that they're "outsiders." 

"Let me tell you something, orphan to orphan.  These people you call your 'family?'  They'll put you down like a stray animal." 

Nick sees Chris after Reed was taunting him, and he's visibly upset.  Chris tells him that this whole thing was his fault.  He froze, and he should've shot them.  Nick reassures him, "That's not you.  I wouldn't have killed a pregnant woman either."  (Not sure about that, Nick, but hey, you're a good leader.  I see Nick being the Rick of this group more and more).

Jack takes Alicia to Travis.  Alicia tells Travis her concerns about Abigail, it's coming back way too soon. 

In addition to "guilt" or "blame" game, we know that Alicia went willingly with the Connor group because she felt responsible for engaging with Jack on the radio when she was personally vulnerable.  This is also where I really started to like and care for Alicia, as a character.  People have really negative feelings about her generation; however, all millennials want to do is have meaningful work and leave their mark.  What more of leaving your mark is in the fucking apocalypse, you sacrifice yourself for the greater good?

This is where Travis tells her what he knows: it wasn't her fault.  Connor found Alex in the raft.  She was the one who gave them the intel, and how they were found in the Abigail.  If Alicia can make a break for it, he tells her, go for it.  Don't worry about him.

Connor is on the radio with the Abigail, he sees them in the distance.  Thinking he's talking to his brother, Reed, he tells them to drop the anchor.  Madison grabs the radio, tells him they can get Reed if she gets her family back.  She doesn't give him details, but tells him they were promised "safe passage," and his people didn't provide that. 

After that convo ends, we hear a gun shot in the lower level.  Maddie and the rest of the team runs down to Chris, where he held Reed.  Reed is shot, presumed dead.  Chris tells them all that Reed was going to turn.  "Did I screw everything up? Were we going to trade him for my dad?" he asks when he sees Maddie and Daniel's shocked faces. 

Maddie and Chris talk, she reassures him that he did nothing wrong. (If he was my kid, I'd have been livid, but whatever, we all know Maddie has qualities of an enabler).  I believe Chris has a good heart, it's in the right place, and he feels somewhat responsible for what's happened to the group on the Abigail.  However, he needs a mom, and I guess Maddie is as good as anyone right now.

Nick and Ofelia clean up the blood from Reed's death.  She says it's becoming too familiar, you spill blood, you clean blood.  I also noticed something, as did my husband...Reed wasn't shot in the head.  It's not that Chris or any of them didn't know that's what you have to do in order to not turn.  They killed a bunch of infected on the beach and thus far.  They know what needs to be done.  I believe that Reed just got to Chris, and Chris did what he felt he should've done from the get go: shot him, dead. 

So what happens?  Of course, Reed fucking turns.  Daniel comes in at that exact moment, and restrains him, not killing him.  I remember turning to my husband to say, "They're gonna deliver infected Reed with a mask over his head, like how they took Alicia and Travis away." 

Meanwhile, when Daniel later is getting Reed "ready" for the exchange, he starts to hear voices.  If we want parallels to the parent show, I would say Daniel would become like Morgan...the solitary guy who kills only infected.  Something is going to make Daniel crack.  He's already lost his wife, wasn't there with her when she died.  I also have a theory about Ofelia: out of all the "kids," she does nothing.  She just cleans and talks to everyone, like as a conscience of the group.  She could be a voice of reason or calm.  But the girl has zero survival skills.  I predict, she's the first one to go.  And that will make Daniel crack.  He's got no skin in this game.  He gave shelter to Travis and his family, and as a result has done nothing but lose people he cares about. 

Madison and Nick argue about who goes for the exchange.  Nick wants to go with her, tells her that she could use him.  She says no.  "Because you want to."  That's messed up, Maddie.  Why wouldn't you want someone who wants to be there??

Strand and Nick are up at the captain's deck when Maddie leaves on the raft with infected Reed (head is covered by a hood, I HATE when I'm right), only see Travis with Connor and a few of his henchmen.  They don't see Alicia, because she is downstairs in a scuffle with the angry pregnant lady, and Alicia locks her in the cage. 

Connor tells Madison that they will get Alicia when they see his brother is all right.  They pass both their people over.  She takes Reed's restraints off, and he starts biting them once his mask is off.  Travis head butts some of the henchmen, and they take off. 

It's messed up, if you think about it.  Connor was pretty honest about what he wanted, and all he wanted was for his brother to be safe.  He had every opportunity to kill Travis or hurt Alicia, and he didn't.  The Abigail crew is slowly becoming unhinged.  I don't know whether to applaud them or be very, very afraid of them.

Alicia has made it to the top of the ship, as she looks to makes her escape.  She's up pretty high; doesn't see a way to get down too safely.  She's a smart girl though.  She's always looking for a solution.  Jack finds her.  This is where I kept saying, this is like apocalypse Gossip Girl, teenage drama.  Jack is part of this group, but he needs someone like Alicia in his life.  He begs her to stay.  "Alex told us what they did to her.  They'll do it to you.  Leave them."

Alicia, at this point, apologizes and chooses to be with her family.  She slides down the side of the boat in an amazing escape and dives into the water, to be plucked out by Travis.  The three of them take off back to the safety of Abigail.  Alicia stares at Jack at they leave, with all the carnage on the main deck below with Reed taking out the team. 

It looks like, presumably, that Connor is dead (his arm was bitten, and theoretically it could be amputated...during Talking Dead, they had question marks about his demise, which could mean we will see him as a walker later, or that he may be one of those amputees we see later on, if his team has the wherewithal to do it), Reed and his henchmen are gone as well.  Left behind, once again is Alex, Jack and the pregnant angry girl.  And let's face it, that baby ain't coming out alive at this point. 

You have to believe, just like we saw in the first episode of this season, this Jack and Alicia saga isn't over.  Now that Alex has even more of an axe to grind with the world, she will easily become the leader of this tribe and become more ruthless as the days turn into months, months into years.  In fact, if Connor does end up surviving with losing his arm, I'm sure Alex is the one who will do the "operation."  Didn't anyone else get the vibe while they were on Flight 462 that she might have a medical background?  Just a hunch.  But I think they said what she used to do...but I felt like she was a doctor or maybe in med school.

Lastly, in the Talking Dead post show, Alycia Debnam-Carey (the actress who plays Alicia) said that apparently Kim Dickens (the actress who plays Madison) knows something that's kept under wraps about Maddie's past that will come into play later on, like how she operates methodically and almost with a cold and detached rationale.  She might be a Dixon, she might be a Grimes. Maybe related to Shane.  I hope Negan.  Who knows?  All I know for a seven-out-of-ten episode, it ties up some loose ends, and the family is back together, at least for just one more day. 

Episode Ten Synopsis: Blood In The Streets

"I obligated you."  - Thomas Abigail

This is the first post where I will actually be caught up for the season - huzzah!

As long as I don't get too complacent and not let the rest of the episodes go by without writing about it. 

Anyway, the last episode, we left off with Strand cutting the ropes from the raft of the Flight 462 survivors, Alex and Jake.  They basically had enough food and water to survive for...who knows, at this point.

Strand's survivalistic approach right now is to not take on any more bodies, be cold and calculating, survival of the self over others.  While they are banding together as a tribe, each with their own personal strengths they bring to the table, Strand is still running the show as if what he says goes and no majority rules.

However, the scene doesn't open with the crew on the yacht.  Rather, we see Nick swimming, butt naked, up to the shoreline, presumably the wall between the U.S. and Mexico.  Mexico, by the way, has been agreed upon as the destination of the tribe, as Strand has home and supplies and tools to survive there. 

Nick gets dressed (he had his clothes in a plastic backpack) and starts to investigate a tent city.  He almost is looking for one of the infected, and sees a walker.  He stabs the walker in the head, and the disembowels the person to get covered in infected blood, so he can walk amongst them.

YUM.

Travis, meanwhile, opens the scene infuriated that Strand has cut the rope of the plane wreck survivor's raft (who here truly believes we've seen the last of them???).   He is pacing in his and Maddie's quarters, incredulous.  He feels responsible that they are out there floating towards certain death.  Maddie reassures him, "You didn't cut the line." 

The difference between the two of them is pretty fierce.  Maddie seems to get the new world; old pieces of Travis still appear from time to time.  Now his feelings come out..."We can't trust Strand."  Maddie says that he hasn't lied to them yet. 

Up to this point, the audience still doesn't know much about Strand, but we probably know more than the actual survivors on his boat.  Mostly because when he's by himself on the phone, we hear him making plans to meet someone when they arrive in Mexico.  But that's the extent of it.  Lou Diamond Phillips was on an episode of Talking Dead, where he said the most important question to be answered is why Strand was in the lock up in the first place, but also...what is his story.

And in episode nine, he said to Maddie that while he's given them shelter and a place to stay, she still has reservations.  The funny thing is, as she pointed out, he hasn't exactly been dishonest about himself...they just haven't asked the right questions.  And to be fair...Daniel is probably the coldest character of the group, and his daughter has even said that she doesn't know who he is anymore, since she found out about his past in El Salvador.

So getting back to Ofelia, I have my money on her character being the first major death of the main cast of the show.  Mostly because it seems like she's just for show at this point.  She doesn't have a survival gift to the rest of the crew.  And I think it will be because of her wounds, not because she got infected or bitten.  But right now, she's serving as either eye candy for the boys (methinks Nick has a special place in his heart for her, when he gave her the rosary from the crash site and trying to stay on top of her medical care) or as a sympathetic ear (Chris just lost his mother, and now the world he knows is falling apart).  We are still not very far removed from how the world used to be.  So it's easy to still have memories of what "life was like."

Chris and Ofelia are left alone on the deck (which with how vigilant this group has been with lookouts, seems a little misguided...why isn't someone else standing watch with them...we have an injured girl and a kid basically being a look out...everyone was off their game, it appears, with the events of the day and Strand cutting the raft).  But the context of their conversation was really sweet.  Chris tells Ofelia his mind was racing, and he can't sleep.  She starts asking him about girls, and he tells her about Maria, a girl he was seeing in Pomona.  The first we've heard about his life there.  Ofelia tells him about her life, basically, what little she had of one.  Her parents put all their heart and soul into running their family business, the barber shop.  And her duty was to take care of her parents.  She says, "There are girls left on this planet." 

I'm sure I wasn't the only one in the audience cackling, that this is far from over, chickeedee.

Suddenly, a raft with three survivors pulls up the side of the yacht, and before Chris could yell for help from the others, the three have made it onto the yacht.  You know this isn't good, especially when they say the girl of the group, who is visibly pregnant, is having trouble with the baby.  So playing on sympathies, natch.

Chris asks Ofelia, "Should I shoot them?  Should I shoot them?"  Well, clearly, Chris never discussed the plot of Hamlet with his father, the English teacher, because hesitation is what gets you killed, son. 

Travis and Maddie make it up the stairs, as Daniel comes down too.  Strand meanwhile is viewing the scene from above...he looks for his automatic weapons...which of course Daniel has disabled.  Strand is fuming about the paranoid old man (it was kind of funny, actually).  Maddie takes the girl to the bottom...unattended of course.  HEY ZEUS HAVE THESE PEOPLE NOT LEARNED A GODDAMN THING YET?!?!?  Alicia, who was still downstairs, asks Maddie what's going on.  Maddie tells her to go upstairs, she's helping this girl whose baby is in distress.

Maddie is helping the girl get cleaned up, and then with her guard down, gets knocked out by the girl, smashing her head in the mirror (COME ON MADDIE!! YOU KNEW IT WAS COMING!!! WE ALL DID!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE LARRY...ok I'm getting carried away).

So naturally, Alicia is still listening to the hubbub upstairs.  Guess what?!? They are fucking pirates and are eyeing to take the Abigail.  Because, of course.  But Alicia hears the voices.  Instead of hiding or trying to get help, she goes to the voices.

When she hears one of the voices of the boys (they are pretty young, it seems, maybe late teens, early 20s), she realizes it's familiar.  "Jack?" she asks.  The boy turns around.

It's the person on the radio she talked to the first night on the CB.

Aye, carumba.

Strand is nowhere to be found.  After he found he was rendered defenseless by Daniel's well-intentioned but misinformed disabling of the weapons he had, he made a break for it, and headed out to sea in the raft.  I always said that Daniel was one of the smartest people in the group...but disabling the weapons wasn't very well thought out, now was it. 

The pirates know everyone's name on the boat, even Nick, who still isn't there.  Daniel asks Alicia, "What have you done?"  But she swears she didn't tell Jack the names of the people she was with.  So they were able to gather the intelligence somehow else (note: in the Talking Dead episode that same evening, Walking Dead super fan and comedienne Yvette Nicole Brown said her theory is that when Alex and Jake, feeling the intense rage of a million suns being cut, told the pirates who were probably snooping around where they came from, and gave them names.  To be fair, I don't know if Alex knew all the names...but it's possible this is a story that won't end soon). 

One of the other pirates, Ross, shoots the raft Strand is on.  He says if the shot didn't get him, the hypothermia will.

Now the writers decide is a good time to tell us about Strand's life story, as he lays dying or out for dead.  Rather life events that led him to this life of opulence (one of the ideas is that Strand may have stolen the house or yacht...but it's clear there's much more).  So we have a flashback...

Picture it!  Summer 2005, after Hurricane Katrina.  We see a TV showing the damage and flooding there.  We know there was loss of life, loss of housing...just overall destruction.  However, in times of distress can be times of opportunity.  Ask any investor.

Flash to Strand sitting in a bar with another distinguished looking gentleman, watching this unfold.  Strand talked about his father.  A man who preached in mini mall parking lots (a ha! there's my preacher theory).  His mother "probably lived a good life," leading us to believe she left him with his dad.  Mostly, Strand seems to embody being a loner, self-reliant.  Obviously, that helps in this new world. 

Strand owned properties in New Orleans, but lost everything due to the hurricane.  He is now "bankrupt" as he tells the gentleman, who himself is looking to buy distressed land in Lower Ninth Ward (if you remember, one of the hardest hit areas of the storm).  Opportunist?  Optimist?  Parasite.

We see them share a few drinks together.  Strand takes the gentleman to his room.  Gets him comfortable, puts a bottle of water next to his bed.  Strand then takes the man's credit cards.  He wakes up briefly and says, teasingly, "I may or may not have seen this." 

Interesting Strand would take his cards, since we all know they can be turned off at any moment.  But this is where we lead up to Strand at current time, trying to buy time on the raft that has lost its air.

Rest of the gang is on the Abigail, tied up.  While they are being held as a group, individually you can see the wheels are turning for their survival.  Reed is asking for keys to start the Abigail.  Travis tells him that you shot the person who has the keys (Strand).  He tells him that if he unties him, he can hot wire it to start.  This is done of course after Ross starts to mess with Chris, for making fun of Chris for not shooting him when he had the chance.

Meantime, Reed takes Travis to the engine room.  Jack takes Alicia as collateral.  Maddie asks him not to.  Alicia, though, tells her that it will be okay.  She can make this right.  I will say this...Alicia finally does get the magnitude of what has happened, but is willing to take the fall for the rest of the group if it got them in trouble.  And how does she manage to have perfect hair and eye make up in the zombie apocalypse?!?!

Jack and Alicia talk, and it's typical teenager drama, but with an apocalyptic twist.  "You baited me!"  Jack says that he was put up to it by Connor, who is the actual ring leader.  Connor is a better leader, "He listens to me."  Reed and the others are live wires, but Connor keeps things levelheaded.

Nick is by the Mexican border, and has a piece of paper with an address.  9208 is the number.  He appears to be in a housing development, walking among the dead, covered in dead blood, so they don't attack him. 

We have another Strand flashback.  This time, he's in a robe in a luxury hotel.  Knock on the door...who can it be?  Well, of course it's the distinguished real estate investor he met in the hotel lounge.  This time we find out his name.  "Thomas Abigail."  Of course.  ABIGAIL.  "My associate, Luis Flores." 

Abigail knows that Strand has stolen $36,000 from him in credit cards.  Strand, who was bankrupt, went to buy some debt obligations to collect on.  "If you want a return on your investment, I'll oblige."

For some reason, Abigail sees a quality in Strand, and doesn't shake him down for the money.  Instead, he has "obligated" him.  This is a common theme in this show. 

Strand walked away from that unscathed, unlike current time, where he actually seems helpless and ready to die.  He drops his phone in the water.  His final lifeline, gone.

Meanwhile, Madison asks about where Nick is.  She seriously didn't know he swam to shore?!?  Daniel is trying to get loose, and tells Maddie to distract the girl ,who is now keeping guard.  Maddie takes the opportunity to talk to the pregnant girl, asks how far along she is and things about the baby.  Tells her that she miscarried between Nick and Alicia.  Just one day, there was a heartbeat, the next time, none.  Clearly, she's trying to get in her head. 

Jack is talking to Connor, about a "guy on board trying to rig the engine."  Looking back, I have to give Strand or the group credit, for stalling.  Strand was willing to take the fall for the group by taking the keys to the ship.  Alicia and Jack still talk.  Jack tells how he became "obligated" to Connor, after his brother died, he had nothing.  Connor put him to use.  Jack rationalizes how he has to do these things to pay Connor.  He talks about Reed, and how he shot Strand (or so they thought, just shot the raft).  Alicia says that Strand was no better than Reed.  She convinces Jack that her family can help them, that he needs to help protect them.  She can help.  Somehow she gets in.  I guess maybe their Tinder Radio hookup worked, and he cuts her restraints loose.  Alicia hugs Jack.  I think they both needed a hug.

Nick located 9208.  He knocks on the door.  Luis Flores, the man who was the muscle for Thomas Abigail in the flashback scene, holds a gun to Nick.  Nick tells him that Strand sent him.  This is clearly a classy development that was being built.  Nick asks what this is/was.  Flores tells him, "Abigail Estates."  This is what Strand was working on before the world fell apart.  Nick asks if he's bringing them all to the border.  "What do you mean?"  Guess Strand left out the detail that he brought a couple people with him.  OOPS.

Pregnant girl is sniffing a glass of what looks to be whiskey or brandy, some kind of liquor.  Maddie starts to ask about the last time she's moved (we found out it's a girl, yay).  The mother is in denial.  Seems like the baby is in distress, just trying to make it through to the end.  Maddie and Ofelia both start to ask, what if the baby is infected, what happens if she's turned.  Clearly shaken, the girl gets upset. 

Luis and Nick are about to get in his car, Nick still bloodied up from the infected.  Luis tells him to get cleaned off...Nick is such a smart ass, I love him so much, he asks about where he's planning on going (haha).  But he asks about how he knew Strand.  Luis says he worked with Tom Abigail. 

Flashback to a scene with Tom and Strand, with a "Celia," who we find out is Luis Flores' mother, a housekeeper/servant type person.  Strand wants to talk about a property they've moved in on with Tom, but he refuses to talk business at the pool. 

Travis gets boat started (I thought he was playing Reed, but guess he really could do it).  Reed informs him that Connor is very pleased with his work thus far and may have some work for him to do.   Connor and two armed people arrive from wherever their vessel is. 

Jack was actually somewhat truthful about Connor's character.  He seems levelheaded, doesn't want to resort to violence unless it's absolutely necessary, and was quite upset that Maddie wasn't cleaned up after she was hit.  Connor says he is taking Travis and Alicia with him.  Maddie doesn't want this, obviously.  Alicia has taken her big girl pills, told her mother that she'll be fine.  Again, I have to give Alicia credit.  This whole thing escalated because of her inadvertent naivete.  But she's willing to take the fall, by going with the group if it saves everyone else. 

Connor leaves with Travis, Alicia and Jack, leaves Reed and the armed people behind, presumably to take the Abigail.  Maddie negotiates with them.  "Take the Abigail," she says.  She says if they get the boat close enough to shore, they can swim there.   

Now, Luis and Nick come up on their raft.  Nick, viewing the Abigail from his binoculars, tells Luis there are two people who are holding guns that aren't with the group.  Before the armed people can react when they see them, Luis takes them both out.  THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT FOLKS.  Daniel, who was loosened his restraints, stabs Reed with a blunt object in his side.  Luis arrives, Nick tells him that everyone who is there is cool, they're with us. 

Luis is told that Strand isn't there.  Daniel, ever defiant, says they "don't need Strand."  Luis says, "we don't get into Mexico without him."

We go to a flashback with Strand and Thomas again.  This time, we are led to believe it's close to when Strand was in L.A. and got locked up.  Thomas is begging him not to go, there's this "outbreak."  Strand is reassuring, says he will come back as soon as he can. 

Prior to the last scene, at present time, the team that remained believed they could make an escape without Strand.  Half of the boat probably didn't fully trust him; the other probably thought he was a good person to have around, that he hasn't exactly been dishonest.  When he "escaped" on his raft, they probably thought they didn't need him, as Daniel said, or rather that he would die anyway.

We close the scene with Madison going out to sea, to get Strand.  She gives him her hand. 

They're in this together, for better or worse.  Ironically, the last episode, Maddie threatened to throw Strand in the water.  Now she's plucking him out, saving him.  He also obligated them by saving the families.  Likewise, I opened with the quote of Thomas Abigail telling Strand that he's "obligated" him, whereas Strand told the same thing to Nick while in lock up.  Everything is about obligation to others, people.

Obviously, this was one of the better episodes of the Fear franchise.  More humans died than infected.  But what have we learned, children?

Shoot first, ask questions later.

It's Strand's goddamn boat.

And we're going to Mexico!

Episode Nine: Ouroboros

"All these years, never knowing where you were, what you were doing, here you are." - Alicia Clark

"I was always here.  I was just hungry." - Nick Clark  

The Flight 462 mini clips that were shown in 16 one minute increments within The Walking Dead series came to a conclusion with the idea that it crash landed somewhere near Los Angeles.  In fact, at the end of episode three, Nick sees a plane landing unevenly and chaotic.  We are led to believe that this could be 462.  However, there is a time continuity issue.  At the time of this episode, we are probably about two weeks or so after that specific occurrence.  Yet, they're still surviving. 

Centrally, during that flight, we focused on a young Asian woman.  Turns out she goes by "Alex."  (There was a source of confusion, because it seemed like in some scenes, she was called "Charlie," but later on "Talking Dead" she refers to her character as "Alex"). 

She had taken care of a young teenage boy (named Jake) on the flight, whom she had apparently taken the last seat to Phoenix (their original destination) from his mother.  So here he is, separated from his family, on a flight from hell where people are turning and getting bitten, left and right.  For a 16 minute thriller, it did its job, and well.  If we are to talk about the term "Fear," this flight really captured the feeling in an accelerated pace.

So episode nine opens with four survivors on a raft, one of which is Alex.  We don't recognize him at first, but Jake is there too, just badly burned and hurt.  There are two others.  One of the survivors is trying to convince her that the kid is dead weight, he needs to go.  Seems like he decides who lives and who dies.  Alex takes him out instead.  There is another man on the flotation device.  Strawberry blond, wearing a polo.  /end scene

We then turn to Strand, who is on Abigail, talking on his phone.  Things are a little behind, but still looking at an arrival to whatever destination.  We are led to believe it's Mexico, based on what Daniel Salazar has discovered when he was left alone in the control room. 

Travis and Maddie are laying in bed together, but not sleeping.  They attempt to make love, but then a loud noise disrupts them.  Water intake is blocked, so the yacht cannot move and does not have power.  It's dark outside; Strand and Salazar believe they are sitting ducks. 

Travis decides to swim under the hull. 

We all knew what was happening next: of COURSE a frickin infected person has gotten stuck underneath is has body parts blocking the intake.  Of course there is. 

Bonus: the guy underneath is the strawberry blond dude from the flight.  Welp.

Funny part was, after all that panic and initial shock, Travis makes it back to the engine room.  He says he can rebuild a carburetor, but that the blockage needs to be removed.  Strand demands that he fixes it.  He backtracks.  Apologizes for being abrupt. Travis is a valued member of the team.  Now, clean the goddamn filter. 

Very Harvey Keitel of Strand.

From Abigail, Alicia sees in the distance the plane wreckage.  Lots of baggage.   Supplies.  Medications they could use.  Alicia, Chris and Nick decide to go to the shore.  Daniel agrees to supervise.  He has ulterior motives: Ofelia's wound hasn't healed as quickly, and she could use more antibiotics. 

Before he leaves, he tells Maddie that he has discovered Strand has plans to go to Baja.  Maddie asks Daniel to confront Strand.  He says she's the diplomat.  It would not go well if he did it, he says. 

Daniel takes the kids to the wreckage.  "Be quick.  Stay where I can see you."

Yeah, right.  They take off on their own. 

Maddie stays behind with Travis and Strand.  Travis needs to remove the infected body from the intake, but something else is sticking it all up.  Body parts, ew, gross.

Alicia and Nick talk while going through the wreckage. Chris goes off on his own, into the aircraft itself.  Two infected are still strapped in their seats.  There is one still alive, but badly injured, begging Chris to help him.

This is where there may be continuity issues - how can one guy who is strapped in still alive? The lack of a timeline or dates to go by has us wondering how much time, exactly has passed.  And was that Flight 462 that passed Nick that day he was outside in episode three?  My guess could be is he may have gotten out, was bitten and strapped himself in, hoping he'll just die and turn but not be a threat. 

Maddie confronts Strand about Baja.  Strand evades the answer, says that he has given them shelter and safety, yet she still doesn't trust him.  He concedes, says there's a place in Mexico, called Rosarito.  It's safe, in the hills.  There is a house, there are grocery stores and supplies.  Strand says the damage on land is from other people.  They're literally eating each other alive.  Maddie is very stern with him, says that she wouldn't hesitate to throw him overboard.

He says that she is not a killer. 

Despite all the talk about looking to Travis as a leader, Maddie and Strand clash so much, that they are both alphas. Everyone brings something to the table in this group.

Daniel is getting antsy as the kids are going through the remains.  Nick gives him some clothes, and Daniel says it's "bad luck" to steal from the dead.  Nick then goes through some meds, says they need some antibiotics for Ofelia, and tells him what type of suffix to look for on the bottles.

Chris takes the injured man out of his seat, but sees he has mortal wounds.  It's only a matter of time before he goes.  Getting his crash course in "mercy kills," when the man begs him for help, Chris realizes the only way to help him is to kill him.  Finally, Chris understands what Travis had to do for Liza.

Maddie and Travis talk about Baja.  "If we have no destination, we float until we die." Though they have no choice if they wish to continue with the group, but they have a destination now.  That's a plus for now. 

Back on land, Daniel, ever the parent and paranoid man, hears something dull in the distance.  He tells them to hurry up and calls for Chris.  Several minutes later, with none of the other kids around, he sees someone running towards him.  It's Alex.  She tells him to run.  Infected appear on the horizon. 

Daniel, who only had ONE JOB, let all the kids out of his sight.  Nick is away and sees an infected person caught, buried halfway up the sand.  Standing on top of the hole, he slips and falls in.  Of course he does.  Takes out the infected guy with his knife.  It's not over though...several other infected start to fall into the hole with him.

Alicia locates Chris, sees he took out some of the infected himself.  Daniel starts shooting. 

Back on the boat, Travis removes the hand that was plugging up the intake.  The boat is able to start up again. 

Back on land, Nick has not only emerged from the hole, he is covered in blood from the dead.  He almost like a warrior.  Infected are leaving him alone. 

The group makes their escape, along with Alex who was still on the raft with Jake, who is still holding on. 

The two groups arrive back at the boat.  Maddie and Travis tell them they are going to Baja, it's been decided.  They can't sit on the water forever. 

Alex and Jake, meanwhile, try to get on the boat.  Travis and Strand give a united front, say they have no room.  But they will give them supplies, like water and food. Alex, clearly frustrated, asks why this is even a debate.  She just helped them on land, but now she is seen as a threat.  They tie her raft to the back of Abigail.  They come along for the ride, but they can't stay. 

As Abigail starts to move, Ofelia and Nick talk.  He hands her a rosary that he found in the wreckage.  Not sure if that's bad luck, as Daniel said, or good luck, since Ofelia is a religious person.  She tells him, "You smell like death." 

The camera pans out to Alex, who is riding in the raft behind the Abigail.  She tells Jake that, "This is the worst it's gonna be.  Every day, it will get a little better."

No one is comfortable with the decision.  Whether right or wrong, Travis wasn't happy about not helping them, but needed to give a united front.  Maddie looks at the raft in the distance. 

Strand then storms down the stairs, cuts the raft.  Alex and Jake drift out to sea. 

Alex, I guess it does get worse before it gets better. 

Episode Eight Synopsis: We All Fall Down

"Right or wrong.  Good or bad.  It just is."  - George Geary

When we last left the crew, the threat of a real danger was heading towards them.  Strand saw a big threat that was moving fast towards them; meanwhile, the rest of the crew saw a giant boat wreckage in the distance.

I was actually waiting for the crew hauling ass out of there, trying to outrun the threat.  But the scene instead opens with waves crashing, peacefully, on the shore.  Quiet, of course, but eerily so, knowing what we know.

We see kids with buckets running down to the shore to play.  Meanwhile, infected are in water, coming to the shore.  I think basically every person watching this show was screaming at the TV, like, "Why the HELL are you letting your kids play, unattended?!"

Of course, two infected come out of the water.  We believe these kids, oblivious, are goners.  However, the infected hit a fence.  *WHEW*  They are safe, sort of, anyway.  The shore has been fenced in, as the camera pans out.

Back on the Abigail, hell is breaking loose. Mostly, though it's Maddie who is berating Nick for swimming to the hull, putting himself in danger.  However, Nick points out that he was able to retrieve the log book.  Travis, by reading this book, discovers that San Diego was torched by the military.

San Diego, Coronado, military base, etc.  The place they were aiming to go to doesn't exist.

Time for a Plan B.

Trying to outrun the new enemy isn't going well, and probably not the best plan at least short term.  Especially since their destination is no longer there.  They seek a refuge.  Again, tough to find.  But there's an island.  Then they all see a house in the distance on said island.  A light flickers.  Maddie convinces Strand to stop, and gets off with Travis, Nick, Alicia and Chris.  Salazar and his daughter stay behind, to "keep tabs" with Strand (or "on" Strand, of course, so that he doesn't try any funny stuff).

As the family arrives on the island, Travis starts speaking out loud, hoping not to alarm the people in the house.  Door opens.  We are introduced to the little boy from the opening scene, little Harry Geary.  His dad is George Geary.

Travis explains their situation.  George says that the light was an "accident," it wasn't supposed to happen, that his wife had switched it on.  Travis asks if the crew can ride out the night, they need to get their bearings because of some danger on the water.  Surprisingly, George and his family agree to this arrangement.

Travis sits with George; Maddie with his wife, Melissa.  They also have a little girl, named Willa.  At this moment, another child comes in, older, a teenager.  Melissa introduces Maddie to their oldest son, Seth.  Seth is dressed for survival.  It's clear many of the "chores" (like, taking care of the infected) are his responsibility at this point.

Back on the boat, Strand is getting antsy.  Ofelia and Daniel talk.  Something I noticed about her, while Daniel has said that his hiding who he was from her was done to "protect her," she is a little more sheltered than the other three "kids," Chris, Alicia and Nick.  She understands how the world works now.  "It's cruel."  Daniel asks Strand if he's planning to leave anyone from the island behind.

Travis is an English teacher, and he notices George has a lot of books.  Of course, I could listen to them talk about literature (that's hot), but the conversation quickly turns to what George has found out about the infection and the dead.  Besides L.A. (which the team witnessed) and San Diego (which they found out from the capsized yacht log), George informs Travis that Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver are all burned.  This is just the coast, though. George has had communication, as a park ranger, with other national park systems.  He's figured out that the damage is more than they feared.  He's lost contact with everyone from Colorado to the coast; basically the continental divide.

The interior is no better than the coast.  George figures that half the country is dead.

George philosophically discusses that nature is correcting its own course.  That we've depleted it's resources, and it's a natural correction.  Going back to Travis' first quote in his English class while teaching To Build A Fire, he says, "Nature always win."  Quietly.  He realizes how prophetic that was to him now.  George says this is "Nature's grand plan."

George is a man who wants to connect with nature, as a ranger.  Melissa wanted to connect with people, like Alicia did in the first episode. 

Nick is bonding with the two kids, Harry and Willa.  Harry says while they are playing that if an infected person comes to him, he can eat his "Power pills."  (I think we all believe, as well as Nick, that the power pills might be something that permanently "puts him to sleep.")

Nick remarks that while nature is kind of eating itself alive, without cars or planes, there is no noise or air pollution.  That the earth is kind of getting cleaner as humans are dying off.

Sunrise comes, and Chris sees that Seth is getting up to do his "chores:" killing infected who came to the fence.  He tells Chris that this is from the ship accident on the mainland, that dead are washing up on shore.  We discover the name of the island is "Catrina Island".  Chris now understands what they need to do in order to survive, and Seth is training him.  Seth says that his father has taught him to be "self reliant" and to live from the land.

What we know about this new world is that each person who survives has his or her strength.  Right now, Chris is learning to kill the infected, deftly.  Turns out, he has a gift for it.

Travis sees this from the distance and discusses it with George.  That his son mowed the lawn, did the dishes, and is now killing the infected.  George tells him that this is how life is now.  He goes to mend the fence.  Travis, however, doesn't want to give up the fight. 

Nick is tipped off by little Harry talking about his "power pills," and lo and behold, he finds a stash of some what appears to be heavy duty stuff hidden in a globe.  While he's putting it back, Willa catches him and asks him to draw with her.

Maddie and Melissa talk, and Maddie flat out asks her if the light switch was done intentionally.  Melissa affirms.  She tells Maddie that she's chronically ill, she will be dead weight in a matter of time.  George and Seth think the family should die together and stick together for as long as possible.  She realizes they are "buying time," and it's not safe.

She wants to see if Harry and Willa can have a chance, to go with this tribe as the rest of the family spends their end of days together.

We always go back to Maddie "as a mother" perspective.  This time, she tells Travis that they're saving the kids.  Though Travis had agreed with Strand in leaving the group in the boat behind in the opening of the first episode, Maddie also says that they can't keep leaving people behind, either.

Back on the boat, Strand tells Daniel that their "friends" who have been following them seem to have shifted course.  Crisis averted, for now at least.  Daniel, being the paranoid mofo he is, starts going through Strand's items in the captain's quarters. He finds some automatic weapons (he disables them), and some maps, marked with Mexico as a destination.

As I'm watching this episode, I said, "If anything happens to Daniel, the group is in trouble."  Everyone is starting to find their gifts.  Daniel, in a sense, has been there before with a world in crisis.  He gets the intensity.  He's the one who always without a shadow of a doubt follows his gut.  He's also always right about this. 

Meanwhile, Daniel isn't keeping too much of a tab on Strand, as Strand is talking on a phone, away from Daniel.  He says to the other end, "We will be there at sundown."

Nick talks to Maddie and Travis, who were finishing discussing bringing the children on board.  He says that he thinks that George is planning to "Jonestown his family."  He then confides that he found some heavy drugs in the kids' room.  "I know my pharmaceuticals.  These aren't recreational."

Melissa has packed Harry and Willa a going away bag.  She has them convinced they're going on a boat trip, which they love.  Harry comes downstairs and says that Willa isn't waking up.  She "took her pills."

The pills, by the way, that she saw Nick hiding back in the globe just a few moments ago.  She has overdosed and is about to turn.  Melissa is trying to wake her up.  Before Maddie has a chance to warn her, Willa turns and bites her.

The group runs with Harry in tow to the boat.  Strand is against bringing another person on, especially a child (he's all about the "contribution").  Seth chases after the group before they leave.  Brandishing a shotgun, he says he's taking his brother back, he's keeping the family together.  Reluctantly, they give Harry back to his brother, for certain death.

As the Abigail pulls from the dock, Harry and Seth see Melissa walking the dock.  She has turned and is now one of the infected that Seth has been trained to kill without emotion.

Feeling they should do something, Daniel Salazar says, in only the way Daniel can, "Kid has a shotgun."  Shrugging it away.  Can't do anything about it but accept it and move on.  Flying Spaghetti Monster, I LOVE this man. 

Seth tells Harry to look at the flowers (or rather, wave bye bye to the boat) and kills their mother.

My feelings?  I'm kind of glad they didn't have a kid with them.  I felt it would ruin the dynamic of the group, but also as Strand said, a kid would be dead weight.

Unfortunately in this world, we need to be cold.  All old world thinking is out the window at this point.

The Abigail sails on to their next destination.