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