"I obligated you." - Thomas AbigailThis 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.
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!
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