Episode 20 Synopsis: Wrath

"The old rules of conduct no longer apply."  - Victor Strand

This episode represents the second to last of season two, which was aired as a back-to-back two part finale.  I also had the opportunity to watch much of the first season in a FTWD marathon over the weekend prior.  It was fascinating to watch the entire undoing of the world unfold, once again.  They gave us little clues here and there as to how the characters were developed.  Like some were more equipped to handle the new world more than others.  Like Alicia and Nick, for starters.  They've seemed to adapt more than the adults.  Which I guess is a good thing.  After all, the children are our future.  Or some shit.

Moving right along, another character that has developed in a direction that I completely did not think would ever happen was Ofelia.  Mercedes Mason, the actress who plays Ofelia, has been on Talking Dead after some of the shows recently.  She talked about her evolution as this sheltered daughter of two pious individuals who were escaping evil and served their lives to protect her.  In the very first episode she appeared in, she was wearing a cutesy dress and trusted that the family her father was giving shelter to (Travis, Liza and Chris) were good people she wanted to help.  In the end, Griselda (her mother) passed, her father's fate remains to be seen (I don't know how you can cast Ruben Blades and NOT bring him back, but we don't know if he died in the fire), and Ofelia has literally no ties to these people other than they survived the fallout together.

Her character has become sort of a solitary bad ass.  A little misinformed, but when you go all out bad ass, you fucking go all out.  She took Strand's truck, and while attempting to cross the border, her truck overheats and soon, she finds herself surrounded by infected.  She takes a few out, then decides to hoof it.  Well, okay.  I guess when you commit to something, you commit.

Plus, I noticed that the world is sort of ripe for the taking.  How many characters have we seen just take take take?  Perhaps she just had faith that she'd get to Santa Fe (I mean, it's been implied she's trying to find her ex-fiance who we found out had moved there), and that she'd find a way.  Day of the Dead and religious references still abound, as she takes her rosary and water, and walks.

This episode we see the fate of the kids.  Besides Ofelia, we've been following Nick's evolution as "gringo" in La Colonia to being a saviour to the group.  He's formed an alliance with Luciana, who he is also involved with romantically.  The leader of La Colonia, Alejandro, has been playing it safe the whole time, by bargaining with men at the warehouse.

Clearly, Alejandro doesn't realize what has happened to communities like Alexandria, where the hubris and false sense of security of the leaders usually leads to their untimely demise or kills innocents who should not be.  His philosophy has been what is outside the walls is less safe than staying in, even if it means being sitting ducks.

The last we saw Nick, he was trying to convince Luci and Alejandro to do the Oxy exchange with the warehouse banditos.  They overruled him, even though Nick believed that they found the colony and were planning to infiltrate.  Nick leaves against their wishes.  Marco, the leader of Pelicano warehouse, is running sinking ship.  Supplies are dwindling.  Their force is getting less effective.  They still have guns and other ammo, so they're clearly "takers."  Nick tries to negotiate drug drop offs to ensure the safety of La Colonia.  Marco shows that his henchmen have killed Francisco and his family.  They plan on taking La Colonia.  "Leave now or die."

Travis has been holed up back at the hotel, I'm guessing he was lost in his own thoughts.  Madison talks to him, tries to convince him he did the right thing by letting Chris go.  "You kept your promise to Liza.  The rules are different, and they're always changing."  Travis wasn't understanding Chris and his needs anymore.  He's safer with people who understand him.  She tries to convince him to join the others in the world downstairs.  They're ready when he is, she says.

See, this is a common thread that I've discovered.  Nick left, Chris left, Ofelia left.  In each case, each person had made an empty promise to look out for each other.  In Ofelia's case, Daniel asked Madison to look out for her.  Ofelia decided to go out on her own.  As for Chris, there was no changing him.  In that case, he had to change for himself.

Alicia comes to Travis to bring him food.  She apologizes, says that she felt responsible for driving Chris away.  Travis says she was right, that Chris is "sick."  He felt responsible for not protecting her.

Alicia has also found a niche in being a medical assistant to Andres, who has been attending to the hotel refugees.  She reports on some vulgar Americans who came in during the night.  One of whom had a dislocated shoulder from a wreck.  That was Brandon, who along with Derek had found the hotel.  Their typical entitled Americanism shine through, and Alicia wants to kick them out.  Madison overhears their accident story.  Their truck rolled about a dozen times.  The "buddy" who was driving...he didn't make it.  "Who grows up in LA without a license?," one of them muses.

Maddie is struck: this has to be the Americans who Travis described.  The similarities were uncanny.  Easily, one of the weirdest parts of the show so far is how she reacted.  She RUNS to Strand, who is still recuperating from his stab wound from Ilene, and she has this meltdown about how Travis left Chris with these men, she told Travis he did the right thing, that Chris was probably safe out there, and now she thinks he's dead.

Strand tries to rationalize with her, but she wants to kick them out.  In an effort to protect Travis (remember, each woman in Travis' life felt like "something" would break him...whether it was taking out Liza when she was bitten or losing Chris...they've all made some kind of association that Travis was weak, which was further beaten in by Chris when he left to join the Bromigos), she feels that the *hope* that Chris might be alive is enough.  Strand asks if the hope that Nick is alive keeps her going.  "It's a dark world Madison.  Do you think he can handle it?"  I like how they've got Strand as like this Jiminy Cricket for Madison.

The answer she clearly believes is no, though.

Back at La Colonia, Nick tells Luciana and Alejandro about the Pelicano banditos coming for the site.  While Luci and Alejandro talk about "faith" and getting through it, Nick believes they need to cut their losses.  They're out numbered and outgunned.  See, this is where I like Nick.  He was willing to give into a higher power (it's almost like being in NA or AA, where you put your troubles on the shoulder of a higher being), but when it came down to it, he was a realist and they needed a plan.

At this moment, a patient under Alejandro's care has turned and surprises everyone by biting Alejandro along with a few others.  Nick took the infected out, but now the jig is up: Alejandro is now scared.  Nick thinks he is not immune (I mean, I don't think he ever bought that story).

After the two others were bit, they sacrificed themselves to the "Wall."  Nick starts packing, says to Luciana, "Faith will not protect us."  Alejandro shows up.  Nick says that he never saw him afraid until yesterday, when people were leaving.  Now he's afraid of the bite.  Luciana is confused.  Alejandro then admits the day Luciana thought he was bitten and survived, he was bitten by the drugged out boy, who had not yet died.  He justified his actions as that more people survived than died as a result of his lie.  Nick tries to convince Luciana to come with him.  "I'm sure as shit not committing suicide for a fraud."  Luciana says that she won't leave. 

Meanwhile back at the border, Ofelia finds a fence with a hole and presumed to cross into the U.S.  However, she is shot at from a distance.  She takes cover, and she is approached by a man as she protects herself with a knife.  "Buenos dias, señorita.  Welcome to America."  I'm guessing he's some sort of border guard, still protecting the border.  Kind of funny, since Ofelia is Latina, they're probably going to assume she's Mexican...she needs to break out into song.  "Born in East LA," perhaps?

I'll save you the trouble: this is the last we see of Ofelia for this season.  BUT I have a feeling where the story is going with her, and I predict she will be reunited with the rest of the group at some point.  

Back at the hotel, Andres takes a look at Brandon's shoulder, says he will need to pop into place, but someplace private.  The rest of the patients take umbrage with this plan.  Some of them have been there a few days and haven't yet seen a doctor.  Crying preferential treatment, Madison and the group take them outside and plan to let them go as they are basically chased out by the rest of the refugees.  Travis, of course at this very moment decides to leave his room and hears the commotion.  He sees that Brandon and Derek are at the center.  Strand sees this, tries to stop him, but no avail.  Travis rushes downstairs and stops them from setting them out.

"Where's my son?!?!?!!!!???"

Travis goes to talk with Brandon and Derek in an empty cafe.  Andres, Oscar and Madison go with him.  Andres pops Brandon's shoulder back in.  The conversation was civil at first.  Travis asks where Chris was.  Brandon and Derek negotiate a car out of there, as theirs was wrecked.  Madison agrees to this.

They begin to talk about how they didn't make it very far.  Between banditos on the highway, wasted, they were all exhausted.  Brandon and Derek take a nap in the back of the truck, Chris drives.  "He wanted to contribute," they said.  (They said earlier in the triage that he wasn't "pulling his weight."  Which is sort of ironic because Chris had told Travis earlier that he felt that they would think nothing of killing him, but he told Travis that in an effort to trick him.  So there's that).  They guessed that he must have "dozed off," the truck rolled about a half dozen times.  They said Chris went through the windshield.  He didn't make it.

Travis, though, presses for more info.  They said they buried him, and took him out of the truck.  He notices inconsistencies.  Was he thrown...or did they take him out?  Derek jumps in, says he was thrown, but they pulled him out by the tree.  Travis, once the others leave the room, in an unprecedented Travis move, locks them in the cafe.  All the rage he's felt by the world falling apart around him, these two assholes who seduced his child into a false life of badassery and losing his son, he starts beating the piss out of them, while the others helplessly watch outside.  Oscar runs to get the keys.

Travis demands to know the truth.  Brandon admits, they had to put him down.  They had to, he says.  The writers had us see that Chris had broken his leg in the wreck, tried to beg for mercy.  Something tells me though, the "bromigos" weren't too broken up over it.  I mean, shit, they're getting a brand new car out of it!!

Travis then re-dislocates Brandon's shoulder, starts wailing on both Derek and Brandon.  Oscar tries to break up the fight, but Travis in a blind rage knocks him unconscious too.  He choked the life out of Derek, then took his boot to Brandon's head.  Ending it. 

I'm not going to say that the bros didn't deserve it.

But I understand.