Fear the Walking Dead Review [2×04]: “Blood in the Streets”

You should fear trust in innate humanity.

I fear everyone can say ‘I told you so’ now. Alicia Clark’s (Alycia Debnam-Carey) ‘radio catfish’/mysterious Jack (Daniel Zovatto) took a turn for the worst when the group boarded the Abigail under the pretence of their pregnant passenger bleeding heavily between the legs-only to swiftly find that it was a scam. Within moments everyone except Strand (Colman Domingo), who escapes off-board and into the sea, are zip-tied and fearfully held hostage. It’s a very split and disjointed episode, with Strand, Nick and the boat’s storyline running in unison but it all feels too messy until they converge nicely towards the end.

Nick (Frank Dillane) smothers himself with blood as he drags his body among a campsite of zombies-and it’s a brief nod back to when he swiftly recognised last episode that the hoard of the undead didn’t notice him because of it. Eventually, his intentions are revealed. Nick has been sent to find contact Luis Florez who we can presume was the contact Strand was on the phone to in the last episode. Together they clean up Nick’s bloodied attire and set aboard a dingy on the way to meet the boat. Strand, who escaped and was shot at, finds himself at sea. Through flashbacks we learn of his intimate relationship with business partner Thomas Abigail (whom the boat belongs to). It becomes clear that Strand’s intentions are to reunite with Abigail in Mexico, in perhaps a safehouse of sorts.

While all of this is happening, the tension in the boat grows thicker. Reed holds Travis (Cliff Curtis) at gunpoint so until he can get the boat running without Strand’s keys. Jack, meanwhile, confesses to Alicia that he didn’t want to be a part of this-but feels like he owes Reed in some way, for saving his brother’s life.

Maybe we found each other for a reason. — Alicia Clark

It’s the climax of the episode where the pace begins to pick up again and the storylines converge once more; Nick and Luis are zooming back to the Abigail, but through the binoculars Nick can see that there are people on the boat with guns. Luis yanks out an honest-to-God rifle and puts a bullet through two of the assailants’ heads, shocking everyone. Reed makes his intentions transparent among the chaos-he will kill them all-and Salazar seizes Reed’s gun just in time as Chris (Lorenzo Henrie) and Madison (Kim Dickens) attack the group. Madison stabs Reed in the neck before Chris assumes control, angrily wanting to cause him as much pain as possible: Reed had spent the majority of the episode mocking an incestual relationship with Alicia. Nick and Luis board the Abigail only to yet another setback: the mysterious Connor, whom Reed and Jack had been reporting to-has shown up with reinforcements and take Travis and Alicia hostage. For what, we don’t know-but at the end of the episode, Madison comes to Strand’s rescue. She’s determined to save Travis and Alicia, but she knows, reluctantly, that she cannot do it without Strand.

Hijacking your way through the world.

The theme of hijacking and perhaps Trojan-horsing seemed to be prominent in this episode. It was obvious with the Nick scene. He uses the dead man’s blood to cover himself in it and blend in with the zombified campsite as he imitated their movements. The slow, lifeless drag of the leg. Another obvious one would be the actual hijack of the Abigail by Reed, Jack and the pregnant girl.

But I think the best ‘hijacks’ have to go to Madison and Alicia-and alright, Alicia, you messed up big-time with the radio shenanigans but you did good this episode, in my opinion. To start with Madison, who bluntly reels off a list of dire possibilities of what could happen in a bodged pregnancy to rile the pregnant girl up. It is Kim Dickens’ excellent portrayal I admire every week for she is just able to tap into the darker side of Madison’s personality-the darker side that has to exist now, because of the world around her.

We all have a function — Jack

Alicia abruptly offers her help at Connor’s base, but only at the protection of her family: it’s a dead giveaway. It’s evident what comes first, and it most certainly isn’t Jack. There is recognition there; Alicia knows Jack’s interested in her, from the very moment she flinches away from him and tells him not to touch her. It’s a big episode for Alicia-because she is desperately trying to right her wrongs-and as they converse, Alicia pries into Jack’s private life, chatting of exes and such. Maybe she still is searching for humanity. Maybe Alicia Clark still does believe that somewhere in this horrible world, lies good people. I simply can’t shake the quiet loneliness Alicia displayed in the premiere episode, where her only solace was the radio. Jack’s torn from all angles, and when Alicia hugs him, he sinks into the embrace, indulging in intimate human contact for once. Alicia’s expression is carefully stoic. She was never an idiot teenager. She was never some stupid, whiny youth. She’s quick-thinking and intelligent, and she’s up to something…

Strand’s true intentions-and the true Abigail.

I admire Fear the Walking Dead’s slow burn. Yes, it’s too slow for some; my brother, who is a Walking Dead fan, finds it frankly boring. Yet this episode was not one of my favourites and nor one of the more memorable ones. I must commend the writers and showrunner Dave Erickson for weaving such an intimate plot and build-up into something I still truly believe will emerge into something grander. The cinematography of Nick’s opening sequence was stunning. There’s rarely a moment missed that doesn’t matter, such as Nick learning of how to merge in with the zombified city.

I found Strand’s flashbacks jarring to the plotline itself, which could’ve made for a promising cabin fever episode-but I also understand that Strand’s flashbacks were necessary in order for us to understand this character’s motivations, his endgame, and more importantly, make him more compelling than just the mysterious man who kind of speaks in riddles. It humanised him, that was for sure-as did the beginning sequence in which a genuinely panicked Strand fled the boat.

In these flashbacks we garnered more information on the nature of Strand’s relationship with businessman Thomas Abigail, getting the Abigail absolutely plastered before swindling his cards. I think he had deceived Abigail out of $30,000 by the time Abigail and his associate Luis Florez caught up with him. Turns out Strand was quite the entrepreneur from the beginning, but upon apology and stating that he had honourable intentions of paying it back someday…

I didn’t pardon you. I obligated you. — Thomas Abigail

It’s from here on that we see both a close romantic and business relationship flourish. It’s clear Strand had deep feelings for Abigail-and that makes his quest to get to Mexico far more compelling and something to root for. However, he’ll face tough competition from Madison-and I suspect they’ll form some strange dream-team over the next couple of episodes-as they both have very different agendas. Strand likely wants to get to Mexico ASAP; Madison wants Travis and Alicia back, ASAP. It’s a direct clash of desire, and moving forwards-considering they are both stubborn bulls-it’ll be interesting to see if they come up with any compromise.

Four episodes in and I fear we’ve re-jumbled.

I’m in a bit of a limbo. The first three episodes were brilliant set-up for a potentially fantastic season. I understand each season of each television show hits a snag-but I wasn’t expecting it so soon. Though the plot, in hindsight, was a little haphazard over the past three episodes, it still made for an enjoyable watch. ‘Blood in the Streets’, whilst filling in a lot of plot-holes (especially surrounding Strand) didn’t offer that same level. If one thing has remained consistent, is the sheer quality of the acting: everyone is always on top-form, and this episode I have to applaud Frank Dillane and Colman Domingo.

It’s definitely a shake-up because Alicia and Travis are now taken out of the equation. Whilst this is a bit disappointing (Frank Dillane and Alycia Debnam-Carey excel in their scenes together, in my opinion), it opens up the remaining ‘boat gang’ for more interaction with each other. Tonight dished us some rare Ofelia-Chris, and I can only imagine the interpersonal relationships in this enclosed space will get messy and haywire as the season progresses. As someone who watches primarily plot-driven shows, I was surprised by amount of respect and love I had for Fear the Walking Dead. I’d classify it as mainly character-driven. And yet no matter how frustrating the character, no matter their (awful) choices-I can’t help but enjoy watching them. It is truly a testament to the casting couch and the actual cast themselves. Individually, they deliver excellent performances. As an ensemble, I think they are fantastic-and you can tell in the dynamics they portray. So the plot may be somewhat muddled for now, but I optimistically think it’s heading in the right direction. Strand’s shroud of mystery slowly dissipating was long coming. What I really want to see is some true human struggle within the boat-of power, control, order, love…

Something very human among the world of the undead.

Conclusion and final verdict.

Overall, this episode was quite disappointing in comparison to the relatively strong openers. It’s difficult because this show is one that stirs opinions of all sorts-but my problem with Fear the Walking Dead has never been with pace. On this occasion, it’s the jolting nature of the story-telling, and the way Strand’s flashbacks were obviously necessary but just didn’t seem to fit into the narrative. The ‘plot twist’ of the radio catfish (that’s Jack’s name from now on) getting to their boat was surprising at all.

However, it did it allow for some further exploration of the nearly-apocalyptic world as we know it. We know Travis and Alicia will be under Connor’s imprisonment, wherever he’s set up base-and that should be a nice new location and set. It also gives good opportunity for Debnam-Carey and Curtis to interact, as oddly they have not done so much. It also frees up a potential Madison/Strand showdown, with Daniel Salazar possibly sliding into the fray. As for Ofelia and Chris, they have yet to serve purpose-but I’ll give Fear the Walking Dead the benefit of the doubt. I enjoy the slow burn and I enjoy the seemingly pointless conversations they have about exes-because why not? When the world’s fallen around you, why not try and remember the good while it was still intact? There’s definitely room for some further character development (which I think we’ll definitely see in Strand and Alicia). I’m highly optimistic about this series-how about yourselves? Feel free to let me know!

Questions and comments to ponder for next week’s episode…

• Will we ever get to know what happened to Alex?
• What’s Connor going to do with Travis and Alicia? And who is Connor?!
• It looks like Alicia has some real action next episode-with her promising to get Travis out of the sticky situation they’re in, and in the trailer she seems a fight.
• Are Madison and Strand going to have to form a shaky alliance-despite their very different morals-in order to achieve what they both want? They need sanctuary in Mexico, that is for sure-but Madison will not go without Alicia and Travis.
• Alicia Clark is one sassy chica. From last week’s “you’re gonna get slapped” to this week’s “I’m not doing shit“-you go, girl!

ll FEAR THE WALKING DEAD AIRS 9/8c ON AMC ll