Fear The Walking Dead – Grotesque

By starrymag | August 24, 2016

By: Jennifer Vintzileos

 

And we’re back! After a mid-season finale that separated our west coast survivors in Mexico, one can only wonder what the second half of the season has in store for them. To start Season 2.5, we find out the whereabouts of Nick (Frank Dillane). And so, without further ado, let’s get to it!

 

“Good luck. I hope you find them.”

 

As Nick found his way to staying with Sofia (Diana Lein) and her son, part of Celia’s (Marlene Forté) family, he now has hopes to head into northern Mexico towards Tijuana. There, he hopes that he can find more individuals like Celia and join them. Armed with a backpack courtesy of Sofia, he heads off on his journey. On the first night of his journey, taking refuge in what he had thought was an empty home, he gets accosted by an angry woman and flees, leaving behind all his survival supplies.

 

“Fathers are supposed to show sons how to be a man in the world.”

 

Before Nick was abruptly woken up and shooed from his refuge, he had a flash back to his time in rehab. He is sitting with his girlfriend Gloria (Lexi Johnson) as they discuss their families and how Nick can verbalize his frustration with his father’s indifference in his life. It is apparent that Nick harbors feelings of hurt and resentment from this.

 

“We got a live one.”

 

With no water or shelter from the sun, Nick finds his journey a bit more treacherous. He locates a scant bottle of water in a undead-infested vehicle, cautiously maneuvering his way to avoid getting bitten for a drink of water. There, he also locates a radio, but his happiness is short-lived as a Jeep with three men come into view, stopping at the abandoned cars.

 

There, Nick is witness to the brutal death of an elderly gentleman in his vehicle by the hands of the gentleman. Nick attempts to be quiet, but the plans are thwarted by the radio crackling and the men are now on Nick’s trail. Luckily, Nick finds a field of thick shrubbery and manages to elude the men.

 

Later on, in an effort to find water, Nick then tries cutting open a cactus for water, only to vomit what seems like moments later. With no other option, he drinks his own urine as a way to stay hydrated and finds a van to fall asleep against for the night.

 

“Daddy’s not coming.”

 

In the next flashback, Nick and Gloria are preparing to meet with their families as part of their process in rehab. While Gloria’s parents are the first to come in, Nick only sees his mother Madison (Kim Dickens) enter the facility. As both are seated in a private room, Madison reveals that Nick’s father has died in a head-on collision. Through the window, Gloria sees a grief-stricken Nick being hugged by his mother.

 

“I’ll take you home.”

 

Nick’s rest is short-lived by two wild dogs, circling and ready to attack him. One of the dogs manages to bite Nick’s leg before he fights them off and scrambles onto the top of the van. The dogs attract a herd and become bold enough to approach the undead, only to lose as the herd overpowered and devoured the dogs.

 

While delirious from lack of water and now a bite, Nick manages to pull himself up off the van as the herd that had eaten the Mexican Cujos were attracted to a horn in the distance. Once Nick is off the van, he covers himself in infected blood and integrates himself into the herd to go undetected. The horn that had attracted the undead came from the same Jeep earlier in the episode, as the men now decide to shoot at the group shuffling towards them.

 

Unfortunately, one of the shooters is distracted by Nick’s eyes and fails to reload his weapon in enough time as he is taken over and eaten along with one of the other accomplices. The Jeep leaves with the only survivor.

 

“It’s not him.”

 

As Nick falls to the pavement from dehydration and injury, there are scouts on a hill watching him, including one woman named Luciana (Danay Garcia). While at first she is reluctant to help him, her companions point out that the man is still alive.

 

In one final flashback, Nick and Gloria are seen in the church where Nick had been when the epidemic began. We see Gloria before she dies and turns, shooting heroin with Nick. Flash-forward to present, it has started raining, giving Nick the much-needed water to keep going.

 

“Death is not to be feared, but it shouldn’t be pursued.”

 

Revived by the water, Nick finally manages his way into a nearby town and locates a drug store. While attempting to shoddily patch up his leg, Luciana and her group enter the store and question Nick about the bite on his leg. Finding out that it was a dog and not one of the undead, he is sent to Alejandro (Paul Calderon) to be patched up.

 

Alejandro advises Nick that it is foolish to try to walk with the undead and encourages him to embrace life instead. As Nick walks outside in Colonia, the survivor community he stumbled into, he sees bustling life and finds himself wanting to join in.

 

Check back next week as we will get a glimpse into the whereabouts of Madison, Strand, Alicia and Ofelia in “Los Muertos!”