'Fear the Walking Dead' Recap: '100'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

As Fear the Walking Dead continues to reinvent itself in an effort to become a powerhouse dark venture, much like its sister show has turned out to be, the series found itself at quite the crossroads at the end of last week. Because by revealing that Daniel Salazar was alive and well, we knew full well that the next episode was going to be all about him and how he escaped that fire, putting the show in a tough place because it risked outright copying The Walking Dead.

After all we've seen the 'how so and so survived' storyline before in season six of The Walking Dead when we found out how Glenn Rhee escaped a pack of walkers in 'Heads Up', so naturally it would be silly if Fear delivered unto us a similar story, and nothing more. But thankfully, last night's episode, '100' did not fall into that trap, and while it definitely had its moments of familiarity, this story went above and beyond, giving Daniel Salazar a depth we've never seen before and something that he has been in desperate need of on the show, redemption.  

Now, how exactly he managed to escape the Abigail Compound as it burned to the ground we will never quite know, in fact...neither does Daniel for that matter. He simply knows that he awoke, slightly ablaze and high tailed it out of there and in a harrowing sequence of events, we were quickly reminded that the speed with how the world ended made supplies scarce and survival difficult as Daniel struggles to find water and food and the harsh reality that he may never find such important basics helped us see a side of Daniel we've never seen before...because he was completely and utterly afraid early on in this story. He knew the odds, he knew the dead would likely find him and to see such a strong character in pain and in utter terror was downright stunning.

Thankfully however, an act of kindness from a man named Efrain got Daniel everything he needed. There was water to drink and food to eat in Efrain's out of the way sanctuary and he even received critical medical care from a woman named Lola, and while all of this seems like familiar territory, once Daniel healed...we ventured somewhere new. Because faced with the realization that his steel trap mind failed him at the Abigail Compound and with his past still weighing heavy on his soul, we once again saw something new in Daniel...remorse, and seeing as to how Efrain was playing preacher with the dead, absolving them of their sins, Daniel asked for the same level of salvation so he could venture back out into the world and find his daughter with a clean conscience.

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Efrain thankfully was happy to oblige, but Daniel's mission to find his daughter took quite the wild turn. Because after an attack in a storm drain by physically superior walkers, and what appears to be Divine intervention, a weak and still healing Daniel collapsed as the storm above him broke and awoke down river at the dam that we were introduced to last week, and in order to remain safe from Dante's wrath, Daniel takes an impromptu job there and tries to maintain a low profile. But an altercation reveals his past life to Dante, who quickly recruits dear Daniel into his personal security squad to help shore up the water he is losing in town and well...the entire sequence that follows was extremely hard to watch.

Because Daniel more or less embodied the whole mantra of being set in one's ways since returning to his enforcer lifestyle was akin to slipping on a pair of comfortable shoes. It was as if he never left his old life behind and he did many great things for Dante, including helping to break Efrain and Lola when his intentions were otherwise and truly...it seemed as though Daniel had given up all hope in this world. Without his daughter or wife present in his life anymore, in his mind, what else was there to live for, so why not go back to the old ways? After all, his brutal skill set had brought him this far, and the blood on his hands was never going away, so a few more drops would mean nothing in the grand scheme of things, right? 

However, it was obvious that there was still some good left within his heart. He did attempt to warn Lola that Dante would stop at nothing to uncover her and Efrain's work to steal water and he did show genuine desire to see them safe, but truly the only way to show that there was any humanity or kindness left within his soul was to save them from certain doom and at the last possible minute, Daniel did just that. He put down Dante and his thugs and freed Lola, Efrain and Strain for that matter and upon saving their lives, he offered his own to Lola in return and she was happy to show the man the mercy he has so desperately been seeking...

When all is said and done however, this turned out to be quite the beautiful tale of redemption. Daniel Salazar is a fan favorite, and a wonderful character to have on the show, so it was such a relief to not only see that he survived the Abigail Compound, but that he finally may have made peace when it comes to the demons that haunt him and hopefully said peace allows for him to find a little faith in regards to Ofelia's chances of survival and he can start the search to find her and put together what little of his family he has left. Either way, this was a wonderful episode, one that was dark and powerful and bold, and kudos to the show for keeping the world authentic by having a majority of the characters this week speak in their native language of Spanish as necessary, and now that Daniel's troubles are behind us, hopefully the entire group can eventually be reunited and we can see all these characters enjoy a fresh start in a strange new world. Until next time.

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