‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Alaska’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 603 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.
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Thus far, season six of Fear the Walking Dead, has offered up some fascinating examinations in regard to the human condition. The kind that have outright questioned, what it actually takes for good and just people to survive in a world gone mad and thus far, the answer that the series has offered up in regard to that query, is quite powerful to say the least. For it has made it clear that operating within a grey area, and indulging our dark side as necessary, is perhaps the only way to survive insurmountable odds. And that’s motivated both Victor Strand and Morgan Jones to once again indulge in the darker behaviors and thoughts and more savage actions, that brought them this far in the first place and that’s also led to some shocking and poignant moments for certain. 

In fact, some of their actions have left the audience wondering if they will be able to recover from the dark place they’ve returned to, once this whole mess with Ginny comes to a close. But alas, that particular exploration will have to wait for another time. Because this series has plenty more to explore about the human condition and how people respond when faced with insurmountable odds and oppression. Such as exploring a concept that relates to a unique element that was briefly introduced during last week's episode. Because Victor and Alicia's long and winding journey toward Ginny’s Gulag last week, finally allowed for the audience to get a quick look at the world that Ginny has created, and uh… it’s not good. For what she’s put together is downright oppressive and terrifying, and it is clear that people have to work within the framework of her rules or face horrific and dangerous punishment. 

Which means that they live in a world of fear, and that kind of world is often without hope and that foundation is what led to the exploration in question in ‘Alaska’. For this particular tale pondered upon how exactly people find hope, or joy in a world that is devoid of those elements and Al and Dwight were the perfect vessels to conduct this exploration. For the two of them have been in some seriously rough situations before, the kind that seemed hopeless and terrifyingly dark. But they always seem to find a reason to go on, and believe in something more and once again, they found that here. In part by indulging in an age-old lesson when it comes to finding happiness or joy, by finding some kind of bright spot in the situation at hand.

In this case, that involved playing a little game. For Al and Dwight were now on a special mission from Ginny. One that involved looking for other groups of survivors. So, that they would either bring said survivors to Ginny's Gulch or document what went wrong at their respective outposts to prevent such a calamity from happening to Ginny's people. And thanks to the current state of the world; Al and Dwight found a lot of broken colonies and faced a lot of death and disappointment, and that motivated them to play a little game and collect drivers’ licenses like Pokémon, and it also dared them… to dream of a better life. One where they found their respective loves and were able to escape and just carve out a peaceful path for themselves, which definitely gave them a reason to go on with their unsettling mission, and oddly enough, this romantic daydream; was something that was suddenly potentially tangible for Al. 

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Because Isabelle was still out there and Al had her hands on a CRM Radio and that allowed for her track her lost love’s movements and wouldn't you know it? Isabelle was coming quite close to their location. Which motivated Dwight to encourage Al to just go for it. After all, life was hell at this point, so why not just try and fight for something better? And that in turn motivated the both of them to huff it to the drop site in order to catch Isabelle in time and to also secure a solid body double/walker to help in faking Althea’s death. In order to keep suspicion away once she ventured off with her lady and well, once they got to the drop site, a new wrinkle came into play. Because this wasn’t some simple jaunt to the top of a building like Al and Dwight were expecting. For this building had a stronghold of survivors, the kind that were in distress.
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For rats were surging through this building and spreading bubonic plague and that motivated Al to do the unthinkable and press ahead and declare these folks immediately dead. Which spoke volumes to the fact that she was completely without hope at this point and eager to just escape the darkness. But seeing Dwight start to suffer from the plague since he had a run in with a rat, days before, and seeing the fight that the healthy survivors were putting up, helped to remind Al of quite the important lesson. In that, sometimes it is up to a single individual to inspire hope in others, even when that individual has none in their hearts. And that epiphany, motivated Al to not only wave off Isabelle. But to raid the CRM’s supply boxes. Which just so happened to have the supplies and medication needed to help these people, allowing for her to find hope through others, since she saved the day and many lives.   

Which means that we got our first real happy ending of the year. Since Al was able to get the group of survivors on the road to recovery and offer them a chance at a new beginning, and of course, this episode also found a way to examine how sometimes, holding out hope for something big in life, eventually pays off in spades. Because for ages now, Dwight has been hunting for his lost love Sherry and hoping for a grand reunion, and after he and Al saved the day and evacuated the survivors… he ran into Sherry and was able to embrace her after all these years. Which is quite the wonderful way to end this particular tale, since it puts a little hope into our hearts as well, since it suddenly seems as though things might not be so bad in the future for these characters, after all. 

If anything, this particular tale was quite the breath of fresh air, when all is said and done. Since it really did push the narrative into some uplifting territory and it was quite nice to have this story hammer home a message to hang onto hope regardless of the odds. Because that’s a message we all need right now. But while it was nice to have some warm and fuzzy moments in this tale, we would be remiss to not point out the foreshadowing that this episode presented us with, as well. For the creepy dudes with their apocalyptic messaging were the ones responsible for spreading the plague, implying that perhaps they believe that chaos and suffering is necessary to some kind of rebirth. But since their true intentions won’t be revealed until later on, it’s best we take the time to celebrate one uplifting and hopeful tale. One that reminded us to keep the faith and do our best to spread it to others, whenever possible. Because such an act, can bring about wonders untold. Until next time.  

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