‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Blue Jay’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 802 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’. To revisit the Season Eight Premiere, click here.
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When we last settled in to discuss the iconic AMC series, Fear the Walking Dead, we talked at length about how the show put something on display that rarely is shown in the TWD Universe. Specifically, the breaking point of the heroes that populate this harrowing world. Because they are as tough as they come and bow to no evil nor do they let the odds dictate their course. But the horrors of P.A.D.R.E., the continued horrors of this world, and the possibility of seeing their child die, was enough to at least break Morgan and Grace and well… since there is a large group of people we know and love in this show, the series seized upon a golden opportunity to further explore what could break these heroes, in a supremely unique manner. 
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For ‘Blue Jay’ took the time to catch up with June Dorie, and when we reunited with her in the swamps of the south… she was clearly in a broken state. For she was living off the land, far away from the security of P.A.D.R.E., in isolation and doing her best to warn people away from that godforsaken place. Because something (that would be revealed later), happened during her time at P.A.D.R.E. and that prompted her to leave it behind and act instead of stew over that incident. In fact, she believed that she could do more than just raise some red flags about a place that claimed that salvation awaited families, she could instead… cause great harm to the many soldiers that passed through the swamp and slowly bring this organization down in doing so. 

A feat that she worked to accomplish, by having a special kit handy with her during the day. One that included some high-grade tranquilizers and a surgical kit, and it also included patience and guile. For June made a point to hide far enough away from the marsh, to spot the boats that sailed about without anyone spotting her and when the moment was right, she would fire a dart or two at the drivers/enemy. Which would stop the boat in its tracks, and she would bring it ashore. Wherein she would remove a single finger, often a trigger finger, and nothing more, before sending them back onto the boat to head back to HQ where they would have to re-learn how to fire and function. Slowing down the army bit by bit and that was a life she was content with, until a bevy of unexpected visitors/surprises caused great harm to her routine and forced her to reflect upon what it was that broke her and brought her to this point. 

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One of which, was a father that was certain that June could help him find his little one and give him the wholeness of a family once again and the other… was a blast from the past. Dwight and Sherry to be specific, and their son. Whom they were transporting to a medical facility for appendicitis before June dropped them with darts that is… and that… brought forth a sorrowful reunion. One that informed us that Dwight and Sherry fell into the similar mindset/breaking point of Morgan and Grace, since they hated the idea of young Finch being harmed by the awful world that surrounded the island, and of course… they were so worried about their baby boy in this moment, that they asked June for quite the bit of help. In that, they lost a lot of time regarding Finch and that meant June had to operate before the situation became critical and that… led to our examination of what made June snap and become this vengeful and angry warrior. 
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Because it just so happened that nearby, was a full-on medical facility. One that had all the trimmings of a modern hospital and could easily fix Finch up in a hurry. But June was nervous about showing this place to anyone and those nerves only grew in intensity when that dad arrived and when the power in the train went out. Since she needed that light to properly work on Finch, and didn’t want dad to find out a truth, and well, as everyone worked to get the power back on, horrors untold were discovered in the other cars. Gross and deformed legions of the dead really, the kind that were clearly some kind of experiment gone wrong, and one of those experiments was that gentle girl that dear old dad was looking for and that’s when that horrible truth came to light about June and her own transgressions with this ugly and twisted place. 

In that, she was so broken by what happened to John Senior and John Junior, and all the horrors that the group endured last year, that she thought that maybe Alicia’s strange ability to fend off a bite, could provide her with the key to saving the world and preventing the abomination that was living death, and that pushed her to look at the science of the matter and use P.A.D.R.E. resources to potentially create a cure for the bites and the zombification of mankind. All through the use of radiation. By bombing people that had been bitten with it, in a controlled manner, to figure out what does of radiation could be the right one to prevent death and resurrection. Which was an experiment that went south from the get-go, since so many died of radiation poisoning and so many returned from what lies beyond with a craving for human flesh and wanton chaos. 

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Which in turn, sunk June deeper into the darkness. Because she came to realize, she was doing horrible experiments on innocent people and following the edict of an organization that claimed to care about the future of humanity but had no qualms sacrificing lives as needed to make its agenda or this experiment work. Since some people, didn’t come to this laboratory of horrors with a bite, they were given one instead, and upon her escape… clearly June vowed to do whatever needed to be done to stop Shrike and her soldiers from harming more people in this manner and pay the piper for crossing the line and ignoring her oath. But what mattered more here, is that June’s story informed us that severe grief and trauma can not only bring a person to their breaking point but inspire them to do awful things to try and heal. 

But alas, redemption for June may not be in the cards for some time. Simply because… Shrike and Wren and others found the train and June and her friends, and well, with their favorite doctor in hand with leverage in front of them, since Shrike put two and two together about her relationship to Sherry and Dwight… she of course… used that to her advantage. All by having an appendix free Finch (since June did make the operation happen in between that backstory and her admissions of guilt), endure the indignity of a bite. One that will now force June to return to her darkest hour and work twice as hard to save the life of someone that absolutely matters to her and well, that was a hell of a way to end this supremely bleak and powerful tale, one that was sold by some magnificent performances from the cast. Since Austin Amelio and Christine Evangelista expressed their conflict within beautifully and of course, Jenna Elfman just put on an acting clinic here.

But what also made this ending so impactful, is that we simply didn’t see that kind of cruelty and darkness coming. Not from June, not from Shrike and her organization and once again it reminded us… that all bets are off this season and there’s a real risk that everyone any anyone could potentially die in this story. But above all, this really is the darkest hour for our heroes, and they are truly facing one of the worst villains/communities that we’ve ever seen in the TWD Universe. Because say what you want about Woodbury, or The Saviors, children were always off-limits. In fact, the only other organization that will mess with children’s lives is the CRM, making this group as twisted and as cruel as they and that definitely leaves us eager for more. To see if by chance our heroes can rise above their pain and their breaking points to bring an end to this organization and the madness they outright stand for. Until next time.

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