'Fear the Walking Dead' Recap: 'Brother's Keeper'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

It's been quite the season for Fear the Walking Dead, since week in and week out, the show has found a way to keep the story moving and keep our nerves slightly frayed and as I settled in to watch this week's particular tale, 'Brother's Keeper', I found myself wondering something important...is it possible for the show to continue its break neck pace? After all, at some point the audience deserves a break, and there's no possible way that the characters can continue to go through such hell, but as it turns out, the powers that be are looking to challenge the viewers and the world they've created because this episode offered no respite from the tension, in fact...it ramped it up a notch. 

It accomplished that, by bringing the living dead to the forefront once again, introducing a mega herd to the people of Broke Jaw Ranch and while their isolated location should have provided them with the proper shelter from such threats, one must always remember that man is the biggest threat on this show and in this case, Troy Otto is what brought the herd to his former home and well, credit goes where credit is due, this was quite the impressive sequence of events. Seeing the herd, leaving a dust storm in its wake thanks to the sheer number of reanimated corpses roaming the desert was an incredibly chilling sight to say the least and well, the show was just getting started when it came to unsettling visuals. 

Because the living dead, eventually made their way to the ranch after all and they were a true force to be reckoned with. There were so many walkers amassing at the entrance of the camp, that they smashed their own kind to bits and eventually shoved aside the RV wall that Crazy Dog and the ranchers erected to keep the dead out and that's when the episode went into wholesale horror mode, bringing the guts and bringing the scares because it was another delicate game of who lives and who dies and holy cow, this was quite an intense sequence, one that saw a fair chunk of Broke Jaw's inhabitants fall to the walking dead before finally making it to shelter.

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But truly, the centerpiece story of the night revolved around the brothers Otto because the return of Troy led to a long awaited confrontation between Jake and his baby brother, but only after Troy finally snapped like we've all been expecting him to do, and as it turns out, Troy's breaking point arrived by way of pure solitude. He struggled mightily in the desert, not because he was forced to survive because those skills have been engrained in him thanks to his father, but because he was finally forced to think about the things he's done, and the truth about his father for that matter as well, and while it seemed as though he was headed for a quiet and self inflicted end, seeing the mega herd roaming the desert somehow inspired him in dangerous fashion.

He saw the mega herd as a kind of Biblical reckoning and while part of me was hoping that he would somehow rise above this threat and play the hero for a change, that was simply not the case. He led the dead to Broke Jaw Ranch like some kind of deranged pied piper and unfortunately Jake's attempt to put an end to Troy's madness by putting his younger brother out of his misery, completely and utterly backfired when Nick stepped in to save Troy, and Nick's act of kindness, led to a walker taking a bite of out Jake and eventually, death and reanimation, before Troy mercifully ended his brother's second life, giving him pause and a moment to reflect upon the cost of his stupidity since Jake is dead, and Broke Jaw Ranch lies in ruin...

So if anything, this particular episode gets serious props for completely changing gears storytelling wise. There was no commentary to be found here, no deeper meaning or character development for that matter. There was simply terror to be found everywhere, courtesy of the mega herd along with a touch of resolution for an unresolved plot thread when it came to Troy's fate after being exiled and really, when all is said and done, this was a damn good episode. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and while the intensity hasn't let up, it was kind of cool to see the show go all out and unleash pure terror on the audience and the characters and it should be interesting to see where the story goes next since those that survived are holed up in the pantry with no hope of escape at the moment, and one has to wonder what Madison, Walker and Strand will find when they finally to return to what's left of Broke Jaw Ranch. Until next time. 

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