‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Honey’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 605 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.

​Something that each and every one of us can agree upon, is the sheer fact that sometimes changing who we are and what we've become, is a necessity in life. Because sometimes we get lost in this world and end up drifting about aimlessly. Or we place ourselves in uncomfortable and unhealthy situations, or we begin to indulge in toxic and unfortunate behaviors and when any of those situations arise, the only way to escape them is to make some serious changes to our lives. The kind that remove us from those issues and help us to feel better about ourselves and our future, and while it is wonderful to celebrate being free of darker times, after taking the time to reinvent ourselves, one unfortunate aspect about change... is that it is quite easy to all the undo all the work we've done.

For there are times when we immediately revert to old habits that we thought we left behind when the circumstances seemingly call for it. Or we see friends and loved ones suddenly take a step back from the progress they made in altering their lives, and having that happen in any capacity, gives us great pause and fills us with doubt. Simply because it makes us wonder if change is possible in the slightest, or if we are always going to be stuck within a version of ourselves that we desperately don't want around, and it is the doubt that surrounds the notion of change that served as the focal point of this week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead. For Dwight and his beloved Sherry were forced to confront whether or not sustainable change is possible within people and that made ‘Honey’ quite the powerful tale when all said and done.

Simply because, we saw Dwight and Sherry revert to the more primal versions of themselves that we first saw them residing within when we first met them in The Walking Dead. But not right away. For initially, this episode celebrated their reunited love before introducing us to a group of outcasts from Ginny’s world. For it turns out that from time to time, she will cast people out of her communities when they challenge or disappoint her, and their fear of being discovered or infiltrated by Ginny's forces put Dwight and Al (since they snatched her up too) in grave danger if only for a moment. For it turns out that the man that Dwight gave a second chance to last season, was in this place as well. All because he took Dwight’s kindness and words to heart, and he was quick to grant Al and Dwight a second chance. Making it seem as though this episode was going to transform into a story of redemption. 

Because this group also had plans to stick it to Ginny, and their grand plan to make that happen was to get their hands on the MRAP that she swiped from Al. And thanks to her grand knowledge of the assault van, they were able to seize that sucker without any trouble. Giving this group a powerful weapon in the fight against Ginny and that’s when the story started to examine the nature of change and whether or not we are genuinely capable of it. Because there was a hostage involved with this capture plan, one that came into the group’s possession, by way of an assist from Morgan and as the group began to plan their assault on Lawton and Ginny’s end; Morgan was quick to play the voice of reason. For he knew that any attack on Ginny would result in the loss of innocents as an attempt to save her own hide, and that the assault should wait until the right people were out of harm’s way. 

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A notion that Dwight and Sherry, quickly threw to the side. For the both of them wanted Ginny to pay and the more they pondered upon bringing her down, the faster they transformed before our eyes. Because suddenly, Dwight was the man we met in ‘Something to Fear’ and ‘All Out War’ since he was eager to cause harm to the hostage in the hopes of getting information regarding Ginny’s whereabouts, and this sudden reversion to the man that Negan once revered as his top Lieutenant; scared the hell out of Sherry. For this was not the man she ever wanted him to be and when an opportunity arose to take out Ginny on their own terms, she was quick to sideline Dwight and Morgan and Al, in the hopes of handling this mess herself and to save Dwight from returning to the broken man she left behind. 
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Something that allowed for Dwight to realize that neither of them had really changed since they left the Sanctuary all those years ago, and that they were still filled with old habits and a desire for revenge against despots that reminded them of Negan. Which helped Dwight to realize that Morgan was right and that an all-out assault would cause nothing but great harm and that in turn motivated him to try and reach Sherry and help her realize that there was in fact, a better way to handle this. And while he did get her to stop in that moment, it wasn’t enough to keep her out of the fight, and for now, these two star-crossed lovers are once again apart. Simply because they are both worried that their love will forever remind of them darker times and bring out the worst in them because they believe they are incapable of change, which seems like a bleak way to end this tale. 

But in reality, that’s actually quite the positive way to bring this exploration of change, and whether or not we are capable of it, to a close. For in essence, this entire episode makes it clear that we are in fact capable of altering our course and improving our lives in the process. But only when we are genuinely ready to put in the long and sustained work that goes into truly leaving that other version of us, behind. Because up until this moment, Dwight wasn’t ready one hundred percent ready to embrace change, and it wasn’t until he saw the fact that he was capable of becoming that which he fears the most, that he was ready to let it into his heart and move forward. And while the same cannot be said of Sherry in this tale, Dwight at least offered her inspiration to change and the freedom for her to explore what it will take to make that happen and hopefully she will embrace it as well, sooner rather than later.

If anything, this is perhaps, the most positive and inspirational episode of season six to date. For up until now, everything we’ve explored has been bleak and conflicting and genuinely sorrowful at times. Which isn’t a knock on what this season is offering in the slightest. For this is indeed the group’s darkest hour and ugly examinations are expected. But it is nice to see that moment by moment, the characters are learning from this experience and are starting to grow for the better and this really was an episode that offered up incredible progress for a genuinely broken character, and took the time to show us a genuine path toward sustainable change and that just made for one delightful episode when all is said and done. One that reminds us that The Walking Dead Universe truly shines when it works to inspire us and it should be interesting to see if we will encounter more uplifting stories in this manner, as season six continues along. Until next time.     

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