‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Humbug’s Gulch’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

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I still remember how a single decision last year, made Fear the Walking Dead the talk of the horror town. For season four of the series kicked off with an important moment in the franchise’s short but storied history, because for the first time ever, a cast member from The Walking Dead was crossing over into Fear territory and they were going to be a fixture on this saga for years to come and well, Morgan’s arrival into this side world was nothing short of a brilliant decision since it kicked off a year’s worth of cerebral storytelling that allowed for us to truly explore what it means to heal from loss and grief. But, while Morgan has definitely been a welcome addition to the Fear family, I think fans everywhere are curious as to whether or not the series can handle the arrival of more TWD alums.
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After all, it’s been known for some time now that Dwight, the loveable and broken double agent from Negan’s group, the Saviors, would eventually find his way to Texas this season and cross paths with his former friend/foe from the war, and it’s safe to feel a touch of trepidation when it comes to that, because such a move does risk the possibility of the series delving into gimmicky territory where a big name pops up from time to time to appease the fan base. But, I personally, was hopeful and excited when I heard about this move, simply because of what Morgan’s arrival here did for the character. Because he finally grew, he finally healed and it’s becoming inherently clear to me now that both shows are going to stand for wildly different things since The Walking Dead is exploring how mankind can lose its way at the end of the world since Negan and now, Alpha and the Whisperers have shown us how dark things can get when the rules of civilization go the wayside.

Which means it is up to Fear to give us the outright opposite of that, and show us the way back when the end has come, and how we find decency and purpose and hope when the dead walk the earth and if salvation and redemption can come about for a man like Morgan, who truly lost his way on the sister series, then why can’t it come about for Dwight? And that’s precisely what ‘Humbug’s Gulch’ dove into last night, because this particular tale provided us with the return of this enigmatic character, but it sure didn’t seem like that was going to be the case at first since an early chunk of this episode dedicated itself to two key plotlines; the hunt to figure out who on earth was putting those walker related roadblocks up and why, and also, it took the time to explore John Dorie’s past by taking us to a theme park that shares the namesake of this episode, which is a place where John used to work back in the day.

If anything, that little revelation was quite the treat to say the least, for it turns out that John basically acted in various shows at this place, since it was dedicated to the wild west and while June (and I would imagine the audience) found to this be a cute and wonderful thing to learn about John, he sure seemed disinterested in revealing all that much about his time in Humbug’s Gulch, or what his role was outside of joining in on the occasional theatrics. Which in all honesty, makes sense, since the series has made a point of exploring the importance of letting go of one’s past in order to move forward, and if anyone is great at embracing that, it’s John. But at the same time, this wasn’t a dark park of John’s past, and in a way it seemed as though he viewed his time in this park as something that was beneath his intelligence and his talents and that it was a journeyman gig to help keep the lights on, and well, I dig that. Because we’ve all had jobs, we’re not exactly proud of, but hey, to quote Gareth from TWD, ‘a man’s gotta eat’, and seeing John reflect upon a job that meets that criteria was relatable and enjoyable. 

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Yet, what was more impressive about this particular plot line, is that it made Dwight’s arrival an absolute and utter surprise. Because I honestly thought he was popping up on the series further on down the line in season five, but a good ol’ fashioned showdown at Humbug’s Gulch revealed the fact that he had finally made his way to the Lone Star State and that his time on the road had not been kind. For this Dwight was a shell of the one we came to know during ‘All Out War’ and ‘Something to Fear’, since the man we saw here was utterly broken when we catch up with him, and the fact that he hadn’t found his beloved Sherry only compounded his melancholy further and really, it became clear over the course of the hour, that Dwight had a lot of time out there on the road to ponder upon what he had done and he was beginning to wonder, if he was worthy of the second chance that Rick and Daryl bestowed upon him.
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Which brings us back to the redemption element that I made mention of. Because when Dwight was faced with a dead end in regard to the hunt for Sherry, we had to bear witness to one dark moment, wherein the hope to go on, disappeared from his eyes, and for a moment there, it seemed as though Dwight’s appearance here was only going to be a cameo, since he was ready to end his life. But kind words from June and John gave the man pause since they spoke to how they found purpose again in life through each other and that he couldn’t give up on the hunt for Sherry without having concrete evidence of her fate and well, this was just a beautiful sequence to experience. Because they also talked about how the things he had done yesterday, no longer mattered because it was all about moving forward now, and that he could redeem himself by doing good things and that, was just what Dwight needed and as icing on the cake when it comes to this feel-good storyline, his reunion with Morgan was peaceful and warm and it would seem the group now has a savvy ally in their mission to find Al and deal with the strangeness surrounding them, especially when it comes to those roadblocks.

Speaking of those roadblocks, this episode took that whole storyline to a whole new level. Because after toying with the audience over the course of the hour and making it seem as though a large group was behind this all, it turns out, that the kids we met in the season premiere, Dylan, Annie and Max, are the ones behind this barrier and that they’re toying with the fear of others to keep these barriers up so that they can find some semblance of stability and normalcy and this, was just a lovely twist when all is said and done. For this also ties into the notion of redemption, because it takes severe psychological trauma to be cool with this at such a young age, and they’ve likely done some questionable things in order to survive and that brings forth some important questions for these characters in that, can they find redemption? Or have their young minds been corrupted by the darkness of the world and there is little hope for them now, and if the latter is the case, then what does that mean for the mission that Morgan and his team are trying to accomplish?

But all of that aside, this was just another fascinating and quality episode from this show, and I really do love the fact that Dwight arrived out of the blue in this story, because that really did offer up some genuine surprise, at least for me. But more importantly, how this tale handled the theme of redemption was downright brilliant since it was subtle in nature and it actually used a measure of fun to make that happen since John’s backstory was just delightful to learn, and speaking of that, how awesome was it that one of his old tricks actually managed to pay off and save the day? It’s just, the little things that keep me loving everything that this series has to offer. But while this story had lot of positive moments, we cannot forget that the group has some tough moments ahead. Because not only do they have to deal with these kids, they still need to find Al and find some resolution when it comes to their home base and dang it, knowing that all of that waits for us on the horizon, has me counting down the minutes to next week’s tale. Until then. 

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