‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘King County’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Lennie James as Morgan Jones in Episode 804 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘King County’. Photo Credit: Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 804 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular aspect of the human condition that is rarely explored in The Walking Dead Universe, is the importance of confronting and repairing one’s psyche because of the damage that trauma and grief, and loss cause, and it makes sense as to why. For this is of course, a saga that takes place at the end of everything, and since the cause of the end is everywhere… relentlessly walking around and searching for a warm meal… stopping to reflect upon one’s emotions, just doesn’t seem possible. Not to mention, with civilization gone, there’s no regular shipments of food and other critical supplies that people require to survive. So, finding food, and seeing another day becomes a priority, and those painful emotions must be buried down, and bad things have indeed come from that in this universe as they do in our world.
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Since we have seen people struggle and break from a mental health standpoint over the horrors they’ve seen and endured. Only to process it in an equally as unhealthy and uncomfortable manner in the hopes of finding some semblance of peace and harmony in their minds. Which in turn does beg an important question for this universe, is it at all possible for a person in a world where chaos and fear reign supreme, to heal. To confront their past trauma and properly process it as needed to move forward. Well, it just so happens, that the next episode of Fear the Walking Dead takes the time to answer that particular question. Which made ‘King County’ quite the powerful episode, one that offered up a fascinating answer to said question and made sure to utilize perhaps the most traumatized character in the series and franchise, to bring that answer to light.

For this was a story that saw Morgan Jones return to where this saga began, King County, Georgia. Not to reminisce fondly mind you, but to handle unfinished business. Because we quickly came to learn in this tale, courtesy of the arrival of both Grace and Mo. Who found a way to come together and tail him to this place… that before the events of ‘Clear’ in season three of The Walking Dead, Morgan made some interesting choices regarding the death of his son, Duane, who if you recall, died at the hands of his reanimated wife, Jenny. In that… he couldn’t bring himself to put down the zombified Duane, so he left him inside the house where the horrors of his end took place and of course… that led to the events of ‘Clear’ and the rest of his sorted and painful past. But because his daughter was alive and fighting and because he knew he’d lost his way, he truly felt as though a return here was necessary.

All so… he could put Duane and Jenny to rest, and in turn, put his biggest fears and flaws to rest, and finally let go of his trauma and heal and move forward as the hero that so many saw him as. Including his young daughter. But alas, such an act, even with his family at his side, was no easy task. Simply because Shrike was listening to every transmission and quietly sent Dwight and Sherry out to intercept him with a small team because that’s the kind of classless kid she is, and well… that led to some unique struggles for Morgan. The kind that saw him and his family hold up in the very house where he and Rick Grimes once shared a meal alongside musings about how to handle the end of the world going forward, and where a promise broken was made.

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Karen David as Grace, Zoey Merchant in Episode 804 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘King County’. Photo Credit: Lauren "Lo" Smith/AMC

Which brought forth lots of tough memories for Morgan, and manifestations of his PTSD. To the point where he was unable to function when he tried to escape with his family into the night. Which prompted some kindness on Dwight and Sherry’s part, because they knew Morgan well and knew his strange behavior was related to something deeper. That in turn, brought about the answer to that all-important question, the long way round. Since it took a showdown at the house where Duane should have been, to motivate Sherry and Dwight finally stand by their friend and do what must be done to ensure he was able to finish his healing process. But even then, the healing that Morgan sought was difficult, largely because that process in this world, did not remotely resemble how healing occurs in our modern world. For in the land of the dead, there would be no guidance, no chance to process the pain.

One would just feel the pain and the fear and everything that trauma manifests within our psyche in the raw, and that would lead to mental breaks and missteps and eventually… doubt and a desire to return to the norm. For at this point in this universe, Morgan and his friends and family, have used their trauma to strengthen them, to hone their survival instincts, and making any attempt to let that go would absolutely cause harm since that would lower a shield and make one vulnerable. But in the end, Morgan chose to not regress. He wanted that peace; he needed that peace and he needed to be able to move forward and he did. By finding what was left of Duane next to his daughter when that old house began to burn down, and by finally ending the monstrous transformation his son was subject to, before putting his wife and son to rest in the ground… effectively burying his trauma with them.

All of which offered up some stunning commentary on handling trauma in everyday life, in addition to answering the question at hand in the affirmative. Since Morgan’s journey here served as a stark reminder that one cannot just magically will trauma and its impact, away. It will haunt, it will grow and fester, and slowly infect our psyche, perhaps akin to a zombie virus of our own doing since eventually… it will take over and make us a shell of our former selves. So, we must… confront it, deal with it and work to heal by any means necessary, and that we do this… for the right reasons. Specifically, for ourselves, so that we truly commit to change, and it was just incredible to see Morgan Jones, the poster child for ignoring the healing process in this universe… do all of that and well, it could not have come at a better time, since more trauma awaited this poor character at the end of this tale. Not just because Grace admitted that cancer was going to claim her life, but because… of a surprise crisis. Since a member of the living dead did sink its teeth into her in the wake of this harrowing night.

Prompting everyone to come together in the hopes of getting Grace to June to use her miracle cure for bites to give the Jones family the precious time they wanted. But while we wait to see if that will lead to joy in this universe, we can celebrate one brilliant tale. One that touched upon something that zombie themed fiction rarely does, all while paying wonderful homage to the franchise itself. Because it was equally as incredible to see King County likely one last time and see all the callbacks to Morgan’s most important moments in this saga and remember fondly his strong friendship with Rick Grimes, who even received his own shout outs here. Not to mention, the deep dive easter eggs here such as echoes of Bear McCreary’s ‘The Mercy of the Living’ Score from ‘Days Gone Bye’, and the cameo from Keisha Tillis as Jenny were just amazing. But alas, those good vibes from those homages simply won’t last, for once again, a life is in the balance, and it will be interesting to see if Morgan and his friends can get Grace to June in time, before the bite pushes her Grace the point of no return. Until next time.  

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