‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Mother’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 614 of ‘Fear of the Walking Dead’.

Hope is a notion that has transformed into a comfortable and predictable trope in visual storytelling. Because time and time again now, we see characters that harbor this important and powerful notion, defeat evil by instilling it in others. And while that does indeed make for some uplifting storytelling, the kind that really does motivate a viewer to take a deep breath and bask in the sunlight when they turn the television off or leave the theater, this is a particular concept that is staring to lose its gravity and its weight in these particular mediums. Simply because it is predictable, to the point where everyone knows the appearance of hope in a story means a happy ending is going to occur regardless of how harrowing the story might become.

Which is why stories that offer up a more realistic and unique approach to hope and what it means should be celebrated as often as possible. Since they’re trying to shatter this trope and make it original and dynamic once again and that is precisely why last night’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead is of note. For ‘Mother’ took hope and its power and flipped it upside down, making for quite the dynamic and oddly horrifying story when all is said and done. Which is something that the writers of this tale pulled off by outright fooling us. Because early on this episode felt like a standard hope-themed tale, wherein its power would be used to defeat evil by making it quake in its boots when its raw power was put on display.

A feat that this story accomplished by way of Teddy’s inability to break Alicia. Because weeks after she ruined The Holding, Teddy worked to embed his twisted teachings into her brain by subjecting her to torture, really. Since she spent every waking hour, listening to Teddy’s weird mantras on an intercom and well… it simply didn't work in the slightest and that truly made it seem as though the foundation had been laid down for that more traditional story to come into play. After all, it takes hope to get through torture. But what matters more is that her resolve, in turn motivated Teddy to try something different in an effort to get her to swing to their side, by taking Alicia and Dakota (who arrived from the sanctuary with thoughts of playing the hero by joining the group), on a little road trip to remove that all-important hope from Alicia's mind and that’s when this story started to take quite the fascinating and surprising turn.

Because while they were out in the middle of nowhere, rescuing the corpse of Teddy’s mother as part of his madness, they just so happened to be near the very stadium where Madison died in a valiant attempt to save her daughter’s life and the lives of everyone that lived there. A coincidence that Alicia immediately knew was part of the plan to convert her into the cult, but before she could figure out exactly what Teddy had planned to make that happen, an unexpected detour occurred. One that reunited Alicia with Cole and others from the stadium. Truly making it seem as though this was the moment that hope would reign supreme and Teddy would be defeated in this moment and sent running back home. For if Cole and his small band of survivors were able to thrive in the wild after losing what they held dear, then hope had won the day and the fight would have new recruits.

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But instead, it turned out that Cole and his group… had lost all semblance of it. In fact, they opted to harm others with impunity and rob them when they wandered into their territory. Making them the bad guys and that oddly reinforced the possibility that perhaps hope would save them after all. For if Alicia could reach them and re-teach them its meaning, then perhaps they could finally enjoy their all-important second chance, and that is when this series brought forth all of its twists and turns in regard to this notion. By reminding us that people can in fact lose all hope and become lost to the darkness, since there was no reasoning with Cole and his people… to the point where Alicia had to put them down in order to ensure her safety and the safety of Teddy, since she was determined to learn his plans for the future, and her decision to do so… led to one incredibly unique twist when it comes to hope.
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In that, it can be used a weapon of manipulation if handled just right. Which is why Teddy was so keen on Alicia joining the group in the first place. Because his vision for the future didn’t just involve the destruction of the greater Houston area by way of nuclear weapons, he was also fully aware of the fact that his role in leveling the old world would always make him be seen as the heavy, as a man that predicted the end correctly and that would motivate his followers to fear him. Which is why he needs Alicia, so that she can spread hope and speak to what comes to next for the new world and its future and in essence, be its new beginning through and through. Which is a role she wants no part of and in the end, this was quite the brilliant twist for certain. Simply because it really did do a wonderful job of taking hope and turning it into something more than a cure all cliché and credit for that has to go to writers Channing Powell and Alex Delyle for figuring out a wonderful way to make hope, horrific.

However, while all of that made for some powerful storytelling for certain, there are some other highlights in this tale we need go over. Such as the fact that Teddy’s backstory gave his character great depth and gravity, since now we know that he is a broken man that surprisingly understands his role as a monster and embraces it as some kind of inspirational badge, one that he genuinely believes will inspire others to be better when of course it is the opposite. And this was simply refreshing to see because serial killers are often depicted in a far different light on television and of course, we would be foolish to not discuss, that despite the fact that this episode ended in such a hopeless manner, not all of it is lost in the end. Since Alicia did get the call out to Strand about Teddy’s plans to drop at least a single nuke on the area, and that will likely bring everyone together at last to finally fight for a bigger cause.

But while we wait to see how quickly Strand can bring everyone together for an epic fight, we can bask in one fascinating tale. One that was also complete with some powerful performances as well. Since Alycia Debnam-Carey brought forth a resolute and powerful performance and John Glover also shined as Teddy, since his restrained performance allowed for us to see just enough of Teddy’s mental illness to make us genuinely fear him and well, this is an episode that really does leave the viewer eager for more. Because at long last… the stage is set for a final showdown between the forces of good and the lost souls that Teddy has collected and it will be quite interesting to see how that battle comes together, since season six has kept us guessing from the start and that is a pattern that likely won’t break for the final two episodes of year six, in the slightest. Until next time.

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