‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Odessa’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 803 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’. To revisit the previous episode, click here.
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One particular aspect of the The Walking Dead Universe that fans deeply enjoy, is coming to learn the origins of the many villains present within this universe. In large part, because it is fascinating to know what makes a villain tick and what drove them from being a decent, everyday person into the monsters that our heroes encounter, and over the past decade we’ve come to learn that sometimes… dark times embolden dark people to take advantage of the situation. Which is what Philip ‘The Governor’ Blake did back in the day, since this was his chance to be the top dog and do things his way. And Alpha saw a similar path forward as leader of the Whisperers. Not to mention, the Civic Republic Military was founded on the principle of bringing order to chaos in the most brutal manner possible. The kind that the traditional world was unwilling to commit to.
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But that’s not the case for every villain in this universe. Because sometimes, bad people are born out of the horrible trauma and nightmares that are presented to them and we’ve seen a lot of that in this universe as well. For instance, the monsters that were the cannibals at Terminus were good people that were broken by the bad ones that survived. And Negan and the Saviors were born out of the hard trauma that Negan experienced in losing his beloved wife, Lucille, so long ago. Plus, Victor Strand enjoyed his own villain origin story based upon the horrors of the world in season seven of Fear the Walking Dead. If anything, the more tragic route that villains take is top of mind today, simply because the next episode of Fear offered up just that.

For ‘Odessa’ is a story that explored precisely how P.A.D.R.E. came to be the dystopia that it is today, and well… its origins were indeed mired in tragedy. For a series of flashbacks helped us to understand that back in the day, shortly after Operation: Cobalt brought an end to much of what remained of the United States of America, there was an attempt to restore it. One led by a proud soldier named General Krennick, who was in essence, the head man in charge regarding P.A.D.R.E. and with active communications at his fingertips and his son and daughter at his side, named Ben and Sam respectively, he believed he could use the supplies in this initiative to help fledging communities and survivors. And perhaps begin to restore civilization and give humanity its long awaited second chance to rebuild and get things right this time around. 

But alas, that plan obviously never came to fruition. For a trip to the supply yard of this initiative led to all kinds of horrible disasters. First and foremost, because somehow the dead were able to make their way into the supply yard of P.A.D.R.E. and be the nuisance and horror they always are, and since Sam and Ben came along to watch over their father, because of the worry that would rightfully accompany a pair of teens that were frightened and scared by watching the end of the world play out… they were witness to the worst disaster of all. One where their father quite literally sacrificed his own life to keep his children safe, and in the process turned and became that which everyone feared and that particular moment scarred Sam and Ben to no end and prompted them to perhaps try something different to save others and spare them this kind of trauma. 

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In that, if they were to build a place that was truly secure and responded to the brutality of the world in kind, then perhaps there could be real safety and a real chance at a better tomorrow. Especially if children were taught how to defend themselves and how to properly handle the horror of this world. Which led to what we know today, with some caveats of course, since these children were so badly damaged by the loss of their father, they believed that children should never have to suffer through that loss ever again and would be tougher if their parents just weren’t in the picture. Which led to the ugly decision to separate families and of course, without the guiding wisdom of adults, the brutality that we come to understand in our teenage years took deep hold in this duo, bringing forth the ugly we see in this place now. 
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Plus, this sequence also helped us to learn, that the voice behind the glass, that driving force that puts fear into the hearts of anyone in that room, was nothing more than Ben. Hammering home, the sobering reminder that our heroes have been taking instructions from a young man filled with the pain of unresolved trauma and grief and he has clearly… used that to bring out the worst in everyone. But perhaps… that won’t be the case for much longer. After all, how that discovery came to light is of note. Because in this episode, there was in essence, a rebellion brewing. One that saw Madison and others turn on Shrike for her continued push to harm them and scare them and use those tactics to control every facet of their lives, and that eventually brought Madison to that room, wherein she shattered the glass and saw the little man behind it.

But what’s equally as important about that moment, is that it was merely the opening salvo of the fight to come. For Madison, we learned, was not the only person in this broken part of the world that was eager to settle the score with P.A.D.R.E. and its horrendous actions. For in the swamps surrounding the island, were parents. Parents that had their children ripped away from their arms, and they were done waiting to see them again, they were ready for action, ready to reunite with their kids, and they had a leader that could help them do that, by way of one Daniel Salazar. Who figured out some treatments for his affliction and was nursing more trauma of his own, being separated from Luciana and losing Charlie and all, and he was ready to help them achieve that goal. And now that he is reunited with Madison (which was an EPIC moment) and has helped her inspire Mo to do the right thing… they may win the day after all.

If anything, this was just… a quality episode through and through. Because it really did offer up something that the fans love by way of that grand exploration of what creates villains in this world, with that unique twist of course. Since Sam and Ben’s intentions are noble in nature, they were just executed poorly by a lack of maturity and knowledge, giving rise to a different kind of fight for our heroes really. Because… in many ways, they’re not fighting pure evil, but misunderstanding and trauma and bringing Sam and Ben down can’t happen in the same bloody manner as other fights. It will have to be done humanely and through understanding, which should bring this story back toward its more hopeful roots, and truly, it will be interesting to see how our heroes, fight their own pain and the pain of their foes, to bring better days to this shattered corner of the world. Until next time.

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