‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘Six Hours’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 702 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.
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When we last settled in to discuss the brand-new and supremely dark season of Fear the Walking Dead, we talked at length about that aforementioned darkness. Because placing this already bleak universe within the realm of a nuclear winter land was quite the bold storytelling choice, one that gave the audience great pause and also challenged the characters like never before. To the point where we are now wondering as to what will become of Victor Strand, since he has changed his behavior greatly in the face of the mushroom cloud, he watched form at the end of season six. But it is the potential that this darkness provides that really makes it of note. Since it more or less gives the series freedom to break down walls and tell supremely devastating tales and for proof… then look no further than last night’s episode.
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For ‘Six Hours’ is a story, that took the time to go beyond how nuclear winter and a zombie apocalypse can perhaps twist one’s mind into a strange heroic/villain hybrid akin to what Strand is going through. To instead examine how this kind of devastation and excessive stress, can in fact outright break someone through and through and put them at their lowest. Plus, this was also an opportunity to explore how this environment could motivate some people to do horrible things they wouldn’t have done under ‘normal’ circumstances in this world, and it accomplished this examination… by reuniting us with Grace and Morgan. Who as it turns out, have been living it up as best they can, within the belly of the USS Pennsylvania, the very vessel that brought about the situation on the gulf coast and well… they’re facing some ugly odds when we catch up with them.

Because we quickly come to learn, that their food stores on the ship are at an all-time low, and baby Mo is starting to cry non-stop out of hunger pangs and well, that meant that Grace and Morgan had to take turns exploring this devastated part of the world, in six hour shifts, in the hopes of finding radiation free food for themselves and for the baby. Which was of course, no easy task. Since Grace came to discover the same issue that Will did in the premiere. In that, healthy food stores were scare and the fight for them was fierce since Grace had a scary encounter with hungry survivors that wanted what she wanted and well… that’s really when the in-depth examination of what this double apocalypse can do to a person got underway. Because it took a matter of minutes for Grace to have a breakdown when the food run failed, the kind that made it clear she was struggling to find hope in this doubly devastated world and her struggles only grew stronger as the story continued, even with genuine hope on the horizon.

For Morgan revealed that he spent some of his six hour runs preparing the perfect escape vehicle for a nuclear wasteland. One that was stripped down to the bare bones to improve fuel efficiency and featured enough protection and shielding to give them a shot to drive out of the blast radius and enjoy a better life, as a family, at last. But despite making great progress in this slick little ride, Grace continued to have some serious anxiety and even fell into a panic attack. One so severe, that Morgan lost sight of the road and damaged a wheel, and being stopped in a one stop town of the dead, was enough to allow Grace to reveal that she was done at this point, and ready to let the radiation or the dead take her and that was an admission that shocked Morgan. 

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After all, they had been through so much and fought so hard to even reach this particular point. So, to hear that Grace was ready to give up, was more than he could bear in the moment, and it really did hammer home, that this much hopelessness and devastation can and will allow for severe depression to settle in. The kind that is amplified in an individual that has suffered through great trauma, as Grace has in the past couple of years. A revelation that motivated Morgan to do his best to talk her out of this decision and come with them after all, but she seemed resigned to her fate. At least, until she had an opportunity to see exactly what she might become when her survival instincts kicked in as they are wont to do, courtesy of a frightening chance encounter.
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Because Grace and Morgan ran into a couple named Fred and Bea who were, in a worse place mentally. For they were wild and caring and dangerous all at once and eager to use the car to escape to a supposed safe zone known only as Padre. But their chaotic nature and desire to inflict harm wasn’t what made them terrifying. After all, we’ve seen that before on this series and Morgan was once in that state. No instead, what made them so horrifying and in turn, the pinnacle of the show’s examination of what a double apocalypse can do to a person… was the secret they harbored. For they also claimed that they had a baby, named Emma, that needed to be moved away from the devastation post haste. But alas, there was something quite wrong with Emma. In fact, she was a member of the living dead, and she became that which humanity now fears… because her father couldn’t reconcile her cries and how they carried on the wind to rotten ears.

A reality that stunned both Grace and Morgan, to the point where Grace finally realized that this kind of behavior could be her fate, unless she did what Morgan said and fought and fought hard. Maybe not for herself in this exact moment, since that kind of epiphany doesn’t immediately heal, but for the future. For Mo. Because there was a real chance they could survive and find a better place where Grace could heal, if they took a moment to work together on a genuine plan to escape and well… that finally motivated her to do what must be done to save the baby and herself, and it’s a wonderful thing that she did. Since her quick change of heart and decision to fight for tomorrow, allowed for them to return home in time safely, and discover wonders with their adopted daughter. Since they found food and formula underneath some of the deck plates of their temporary home. Giving this already powerfully bleak episode, a slightly happy ending.

How long those good vibes will last however, has yet to be seen. Since this episode did include an encounter and brush off from Strand’s boys and of course, a new stranger in this land that has quite the beef with Morgan. But while we wait to see how all of those little twists and turns catch up with Morgan down the line, and what Padre is all about… we can revel in one stunning tale. Because this really was a powerful examination of how extreme duress can break us and transform us into something we are not, and it served as a fine reminder of the importance of having a support network when we fall to the darkness, since that is the key to keeping us from losing ourselves, and well, despite how dark this episode turned out to be, it really does deserve a round of applause. Simply because, this was horror at its finest and it worked so well because of the incredible performances put on display. Since Karen David and Lennie James brought their A game to tale that hammered home the fact, that this series is going to hold nothing back in season seven, and we need to be prepared for genuine terror and unsettling moments, going forward. Until next time.  

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