‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap ‘The Door’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episode 608 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’.

Something that is truly unique about how evil is perceived in our modern world, is that we firmly expect it to make itself known to everyone, and it is understandable as to why we hold true to that. After all, history is rife with examples where monsters are eager to take the center stage, since we have seen despots and dictators do what they can to hog the spotlight and garner headlines. To the point where even masterminds of attacks like 9/11, are happy to go on television and inform the world of their evil act and why they believe they are in the right for harming others. But while these acts do indeed inform us that evil exists and that it can be boisterous, expecting bad people to announce themselves and their intentions often, is the wrong way to perceive evil.   
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Because that’s just showboating, the kind that relates to the need to feed the ego that accompanies evil, and we cannot expect it to consistently make itself known to all. Because real evil, the kind that hurts people with impunity… doesn’t want to be seen in the slightest. It wants to persist, it wants to thrive, it wants to live and how we truly need to perceive it, is to understand that it is out there, hunting for prey and we need to be vigilant and ready to fight it… since it will do whatever it takes to see another day, and really… all of this is relevant to our discussion today, simply because the complexities of real evil served as the focal theme of the midseason premiere of Fear the Walking Dead and that made for one harrowing and heartbreaking tale. One that actually managed to outright fool and shock the audience.

Because at first glance, ‘The Door’, appeared to be an episode that was going to resemble the themes and construction of The Walking Dead episode, ‘Clear’. For this particular tale saw John Dorie back at his cabin with quite the unsettling task in mind. In that, he’d had enough of this broken and angry world, and decided the time had come to check out and leave it behind. But despite his best efforts to end his life, the dead kept interrupting his suicide attempt, motivating him to investigate why there was a sudden surge of the living dead at his doorstep once again and well… what he found was in fact, quite uplifting. Because eventually, he came to discover that Dakota and Morgan were hiding in the general store and did their best to isolate the dead on the bridge that allows for the dead to overflow and wash up downriver and well, it didn’t take long for this reunion to parallel that aforementioned episode.

For in essence, Morgan took on the role of Rick Grimes in this tale, since he saw an old friend in a horrible place mentally, since John was basically taking on the role of Morgan from that prior story and that motivated Morgan… to try and do for John what Rick did for him. Which is why he offered up all kinds of support and positive words, to help John understand that suicide or isolation wasn’t the answer. That community was the key here and that if John had some kind of purpose once again, as he once found, that things would change, and his fears and his darkness would be lifted. But alas, much like Morgan was at that stage, words and kindness did nothing. John would have to figure out how to find a way forward on his own and well… that’s when this episode started to take a devastating turn.  

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In part because, in order for Morgan and Dakota to head to the new camp, they would have to get through the wall of living death they created. Which led to an intense and terrifying sequence wherein John helped them use a truck to plow through the monsters. A move that saw several close calls for John, leaving one to wonder if the dead would handle his death wish. But thankfully he and his friends survived the onslaught and in the wake of this gory and tense sequence, John made quite the awful discovery. For he came to learn that Dakota was the one who killed the Ranger that led to John’s current mental state and to complicate matters further… she would rather kill than have that truth exposed. Which is why she shot John Dorie and let him sink into the water and well, that’s precisely when the story dove into its exploration on how evil loves to hide in order to persist.
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For Morgan came to learn that Dakota was also his savior, and that her note to him wasn’t about building a better tomorrow or finding a better purpose. It was so that he had a debt to Dakota, one that would be paid in full when he killed Ginny at last. And in that moment and we were truly able to see Dakota for who she is… a broken and twisted human being. One that is a true product of this horrible new world, since the death and darkness of the apocalypse, combined with steady fuel of hate and control from her sister, forged a monster that treats people akin to chess pieces. Mere pawns, that will do her bidding and help her shape the future as she sees fit, and it will be quite interesting to see what Morgan does, now that he knows the truth about Dakota. But what matters more, is that this reveal made it clear that evil comes in all forms, and that it truly hates being in the spotlight since it cannot indulge in its usual machinations and how it will be stopped here, since Dakota is wise and ruthless, is anyone's guess. 

But while that alone could have ended this episode in a powerful manner, this show had more dark moments to send our way. Because John did survive, and he tried to get to his cabin since deep down he knew June was there with Ginny… since Morgan called for a meeting. To which he was right, but… he never got to see his love in his normal form ever again. For his mortal wound robbed him of life and infected him with living death and in the final moments, of this tale, June and the audience were forced to say goodbye to John Dorie in the most indignant way imaginable. Since he turned and tried to devour his once love, forcing her to put him down and this was just… devastating through and through. For John was one of the good ones and he definitely deserved better than the cruelty of a twisted young adult… grasping for power.

If anything, this really was quite the stunning and devastating episode when all is said and done. For not only did it feature the exit of a fan favorite and outright beloved character, but it shocked us with the reveal that evil is in the midst of our heroes and eager to sow strife and trouble and it also tackled some tough topics as well. Since discussions around suicide on television are rare, as is seeing someone make the attempt and that just adds to the gravity of one heavy tale. One that is clearly designed to inform the audience that back half of season six of this series is going to hold nothing back storytelling wise, and that no one is safe from the wrath of these twisted sisters and truly, it will be heartbreaking to watch the group try to go on, now that they know they pawns in a horrible game, where opting out and not playing, will cause more harm than good. Until next time.   

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