‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Recap: ‘The Hurt That Will Happen’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

THIS IS THE EMERGENCY SPOILER ALERT SYSTEM...YOU ARE ADVISED TO READ AT YOUR OWN RISK...

When it comes to Fear the Walking Dead and really, The Walking Dead universe as a whole, I often see a consistent complaint on social media in that, both shows tend to take too long to get where they need to go. It’s a grievance that quite frankly, I disagree with, because I firmly believe that a story should take as long as necessary in order to properly tell its tale, but I understand where others are coming from. After all, this is horror, and it’s fun when the story and the scares move at a breakneck pace and well, it would seem that showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg have seen this feedback, and are looking to shake things up a little bit when it comes to the pacing of Fear, since ‘The Hurt That Will Happen’, ended up being a story that was filled to the brim with fast moving plot lines and intense moments and well, there’s so much to cover here that it’s difficult to find a starting point, so perhaps it’s best we begin with a tense reunion that last week’s season premiere teased.
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Because this particular story wasted no time in bringing Victor Strand and Daniel Salazar face to face once again and in all honesty, I expected this to be a violent and ugly reunion. For the last time these two men interacted in Mexico, Daniel seemed ready to end Strand’s life for his machinations and betrayals but instead, this ended up being quite the pleasant surprise. For Daniel actually welcomed Victor into his massive compound, and he even took the time to hear Strand’s harrowing story and learn of what he’s lost, in the hopes of seeing if by chance that Victor had changed his lying ways. But the distrust was strong here and Strand’s pleas and candor were outright ignored by Daniel and with good reason. After all, why would Mister Salazar have any reason to trust a man who has delivered nothing but deception at every single turn. But Victor wasn’t ready to give up just yet and took the time to prove to Daniel once and for all, that he was indeed telling the truth.

If anything, all of this made for quite the harrowing storyline, since we so rarely see Victor rattled and desperate, but that’s precisely what he was in this segment of the story, because he truly wanted to get his hands on that plane and save his friends and it was just incredible to see how much he’s grown and how dedicated he is to doing the right thing these days since he took the time to explore every last radio frequency in order to get in touch with anyone from his party. Yet what was equally amazing about this sequence, is that Daniel softened his stance just a little bit, even going so far as to acknowledge Strand’s plight, and offer him some help in contacting an ailing Luciana back at the truck stop. But, despite proving to Daniel that he was indeed telling the truth and that help was necessary at this point, Daniel turned his back on Strand. For he firmly believed that trouble and sorrow follows Victor everywhere he goes and for now, he will need to find other means in helping his friends. 

Yet, while an hour of that would have been enough to carry this episode on its own, there was so much more waiting for us, since this tale took the time to address one of the biggest mysteries that the series premiere introduced, in regard to the radiation signs popping up all over the area. Because once again, Morgan and Alicia came face to face with them as they started their search for Al, and the discovery of a warm engine near the latest ‘radioactive roadblock’ allowed for them to finally find out what was going on, by way of an unexpected introduction to a survivor named Grace. As it turns out, Grace used to work at a nuclear power plant a few miles up the road and she and her team did everything they could to survive and keep the plant running as the world collapsed around them. But fear, and fatigue and the harsh reality that the apocalypse was upon them allowed for a lapse in their work, and eventually, the reactor core went into meltdown, bringing forth a new and terrifying threat to the countryside, irradiated walkers. 

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Which meant that anyone who came in physical contact with these dangerous corpses needed to be decontaminated, as was the case with Morgan after his first encounter with this new threat and well, when presented with the sheer danger of this, Morgan felt it best to help out Grace in her quest to bring down as many of these radioactive monsters as possible, a decision that didn’t sit well with Alicia, since she believed they needed to make the search for Al a priority over anything else. But, Morgan’s level headedness and a distress call from June and John kept Alicia’s mind in a calmer place for the time being and shortly after they arrived to help them out, they all came to discover the importance of Grace’s mission. For half of the specific walkers she was searching for found their way to a summer camp, the same one that the kids we met last week once called home, and while the good people of this camp made a successful stand against this tiny herd, burning the dead released the radiation into the air in the camp, ending more lives and bringing forth more dead and well, seeing this end result, and learning of Grace’s dedication to correcting what she believed was a mistake she made, gave Alicia pause.
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Because she truly felt that all she was good for these days, was fighting and being a blunt instrument in the field, and that she had failed Morgan and the group along the way and that realization allowed for the show to slow things down for a moment and bring its trademark commentary and humanity back into play. For Morgan was able to share his own battles with depression and trauma with Alicia in honest fashion, allowing for her to understand to embrace what she has now, rather than be haunted by the past and she also came to realize that despite her best efforts to snuff the pain in her heart, more would come down the line, because that is life, whether the end of the world is upon us or not and seeing Morgan be a father figure for a change, and seeing Alicia listen to his wisdom allowed for some genuine beauty to come forth in this tale, and it was equally as touching to learn about the sacrifice that Grace is making since she is slowly succumbing to radiation poisoning as well.

Yet, while that seems like a happy-ish ending in its own right, there is still a grave threat surrounding the group, and much of that was explored by way of Luciana’s journey in this tale, which, at first glance one would think isn’t worth discussing since she was back at the truck stop healing from a nasty wound, where nothing of consequence should have happened outside of that radio conversation with Strand. But, as it turns out, Luciana had plenty to do in this tale, despite her injuries. Because mid-way through her talk with Strand, the radio signal straight up died, and it seemed as though the wind and the dead played a part in that and while her injuries didn’t allow for her to investigate such matters further, her friends had a chance to look around, and well, seeing walker corpses splayed out atop a billboard, along with more hanging heads, means that the persons or persons who created fleshy roadblocks felt the need to send a message to the group, and well, I think it is safe to say at this point that whatever they have to say isn’t friendly in the slightest, since all of this felt like quite the warning.

So, yeah, if that seems like a lot of plot for a single episode, you’d be one hundred percent right. Because this episode packed it in, and well, I loved every single second of it. For this one just moved at a breakneck pace, and I loved how everything you could ask for when it comes to this series was present here. Because it featured character growth, and conflict and philosophical concepts that stay in line with what the show is trying to accomplish and well, I love the fact that this one took the time to answer what was up with the radiation signage. Because by getting that plot thread out of the way, we can now focus our attention to the dead body artist roaming the countryside, and the fact that Grace is avoiding that art as well speaks volumes to the creepy nature of it all, and considering how this episode went, I have high hopes that we are going to find out who or whom is behind this, sooner rather than later since its clear now that Fear the Walking Dead is racing toward something important in season five, and I cannot wait to see what is waiting for us in the weeks to come. Until next time. 

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