'Fear the Walking Dead' Recap: 'This Land is Your Land'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

If there is one thing I've always found incredibly fascinating when it comes to end of the world themed fiction, is the sheer fact that these disturbing and harrowing tales tend to focus on two key things; the end itself and what it takes for humanity to start over, and while these elements are of course extremely fascinating in their own right, by dropping us at the beginning of the end, or long after the end has come they tend to skip over the nuances and trials and tribulations that the characters have to go through in order to become strong survivors. However, a grand exception to that rule, is Fear the Walking Dead. 

I say that, simply because Fear is a series that takes us right into the grey area that most of these stories avoid like the plague they introduce. Where the world has disappeared and characters that are used to comfortable living and simplicity are forced to make tough decisions day in and day out to see tomorrow and in the process, those decisions change them on a fundamental level, for better or for worse and as it turns out, last night's episode, 'This Land is Your Land', was a story that focused heavily on those elements, by putting the citizens of Broke Jaw Ranch on a countdown to doom, and in doing so, it put the proverbial spotlight on Alicia, and the tough decisions she made to ensure survival for this fledging community.

The danger in question came by way of the lack of a precious resource that everyone on the ranch needs to survive...air. Somehow fresh air was no longer being pumped into the bunker where everyone was taking shelter and in order to get the air going again, Ofelia and Crazy Dog climb into the duct work to clear the blockage and get the air flowing, leaving everyone in the bunker on borrowed time. After all, with so many people in one place the air supply is limited, which forces Alicia to step up and become the quality leader that this community has been desperately waiting for, and make an incredibly tough call...by asking for anyone who was bitten in the mad scramble to get to the pantry to surrender their lives so that there is enough oxygen for everyone to share.

Such a decision was stunning in just about every single sense of the word and what made this moment all the more fascinating was the fact that the initial resistance that came forth from the bitten/infected spoke volumes to how the living dead were able to take over since it's clear that no one wanted to face the fact that a bite meant a fate worse than death. But thankfully, they acquiesced and one by one, Alicia put them down with morphine shortly before plunging a blade into the base of their brains and my goodness...was this one difficult sequence to watch. It's one thing to see rotten and hungry corpses be put down on this show, but to see everyday people, sick with the virus but still in control of their humanity be put down even in merciful fashion, well it was quite the sobering and unsettling sight indeed and not only did it have an impact on the audience, it fundamentally changed Alicia.

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In fact, I'm not sure she will ever be the same after this episode, because despite knowing this was for the greater good, and the right thing to do, she struggled with it all supremely and it was fascinating to watch this incredibly strong character finally see the true savageness of this scary new world and it was equally intriguing to see her perspective on life and how it should be lived fundamentally, change before our eyes. Granted, her friend Christine helped shape some of her new perspective, but after seeing that her best efforts failed, since the people of Broke Jaw Ranch suffocated in that bunker, it's clear now that Alicia firmly believes that there has to be more at the end of the world, what that is exactly, we don't quite know yet, but it's nice to see that someone is trying their damndest to figure it out. 

However, lost in the quagmire of Alicia's plight, is the sheer fact that Broke Jaw Ranch is gone forever, and there's something equally sobering about that as well because Madison and Walker really did give it their all when it came to trying to keep this place together and to see it burning in the distance with the knowledge that everyone beneath that cloud of smoke perished was a tough sight to say the least. It in a way, spoke to Alicia's thoughts, in that there's nowhere safe in this ugly new world and one has to wonder, since we've seen the Clark family wander about the past three seasons, will they ever actually find a safe place to call home? Or is this their life now, drifting from place to place, hoping for the best but expecting the worst and really...is that any way to survive? 

Yet what's equally as disconcerting when it comes to this episode, are the loose ends left hanging in this story. After all, Nick is still doing his best to keep Troy and his stupidity safe since it was the younger Otto's fault that the horde destroyed Broke Jaw to begin with, and it seems Alicia is fully aware of this fact, and one has to wonder if and when this will be addressed and whether or not Troy will survive when more people discover the truth when it comes to his psychotic transgressions. Plus, there's the whole matter of Madison's desire to return to the Dam since the reception she and her friends received the first time around was anything but warm and considering that they now have nothing to bargain with, will they be able to even make it past the gates? 

Regardless, this was quite the devastating episode. Usually a television show saves this kind of collapse and despair for the mid season or season finale, but here we are, two weeks before the end of season three and everything has fallen to pieces. There's really nowhere safe for the Clark family at the moment, and their future is about as uncertain as it gets and when all is said and done, this was an utterly brilliant episode. You so rarely get to see the effects a world such as this will have on the human mind and it was just heartbreaking to see Alicia's strength fade before our eyes with every single life she took. I'm extremely curious to see where her story is going to go from here since she's been shattered at her core from this mess and I'm quite curious to see what lies ahead for Madison and her friends and family as well as we continue on this dark road toward the season three finale. Until next time.

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