"Fear the Walking Dead" Recap: "Captive"

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Sometimes, whether we like it or not, our favorite television shows decide to go to some pretty incredible places and shock all of us in the process. One can always hope that the shock that the audience receives is a positive and joyous one, but let's be honest...often times it's something horrifying, just as it was this week on Fear the Walking Dead since the show decided to take us into the deepest and darkest parts of the human psyche.

​"Captive" turned out to be quite the character study, where a majority of the characters were pushed to the limit this week, since the impending showdown with Connor and his merry band of pirates reminded everyone just how quickly the world has changed and how ugly each and everyone of them will have to be from here on out...and that they will have to find a way to live with it. If anything, that was the best part of the night, seeing a majority of the group be forced to face down their own respective ghosts.  

Travis's journey last night was perhaps the most direct approach to this little storytelling twist since through him we discovered that Alex survived being cut free from the Abigail by Strand and that after drifting for a bit, and putting poor Jake out of his misery before turning...she ran into Connor and his crew and was more than happy to offer up information on the people who left her out in the ocean to die, thus answering exactly how Connor's crew knew who was who on the boat when they boarded it.

But what mattered about this little plot thread is that it brought Travis and Alex face to face after that fateful moment, and while it seemed as though revenge was on Alex's mind, she simply wanted Travis to own up to the horrible call made that day, and surprisingly he did. In fact Travis was quick to apologize and immediately spill his emotional guts in front of Alex; speaking out about how hard he has tried to remain a good man in a bad time and this was quite the powerful little scene. So rarely do any of the characters in this universe truly get to reflect upon their actions due to the need to survive, so to see Travis do just that, alongside Alex was truly something to behold, it was a powerful, dark moment and really the harbinger that the collapse of society is slowly getting to each and every one of them as the days go by. 

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The good news is that we learned that Travis is keeping the darkness at bay for the most part, but the same cannot be said for his son Chris, who all but snapped last night by demanding to keep watch over Reed...and murder the man in cold blood. All episode long we watched him struggle with his decision to not put a round in Reed and his boarding party and despite Nick's best efforts to calm him down, and Daniel's for that matter, he finally crossed that line and whether or not he is in the right to kill a man who put a gun to his head, it's clear that Chris is confused and lost in this world and the gentle moment between he and Madison shows that he is nothing more than a scared boy in a world he doesn't quite understand. Where we go from here with him is anyone's guess.

But of all of the characters we focused on this week, the big surprise of the night came from where the story is suddenly going with Daniel. To date, he and Nick are the only people perfectly suited and ready for this world since we have seen Daniel's skills come through to save the group or put them in a position to succeed time and time again. But last night...well there are now cracks in his armor since Daniel began to hear voices and that offers up a whole host of questions. Is he cracking under the pressure of the world surrounding him? Is there mental illness at work here that Daniel was able to manage in his past life with medication but now that he is without it, is it creeping up on him? Time will tell. 

Daniel's teachings to be bold and savage in this world however have not fallen on deaf ears because we do need to talk about the plan to get Travis and Alicia back from Connor's tuna boat simply because wow, it was a bold one to say the least. Despite Chris' grand mistake in killing Reed when the group needed him for a prisoner exchange, we learned that death doesn't mean a thing for matters such as this when you can simply send over a reanimated corpse to complete the transaction, just as Madison did. It was a wild decision for certain, and it demonstrated the darker side to Madison that continues to slowly be revealed.  

While the move did indeed save Travis and help facilitate Alicia's escape from the ship, so that the group could be reunited, one has to wonder what kind of fallout will come from this week's events. For one, despite the fact that Chris exhibited remorse for his cold blooded actions, he clearly has a taste for murder now and considering the fact that Travis has admitted his inability to stomach what's happening around him, that will only further strain their relationship. Plus, although the group did escape from Connor's compound; one gets the impression we haven't seen the last of his pirates. Jack is still alive, so is angry pregnant lady...as is Alex and she is quite the survivor, and we still don't know for sure if she is friend or foe. Either way, what a thoughtful and cerebral episode this turned out to be, and hopefully these newfound wrinkles to our characters are revisited sooner rather than later. Until next time. 

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