'Fear the Walking Dead' Recap: 'Pillar of Salt'

​Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

During last night's episode of Fear the Walking Dead, there was a dialogue exchange from the 1985 zombie horror film Day of the Dead that kept running through my mind. In that moment, a character named Sarah expresses her disdain over the fact that everyone isn't working together and 'pulling in different directions' and another character named John points out that she is simply facing one of the world's biggest and oldest problems since 'people got different ideas concerning what they want out of life.'

That exchange kept flashing through my mind simply because of the fact that 'Pillar of Salt' was the living embodiment of what John said in that film. Sure at first at seemed as though things were peachy and wonderful, since everyone at the hotel was working together, but it didn't take long for personal agenda and desires to allow for all of that to come crashing down when the mother of the bride decided to stab Strand for putting down her resurrected daughter and that one single act, would set in motion a series of mental disasters from our characters that made for one frustrating episode, since a good chunk of the positive character development we experienced last week was wiped away in a matter of moments.

But despite those head shaking moments, there was one bright spot character wise, Ofelia. She of course has been gone from our minds for weeks now, potentially dead or worse, resurrected and last night we finally caught up with her to learn that her character was on a mission to find closure. Having never known the fate of her fiancé in the midst of the zombiepocalypse, and now free of any responsibility or ties to her parents, we learned she is now on the road back to the United States in order to find out if indeed her love has survived the worst of the mess in New Mexico. If he has, no doubt happiness will ensue, but if not...well, this could end in similar melancholy fashion like 'Pablo and Jessica' did, where she is fully prepared to give her love peace if his corpse is still walking around.

There was also a solid sense of hope pouring from this episode as well when it came to the Colonia and Nick, since it is clear now that Nick truly cares for the people within its walls and is now willing to go the extra mile to ensure their safety. But that hope was quickly dashed thanks to Alejandro, and personal agenda since while the people believe in the man, it is evident now that he truly has no plan for them outside of waiting it out and that comfort in a time of need is no longer a concern for him. He believes everyone must suffer and suffer hard in the name of the Lord and his decision to not get the drugs to the gang is a risky one to say the least, and all of this comes from the fact that one of his scouts decided to leave for greener and better pastures.

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Oddly enough, that plot line allowed for Nick's world and Madison's new world to finally come together, since Elena knows where they can find supplies to save Strand's life from his newfound wound and that involves making a trip to the gang's hideout to trade something of value. That part was easy to come by with the hotel having power back on line, but this exchange for medical supplies brings us at last to the grand frustration that I made mention of a little bit ago. 

Because while at the Mercado, Madison overhears the gang leader's interrogation of Alejandro's scout and politely asks Elena to translate for her. It doesn't take long for word of a Caucasian kid with ratty hair to come into the discussion and Madison firmly believes they are discussing Nick, leading her to confront the scout, begging to know if indeed it is her son they are speaking of. This desperate gesture on her part quickly makes the situation confrontational, and damn near costs the group the trade. But thankfully they get the supplies they need for Strand and return to the hotel, where Madison once again makes another boneheaded move, flipping on the lights for the hotel in the middle of the night where anyone and everyone, including Travis in the distance...can see it.

So with that in mind, let's talk about that paradigm shift in Madison's character because it didn't make any sense. Last week, she was someone determined to put a life together for her daughter and newfound family. She stopped at nothing to inspire everyone to do more, be more and in the process became a powerful and trustworthy leader. Heck we even saw her taking advice from Strand before making an important decision. So how on earth does she go from being all those wonderful things, to a prototypical horror character that makes stupid decisions that endanger everyone? Yes, I get that she loves her son and always will. Yes I get that she wants him safe and needs to trust him more. But to flip on the lights like that, so that everyone can see the hotel and to become a blubbering mess in that fashion? It's disappointing to say the least, and well...it wipes out the progress she made last week.

It also seemed wholly unnecessary. Sure I get that the episode was about the dangers of personal agendas getting in the way of survival, but Madison didn't need to be the one to create danger from it. The group will no doubt lose all faith in her when people come in spades to the hotel looking for shelter and that's a shame. She was about to become the focal point character wise this show needed and I can only hope that this was designed and she is going to redeem herself. Either way, in looking at the bigger picture, chaos is clearly coming for everyone, since now the gang knows where the Colonia is, and someone other than Travis saw the lights for the hotel. We come to expect that of course, I just wish we came to chaos under circumstances that didn't include having our characters take a step back in their development, but it should be interesting to see what kind of consequences come from Madison's moment of weakness. Until next time.

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