'Fear the Walking Dead' Recap: 'Date of Death'

Written by John Edward Betancourt

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

Fear the Walking Dead is a show that is always at its finest when it decides to go to the darkest corners of our imagination and our humanity. Those places where our own kind uncover a twisted way to make it through a world that has collapsed, and discover that incredible cruelty will serve them well in a world without rules. It's something unfortunately we have only seen in scattered form from the series and it's something that needed to make a comeback, considering last week's strange decisions with character development.

So in order to repair the damage done from that odd move with Madison, darkness reigned supreme on last night's episode, 'Date of Death', which turned out to be a tale where a father and son came to realize that they were on two different paths in the new world and one where a difficult and painful decision was made from that realization, one that will no doubt haunt Travis for quite some time, but before we get too deep into that choice and what it will mean going forward, let's take a moment and discuss how the series dealt with the silliness of transforming Madison from capable leader to a blubbering and bumbling mother, and her poor choice to flip on the hotel's lights in the middle of the night. 

It turns out that she created a beacon of hope for so many as the gates were quickly swarmed by people desperate to find food and shelter and her consequence for this choice, was the sheer regret of having to look these poor people in the eye and see their suffering first hand and engage in the decision to either let them in or force them to move on. That decision it seems, was a difficult one to make, that is until Travis showed up and was promptly let into the complex. So more or less, having Madison snap in that strange fashion, served as nothing more than a plot device and while that's still disappointing...it's forgivable because what came next was a tour de force in storytelling. 

Because while Madison was happy to see her husband, he was distant, distracted and broken, and when pressed about the whereabouts of his son, he only seemed to become more agitated before finally revealing to his wife that he 'had no choice' when it came to Chris and with a little trip back in time, we were able to discover just what happened at the farm shortly after the younger Manawa put a bullet into the poor farmer trying to figure out why a bunch of people were invading his farm house. It turns out that in those precious moments after the gun fight Travis was able to think quickly and save James' life when it came to the gunshot wound he suffered to his leg, stitching it shut and stabilizing the young man.

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It seemed for a moment that saving James allowed everyone to forget about what transpired to earn James that wound in the first place, until Travis confronted Chris about his actions, demanding to know where his son's head was at and well, Chris flat out didn't seem to care much about what he had done. He truly saw it as a matter of kill or be killed and in this new world, those were the rules and nothing was going to change his mind about it. Not to mention, it was clear there was a certain sense of joy he got from the act, a thrill that seemed to surge through his veins and the confidence that came with that, led to a chilling moment where he pointed out that his father had done enough by saving James to stay in the group's good graces...for the moment. 

Of course, it didn't take long for that gratitude to fade, because after a week of tearing through the convenient food supplies on the farm, the boys grew restless and decided it was time to head back to the good ol' U.S. of A. and take James with them, but the young man simply wasn't physically ready, leading to the group to discuss the last option left on the table...putting James down. It was a move that Travis was in no way good with and after a stunning moment where he proved to the group just how far he's willing to go to save a life, he stayed with James, only to learn that his attempt to let the young man heal safely was a waste of time when his own son deceived him, allowing for the other boys to come in...and kill their own friend. In the wake of that awful moment, as the boys prepared to leave, Travis pleaded with his son one last time to stay with him...and was immediately brushed off as Chris informed his father, that he was simply too weak and unwilling to do what it takes to survive in a world like this to be near his own flesh and blood.  

It was a powerful and stunning act to see him leave his father like that and say what he needed to say, yet...we all know that Chris is absolutely wrong. He's consumed with blood lust and happy to let his anger at past events control his future, reinforcing that Travis was right all along and his actions were a beautiful counterbalance to the ugly acts that poured out of his son. After all, he paid respect to the dead, finding the farmer's ID and properly putting a name on his makeshift headstone, he risked his own life in order to keep James safe and even until that final moment with Chris, he tried desperately to inspire the young man, to show him there was a better way, and while he was unable to sway Chris...he succeeded in inspiring Madison to make every moment count, since she was able to finally tell her daughter the truth about what really happened to her father.

However, one has to wonder now if Travis can recover from this moment since it is tearing his soul to pieces bit by bit and all he can think about now his how he firmly believes that he failed as a father, and failed to honor his wife's dying wish to protect their son, and judging from the final moments of the episode...his sorrow may only grow. Because before the screen faded to black, we were treated to the image of more refugees coming to the gates, including the boys that Chris was happy to travel with...without Chris to be seen anywhere, and the mystery of what happened to the young man will hopefully be resolved in next week's two hour season finale. But in the here and the now, this was one hell of an episode, one that took us to some incredibly dark places and one that served as a reminder that Travis has it right...every life is precious and valuing that, is the only way forward when the world has fallen to pieces. Until next time.

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