The Best of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – Season 7

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Episode 711: ‘Ofelia’
Original Air Date: May 1, 2022

‘I want to believe this. But my mind is not clear. You must be certain, Luciana. Because if you’re wrong, if this is not true, if this another lie, it could break me for good.’
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- Daniel Salazar

Rubén Blades as Daniel Salazar in Episode 711 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘Ofelia’. (Photo Courtesy of Lauren ‘Lo’ Smith/AMC.)

When we think of bold decisions in storytelling, we tend to think of epic moments. Such as say, killing off or removing a lead character from the framework of the story or something outright incredible happens that changes the landscape of the story and the environment for the characters, and it makes sense why we gravitate toward that. After all, those are huge changes that take guts to execute, especially since so many stories, especially on television, rely on comfort and familiarity to keep the audience tuning in. But while those are big moments worth discussing and pondering upon, what we often forget is that sometimes… bold decisions don’t have to come from giant and grandiose acts. 
 
Sometimes… they can come forth by introducing say… snap decisions from a character that have an incredible impact upon their interactions with another character. Or… having a character deal with some very real-world problems and implications. For those can really shake up a story and change its course and its direction, and it is those more, low key bold decisions storytelling wise, that we are going to focus upon today, as we bring to an end to our spotlight of the finest episodes that Fear the Walking Dead has to offer. For in season seven, those exact moments took place, and that led to a powerful episode that really did go places most zombie fiction does not. 
 
Such as the fact that ‘Ofelia’ informed us, that Daniel Salazar, one of the sharpest minds on the show, was suffering from cognitive mental decline in this tale. The kind that impacted his memory and his decision-making skills, to the point where he was a danger to himself and others and well… that’s bold. Bold because… we don’t think about those kinds of problems in disaster set stories, we simply assume everyone will keep on keepin’ on. When in fact, this would be a real problem, one that would cause more harm than good in a world where hospitals and specialists designed to treat such issues no longer exist, and nothing could be done really but making hard attempts to keep that person comfortable. And yes, Daniel’s affliction did indeed bring forth trouble, and a troubling decision.

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Danay Garcia as Luciana in Episode 711 of ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – ‘Ofelia’. (Photo Courtesy of Lauren ‘Lo’ Smith/AMC.)

Since Luciana did come to understand that there was a way to provide Daniel with real clarity, which involved, giving him something to focus upon. Specifically finding his late daughter and she used to that her advantage and manipulated Daniel in the process. Which was equally as bold. Since that spoke to how this world was wearing our heroes down, and how they were letting fear take control. Which prompted them to go to new places in a negative manner to win, to survive. Which let’s be honest… is something that happens in our world now, and we’ve done it ourselves now and again, and that too was bold to find here. Since you just don’t see horror stories or stories in general point out how fear can bring us to our lowest and make us do awful things.
 
But perhaps most important of all. This is a story that explores the nature of ageism, and how problematic and prejudiced that can be. Because in so many ways, Daniel is seen as a worthless old man, when he is not. He’s just hurting, he needs treatment and support and so many are willing to turn their back upon him and dismiss him and that… really is the boldest aspect of all regarding this episode. For this is how we treat the elderly in our own world, because we fear old age and fear the possibility of losing our faculties as our own odometer climbs. So, we shun the old, make them feel as though they are now spoiled milk to be thrown out, all in an effort to not deal with our own fears, when as Daniel proved here… that’s simply not the case, and those of age can be so much more and be productive.
 
If anything, all of these elements made… for a brilliant episode through and through. One that tackled new problems and possibilities for folks living at the end of everything, and one that had a lot to say about the human condition and how easy it is for us to be shun our own morals when fear comes into play. Not to mention, this episode was nothing short of an acting clinic as well since Danay Garcia and Rubén Blades let loose here to wow us with emotional moments and Colby Hollman held his own as the moral center of the story and well… those themes, those performances and one great story, makes this the best episode that season seven had to offer, and this revisitation of that episode, signals that the time has come… to prepare ourselves emotionally. For all that lies ahead is the series finale of this amazing show, and our fond farewell to it.
 
To learn more about how the actors handled the themes in this episode, check out Post-Mortem Interview with Danay Garcia, Rubén Blades and Colby Hollman… here.
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