Fear the Walking Dead season 4 episode 9 review: People Like Us

In season 4’s midseason premiere of Fear the Walking Dead, our survivors mourn the loss of Madison and Nick Clarke while a major storm heads their way.

A major storm is headed towards our Fear the Walking Dead survivors. With nasty wind, rain and walkers on the way, it doesn’t help that many of our favorites are split up and still dealing with heavy emotions following the death of Madison Clarke.

At the start of the midseason premiere, we find out Morgan (Lennie James) has decided to head on back to Alexandria. Despite trying to remain on his own, Morgan realizes Rick was right and he did find people to care about again. While that revelation just a few minutes into the episode was shocking, Morgan surprised us more by saying he wants to bring everyone back with him. He sees his old community as one they can all trust. And it makes sense since Alexandria and its fellow communities are now a growing society with ample supplies, budding agriculture and much more protection from the dangers of the apocalyptic world.

Morgan makes his rounds with his newfound friends, telling them all his plans to go back to Virginia and his hopes they’ll join him. So far, it seems Al (Maggie Grace) is the only one willing to go back (too bad that armored tank of hers wasn’t around pre-Saviors).

John (Garret Dillahunt)and June (Jenna Elfman) are content as a newly reunited couple — at least John is. We later learn June is having some identity issues, feeling as if John won’t like June because he fell in love with Laura and then sought to find Naomi. (If that confused you, it should, as it confused me a bit too.)

Last we saw John, he was pretty badly injured by Alicia shooting him. He’s begun to heal, while he sets up temporary house with June inside an abandoned bus. The plan though is to go back to his adorable little cabin with June to play Scrabble till the end of their days. Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) is also with them, but she doesn’t seem at all okay, almost allowing herself to get eaten by a walker and all that. It’s easy to see she’s remorseful over Nick’s death but unsure how to cope with what she did in the present.

Strand (Colman Domingo) and Luciana (Danay García) are lounging about in an abandoned estate that apparently has a well-stocked wine cellar. Strand is making quick use of that, while Luciana listens to classic records. These two are in no hurry to return to the world outside, and honestly, can we blame them?

As for Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), she’s also living at the estate, holed up in a space all to herself. When Morgan comes knocking, seeing if she’d want to go to Virginia, he discovers she’s been drawing in walkers who all have mysterious notes attached to them pleading for help. Alicia’s easily lost the most out of everyone in Fear — a boyfriend, her brother, and now her mother. So to see her acting manic as she investigates where the notes are coming from, Morgan realizes he better help the girl out. If he does, perhaps she’ll listen to him in the end and tag along to Alexandria.

The notes lead the two to a lumber mill overrun by walkers, and unfortunately, the mission is a fruitless one. Alicia and Morgan discover the writer of the notes has already died and become a walker himself. Alicia is overcome with guilt at not having arrived there sooner.

Alicia’s grief over her mother’s death, and Nick’s as well, has her trying to do something — anything — good. She tells Morgan, “I’ve got a lot to make up for.” Morgan replies, “I do, too.” It is a noble thing for Alicia to want to carry on her mother’s legacy of helping others, but we shouldn’t forget Madison Clarke wasn’t always so innocent. There was a darkness in her, and that may appear in Alicia as well. It has before, and if Alicia can’t come to terms with her losses, she may go into that dark place again.

While Alicia and Morgan are at the lumber mill, our other survivors separate for various reasons — and it’s an obvious lead to everyone being spread out when danger hits. As winds whip up and birds flee, we realize a nasty storm is on its way — one that has strong enough gusts to blow walkers around like rag dolls.

June and Al have headed out to investigate why more and more walkers were coming down the river, and they quickly realize it’s due to the storm. Charlie runs away, and John enlists Strand to help him find her. Luciana then discovers Charlie returning a book at the estate, and she chases her out into the storm. (No good can come from little kids on this show, I tell you.)

While the storm will indeed be a danger to everyone, it may actually be the trauma and guilt many are still holding onto that causes the worst damage moving forward.

Undead Afterthoughts

• Shout out to Strand’s hilarious takedown of a walker as Luciana carelessly jams out.
• Second shout out goes to Strand again, for just drinking straight from the bottle. In the apocalypse, there’s no need or time for glasses.
• Everyone, get you a man like John Dorie, who will literally remake Scrabble from scrap.
• John and June are here to give us cute conversations in an otherwise dim world: “Do you think the cabin’s even still there?” … “Well I locked the door before I left.”
• Charlie? Where’s Charlie? Carl? Where’s Carl? (Oh, too soon?)
• Could Morgan’s heading back to Alexandria mean a FTWD/TWD crossover? Or will this just be a setup for characters to ponder their journeys thus far in Fear, including Morgan?

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 8 p.m. CT on AMC.