Fear The Walking Dead review: A trained cat, a truce, and a link to TWD

Fear The Walking Dead’s latest episode delivered some emotional punches, a totally extra walker massacre, and a link to Rick Grimes.

Daniel and Skidmark are the walker-fighting duo that we never knew we needed. They have their routine down pat. Skidmark, with a bell on his collar, helps lure the walkers with movement and sound so that Daniel can kill them. He’s a smart and well-trained cat and the perfect companion for Daniel who doesn’t suffer fools. Definitely if Skidmark dies, we riot.

Fear The Walking Dead‘s “Skidmark” delivered more than some adorable cat tricks though. It was wonderful to see more of Daniel Salazar and to really get a sense of how he’s coming to terms with the loss of his family. He and Charlie immediately hit it off, and it’s clear that Daniel can see some of his beloved Ofelia in Charlie.

Daniel, who knows Strand probably better than Strand knows Strand, took the plane’s instruments with him when he went out to check walker traps knowing Strand would try to steal the plane. But he sent Charlie, who had stowed away in his car, back to the warehouse with the instruments and led a herd away on foot rather than put anyone’s life in danger but his own. Daniel’s losses haven’t made him hard or bitter; they’ve just left him in a permanent state of grief.

One of the most compelling moments in “Skidmark” was when Daniel got Strand to tell the others why Daniel has so much animosity for Strand. Strand told them that he lied to Daniel about knowing where Ofelia was because he wanted something from Daniel, and Daniel added that because of Strand he never got to tell Ofelia the one thing he really wanted to tell her. It was a sad callback to the events of season 3 when Ofelia Salazar was bitten and died moments before Daniel arrived at the bazaar to see her for the first time since they were separated back in Mexico.

Daniel’s message for Ofelia

Later in the episode Charlie, who has a great bond with Daniel, asked him what he wanted to tell Ofelia. Daniel said he wanted to tell Ofelia: “Every day brings a chance to start over, a chance to get it right.” But he added that Charlie needed to hear that too.

Daniel left Strand and the others in the warehouse, after making them promise to take care of Skidmark, and he set off alone to take care of something he needed to do. Hopefully that doesn’t mean that Daniel is gone for good, because his character is just too good to lose.

Strand’s totally extra walker massacre

Strand, being Strand, found the most extra way possible to dispose of the herd that Daniel was leading away. He led them right into the plane’s propellers creating a gruesome kill site and rendering the plane inoperable.

More creepy kids

Back on the other side of the mountain, Dylan revealed that Annie and Max are alive and that he lied, although they were in trouble and needed help. Morgan and Alicia of course went to help them, and they found out that the kids were not alone. There was a big group of kids, well armed, who were living in the wooded area inside the walker blockades. They are the children of the adults at the camp — and they just can’t move on.

The kids are definitely spooked. They won’t talk about the people who were there before, the ones who probably took Al, but it’s clear that they’re scared of them. A member of that mystery group in armor is seen killing walkers in the area and carrying two large cases, so it’s clear that the mystery group is still in the area although no one knows why.

The kids definitely know more than they’re saying, and Morgan and Alicia are going to have an uphill battle getting the kids to trust them enough to tell them about the mystery group. However, they do need answers because that group has Althea, and they are going to do whatever it takes to get her back.

A link to Rick Grimes

At the end of the episode the kids, Alicia, and Morgan are forced to the ground by the power of a nearby helicopter taking off suddenly. The black helicopter with the white circle logo on it is the same helicopter that Jadis called in The Walking Dead — and the same helicopter that took Rick Grimes and Jadis after Rick was critically injured and sacrificed himself to blow up the bridge and keep the others safe from a herd.

So the helicopter people took Rick Grimes and are aware of the communities in Virginia … but they’re also in Texas. Where else could they be? How big is the group? They clearly have resources, but where is their main settlement? What do they do with the people they take? And why are they so interested in that area in Texas? Is it because of the nuclear plant?  There are just so many questions. Hopefully we will start to get some answers as Fear The Walking Dead hurtles towards the season 5 midseason finale.

What did you think of Fear The Walking Dead this week, TWDFamily? Tweet us: @SonyaIryna and @CulturessFS to tell us what you thought of this episode.