Fear The Walking Dead review: Survival means letting go

On Fear The Walking Dead this week, Alicia tries to get to Annie to understand the most basic rule of apocalypse survival.

Alicia’s walker slaying skills were on full display in this week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead “Still Standing”. First, she had to slash her way deep within the circle of walker traps in order to find the kids. Later on, she had to take out the herd that was overrunning the crude gate the kids had set up to give them time to get down and get away.

She managed to convince Annie that if she didn’t take Max, Dylan, and the others back to the truck stop and leave on the plane with the group, they wouldn’t survive. But it was a tough sell. Annie just couldn’t bring herself to leave the place where their parents had told them that they would be safe.

Obviously, she knows their parents are dead, but kids process trauma in unique ways, and it’s possible that her inability to recognize the truth of what Alicia was telling her was because she just couldn’t face the idea of running. Leaving that safe space meant finally accepting that their parents were gone and that they would have to find a way forward without them — that she would have to lead these kids and keep them safe. It’s a huge responsibility and one that she could partially avoid by staying in the treehouse.

But Alicia was right, and nothing lasts in the apocalypse. As the herd started to break through the gate, Annie realized that she had to take the kids and try for a real future with the group. With no ammunition, they wouldn’t have survived in that treehouse even without the threat of the nuclear reactor’s impending meltdown. Annie had to take that leap into the unknown to save their lives. And she wasn’t the only one letting go of some things in this episode.

Dwight lets go of the search for Sherry

One of the more heartbreaking moments in this episode was John Dorie finally giving Sherry’s letter to Dwight. In episode 506, he decided to keep the letter from Dwight so that Dwight wouldn’t give up on living. But now, with disaster ahead and an urgent need to get out of the area, John gave Dwight the letter so that he could choose to stay and keep looking or leave with John, June, and the others.

It was tough to watch Dwight read that letter. He’s been looking for Sherry for so long and he’s suffered so much. But he decided that he would help John back to the truck stop and it doesn’t look like he’s going to give up on Sherry. These two have a great love story, and it would be fantastic if he does find her one day.

Al lets go of her secret

The plane needs fuel, and Al happens to know where there is a cache of airplane fuel. She takes June to the CRM cache where she and Isabelle got fuel for the helicopter. She does tell June about Isabelle, but doesn’t tell her about CRM or that Isabelle is a soldier for a mysterious militia. Al tells June she doesn’t think she will ever see Isabelle again, and she doesn’t know how to live with that. But June, the den mother of the group, promises to keep Al’s secret.

Alicia lets go of holding back

In a shocking moment as Alicia is killing walkers, she gets covered in the blood of an irradiated walker, exposing her to radiation. In the moment when the blood spatters on her and she knows she’s been exposed, she knows that now her time is limited. She knows she has to make the most of whatever time she has left — for herself, and for the legacies of Madison and Nick. Morgan then radios her and tells her that they need to live for themselves and not just to help people she agrees.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already midseason finale time but next week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead will finally reveal if the group is able to make it out of the area before the reactor melts down and deliver some hints about what comes next for the survivors. Be sure to follow @SonyaIryna and @CulturessFS on Twitter for updates, live-tweets during the episodes, and more.