What I Watched Today

(rambling, random thoughts & annoyingly detailed recaps from real time TV watching)

Fear the Walking Dead

June digs a grave for John. In the background, Ginny yells for Morgan on the radio. I wonder if June is thinking of whacking Ginny with the shovel. June looks at the blood and dirt on her hands, and pushes John into the hole she’s dug, taking his gun. A Ranger tells her to put it down unless she wants to join him. Ginny asks, what the hell is going on? and the Ranger tells Ginny that June took it off the body. Something tells him it wasn’t for sentimental reasons. June asks why Ginny’s sister killed her husband. She saved Ginny’s life because of what Dakota meant to her; it’s the only reason Ginny is still breathing, and John isn’t. Ginny says she doesn’t know why, but June thinks she does. Ginny turns away and goes inside, and June covers John’s body with dirt.

Daniel, Luci, Sarah, and Grace are forced to kneel in a line outside. Victor tells everyone, keep calm, and it won’t escalate any further, and Sarah says she’s going to escalate her foot up his ass. A Ranger asks if Ginny wants the rest, but she says, no. She’ll keep them as insurance in case this batch doesn’t work out. She asks where June is, and June is pushed into the line. Luci asks how many have to die because of Ginny? and Ginny suggests Luci tell her. Daniel starts to get up, and gets whacked with a gun butt. Ginna asks where they’re hiding him, and Sarah says, who? Ginny says, who the hell does she think? Morgan Jones. Well? He couldn’t have been out there all on his own. She goes up to Daniel and says, you know, old timer? Daniel says he doesn’t know anything, and she tells him, he’s always saying that. She takes out her gun, and Sarah says, he doesn’t know anything, but Ginny holds the gun to Daniel’s head, cocking the trigger. She says, he doesn’t have to know anything, but somebody does. Where is he? Where is Dakota? She points the gun at Luci, and then Grace, saying, Morgan must have some kind of hold over her. What is wrong with people today? She sighs, and says, okay, if that’s how they want it. She puts her gun back in the holster, and radios Morgan. She says she knows he’s listening. It’s very important that he hears what she’s about to say. He’d better bring Dakota back right now, or some very bad things are about to happen. If he doesn’t start talking, she’s going to blow Grace’s brains out in front of everyone. If he doesn’t believe her, ask Grace himself. She puts the radio in front of Grace, and Grace says Ginny won’t kill them. Ginny says, yes she will, but Grace says, without them, she has nothing. Ginny tells her, that was a stupid thing to say, and points the gun at her. She tells Morgan that he’s holding up the baby’s future, and Morgan rides in, saying, he’s right there. If she harms Grace, she’ll never see her sister again. The same goes if anything happens to his friends. She asks if that’s supposed to scare her, and he says she should be scared. It’s over for her. Everything she is, was, and had is going to get stripped away, and that’s scary. He knows because it was over for him once. She says, by her count, he has one, while she has a bunch. Tell her where her sister is, or she’ll start going down the line, killing them one by one. Morgan says they all need to hear the truth. Virginia is a liar and a hypocrite. She has rules about destroying anything that threatens their future, and all she’s building, but she wants to destroy it. She doesn’t follow her own rules. Janice didn’t kill Ranger Campbell, Dakota did and Virginia covered it up, framing Janice for his murder. Ginny tells Victor, if they blink, start with the old man. She says she gave Morgan a warm bed and fed him, and Morgan says she’s continuing with her lies. John paid for her lies with his life. She tells the others not to listen, and tells Victor, shoot the old man. Morgan says, there’s no future in this place with her. She sells them on a future that never was. Victor says, Morgan is right. If they follow her, they’ll end up dead like Campbell. Next time, it could be one of them; it could be him. He turns on Ginny with his gun, and she tells him, put the gun down. He says she told them to get ready for a big show. He is, and so are they. Some of the Rangers turn their guns on Ginny, and Victor says she entrusted him to build an army. She should have been careful who he used it against. She says, tell her where her sister is, but Morgan says, she’s not calling the shots. Where he’ll put Dakota, Ginny will never see her again. He’ll put her where Ginny put Janice. They can do it the easy way or the hard way. It’s her call. He puts his fingers in the air, and she pulls out her gun. He shoots her, hitting her in the shoulder. He tells the others, stand down, but Ginny grabs Grace. Shooting starts, and Morgan tells everyone, get down. It’s hard to tell who’s on whose side, and June dives under a car, motioning for Luci to follow. Ginny still has Grace, and a Ranger grabs Daniel. They all go behind a car, and Ginny shoves Grace in the back. She tells the Ranger, there are too many for now. They’ll take Grace and Daniel. As long as they have someone, they still have leverage. He pushes Daniel into the car, and gets in the driver’s seat. He drives slow, Ginny walking alongside, crouched down, so she can’t be seen. She drops back before he’s gone.

Victor’s guys start to go after them, but Morgan sneaks up on Ginny, and tells her to call them back. Ginny says if he kills her, and Grace and Daniel will be killed, not to mention the baby. He says if he lets her go, she won’t last long enough make it there, but she says she has Grace, Daniel, and the Rangers. Morgan will keep her alive if he wants Grace breathing. Victor says, don’t do this, but Morgan tells Ginny, get in the car. He gets in the driver’s seat, and Victor says, they’ll find him, but Morgan peels out. Victor fires a half-hearted shot at the car.

In the fallen, now decrepit, water tower, Morgan nurses Ginny’s wound, and she acts like a big baby. He wants her to prove Grace and Daniel are okay. That’s why she’s still alive. He held up his end of the deal; call them. She radios, asking if Grace is okay, and the Ranger says, she’s fine. Morgan says he wants to hear it from Grace, and Grace says she and Daniel are safe. Ginny says she’s in a water tower close to Grit. She’ll check in soon. Morgan takes the radio, and says he’s stopped the bleeding, but the bullet is still there need. She needs medical attention, or it will kill her. He takes a stuffed toy out of her backpack, and she says, it was for Grace. She took good care of Grace and the baby. He says, that doesn’t change anything. He doesn’t want the baby growing up near her. She says he wants to kill her, but he says he can’t. She has Daniel and Grace, but it doesn’t look good for her. She asks if he’s survived something worse, and he says he has, but not for the reasons she thinks. She asks what he means, and he says he finally found out who saved him in the gulch. Ginny asks, who? and he says, her sister. She says, that’s so bullsh*t. There’s no way Dakota could have gone out there. He says, she did. Does Ginny know why Dakota saved him? Ginny says, because of her, and he says, yeah. Dakota thought he would kill her. Ginny asks how he knows, and he hands her the letter, asking if it’s Dakota’s writing. She looks at it, and he asks what she did to that child. She cries, and says, she has to see Dakota, and she’ll release Daniel and Grace. Morgan says, no; sorry. He’s got to see Grace first. She says, it’s not going to happen. She wants him to take her to Dakota, but there’s something she has to tell him. She struggles for a moment, and finally says, Dakota’s not her sister; Dakota is her daughter (shades of Chinatown!). He asks if that’s the truth, and she nods. She says, she was young, and her parents were ashamed. They… He gets up, and looks out. He asks if she can run, and she says, is he kidding? He helps her up, and says, they don’t have a choice. He shoves her toward the car, as a tank comes through the woods. It shoots at them, as they speed off.  

Morgan asks if Ginny is okay, and she says she’s aces. The tank continues to follow them, and Ginny asks, who the hell are they? He says, people not good enough for her settlement. She doesn’t think the fuel will take them much further, and he stops the car. He asks if she can run, and she wonders if it’s a question this time. She gets out, and he pulls her along, saying, let’s go. They run, and the tank stops. People wearing masks get out, and follow them, spreading out. They shoot, and Morgan and Ginny split up. Ginny falls, and crawls under a big log, coming up on the other side. A zombie ambles toward her, but a masked woman kills it. Ginny says if the woman is going to kill her, at least show her face. Shari takes off her mask, and Morgan runs up. Shari says, what the hell? and he tells her, if Ginny dies, people they care about will die. Shari says they’re done waiting for him, and Ginny asks if Shari is from one of her franchises. Ginny doesn’t know her. Shari says she knows Ginny, and points her gun, but Morgan knocks her down. He says he told her, people will die, and she says, that makes him just as bad as Ginny is. He says, her time will come. Ginny will get what she deserves, but that time is not now. Morgan tells Ginny, they need to move, and pulls her up. Shari gets up, but doesn’t try to stop them.  

Ginny cries out, and Morgan helps her along. He asks if she told him the truth about Dakota, and she asks why she would lie. He says so he would take Ginny to her. She saw how it moved him, and knows he has a son. She says she wouldn’t lie about that, but she needs to see Dakota. She asks where Morgan is taking her, and he says, to a place he built. She asks how he found it, and he says, he didn’t; Isaac, one of her Rangers, did. She says, everyone is turning on her today, and he says, Isaac died, but his wife Rachel is there. As they walk, Ginny says, let her and Dakota go away together. Find some place far away. He asks, what makes her think Dakota would want to go anyplace with her? He could kill her without anther thought. She took all of them away. All of them. She shot him, left him for dead, and sent a killer to chop his head off. Her daughter killed his best friend, so yeah he’d like to kill her if he could. He’s had some time to think about what to do, and he could do what Dakota wants, but he won’t let it be the reason he survived. Ginny should have finished him off. She says, some part of him that will risk everything for one person, reminds her of her and her kid. He says, they’re not the same, but she says, we’re all the same. He says, let’s just go, but she suddenly stops, and says, you have been busy. We see the concrete wall that Morgan’s new world lies behind.  

Alicia asks why Morgan brought Ginny there, and Ginny is shocked to see Al and Dwight on top of the wall. Morgan says, Ginny has Grace and Daniel. He had to agree to swap for Dakota to get them back. It was the only way to save them. He brings Ginny through an entryway, and she sees people gardening. She says it reminds her of her grandparents farm outside Temple. He takes her further, until they come to a little town. She asks what he calls this place, but he says, it doesn’t have a name yet. Rachel approaches and says, Isaac wouldn’t have wanted this, but Morgan says Ginny isn’t staying. He asks where Dakota is, and Alicia says, the church. Al radios, saying, Victor is there, and he brought company. Morgan asks, how many? but she says she doesn’t know; at least a dozen, mostly Rangers. Victor sits on his horse, alone, outside the wall, while the rest are up on the hill. He says he knows they’re in there. His people have grievances… and they’re not the only ones. The tank drives along the hill, and stops, the occupants getting out. Al says, people in masks are there too.

They begin to yell for Ginny, and Al says they have some itchy trigger fingers out there. What’s their next move? Morgan asks what they want with Ginny, and Al asks what they want. Victor says, it’s simple – justice. The genuine article not the version Ginny has been doling out. Morgan says, they’ll never get Grace or Daniel back if they do that, and Alicia says, what happens if they don’t turn Ginny over? Al asks, and if they don’t? and Victor says, they’ll take her. Al asks if Morgan heard that, and Alicia says, they’ll never get through. Dwight says, but people will still get hurt; Shari is out there. Alicia says, even if they can’t get through, they’ll do everything they can to destroy the place, and Morgan asks if she has a better idea. Ginny says she does. They’ll change the deal. She’ll go, and let him keep the place. He asks what she wants in return, and she says, Dakota gets to live there. She gets a second chance. What Dakota did to John wasn’t her fault; it was Ginny’s. Morgan says they’ll kill her, and Dwight says, If they don’t, Shari will for sure. Ginny says she thought Dakota needed her, but maybe this is what she needs. Morgan says, talk to her first, but Ginny says she can’t. He can’t make her do that. It will be easier if she just goes. One more thing. He asks, what’s that? and she says she is willing to die, but it looks like they want to twist the knife; she feels it. She doesn’t want to give them that. What she’s asking for in return for releasing Grace and Daniel, and making sure no one gets hurt on her watch, is that he do the honors. Dakota thought the reason he survived was to kill her. Kill her, and the fight ends. He secures the future of this place. He thinks for a moment, and holds out his hand to Alicia. She gives him the radio, and he hands it to Ginny, telling her, make the call.

The door is opened and Alicia comes out, followed by Ginny and the others. Victor sits there on his horse, while the others watch from above. Ginny says, before she dies, she wants them all to know that everything she did was to keep them alive. Victor says, ha! and she says, like she’s doing now, taking her medicine, with Morgan serving it up. Victor says perhaps Morgan misunderstood.  They want satisfaction. Morgan tells them, Ginny said that she’d let Grace and Daniel go if he did this. They’ve got to let him. He stands on a mound of dirt and says, here, pointing to a rock with his battleax pokey weapon. She kneels down, and bows her head. I’m almost touched. She takes off her sling, and puts her head on the rock. Morgan takes a stance with his weapon, and everyone waits. He thinks about everything that’s happened, all the horrible things Ginny is responsible for, and chops… but he doesn’t. She tells him, don’t get cold feet, and he sees the note on the ground near her. He says she told him what she was doing was for the future of her kid. What the hell are they trying to do? He repeats himself, louder, and she asks what the hell he’s doing. Hurry up, goddammit; let’s go. Come on. They want him to do it. He says he knows what they want, and what he’s trying to do. But if they start like this, they’re no better than her. He yells to others, if they start like this, they’re no better than her. There’s no satisfaction here. If they want satisfaction, they should make her feel it. Make her tell the truth. He says Ginny is going tell the truth, and pulls her back inside. I’m confused.

Alicia leads Morgan and Ginny to Dakota, who asks why Ginny is there. Why didn’t Morgan kill her? Victor comes over the radio, saying, if they don’t hand Ginny over, they’re coming in. Ginny says there’s something she needs to tell Dakota, and Alicia says she stuck her neck out for Dakota. If she tries anything, she won’t get another chance. They leave Dakota and Ginny alone, and Dakota says, with everything she did to get away from Ginny, now she’s there. Ginny says she knows what Dakota thinks of her, but she needs to tell… Dakota says she doesn’t want to hear Ginny’s voice. She doesn’t want to see Ginny. She just wanted a normal life. Ginny says, that’s what she tried to give Dakota, and Dakota says, then why didn’t Ginny treat her like she cared. Ginny says she doesn’t know. She didn’t know how. Dakota says Ginny killed their parents, and Ginny says, they weren’t her… She cries, and Dakota says Ginny murdered them. Ginny says, they weren’t her parents. She’s not Dakota’s sister; she’s Dakota’s mother. Dakota shakes her head, and says, no. Ginny says Dakota has got to listen. None of this was her fault. Dakota’s grandparents didn’t protect her, and Ginny had to get her out. Dakota asks if Ginny is saying she killed them for her, and Ginny says she did all this for her. Everything she’s done, everything she’s built, she did it so that nothing like what happened to her would happen to Dakota. Dakota asks why Ginny didn’t tell her, and Ginny says she thought not knowing would protect Dakota. She tried to turn away the ugliness of the world, so that Dakota didn’t have to see it for what it was; ugly. She always loved Dakota, and thought she’d found a way to secure Dakota the second chance she deserved. She deserves this place, but she has to want it. She’ll have to work for it. Dakota says, they’ve both killed people. Why even bring her into this world? She shouldn’t have been alive. None of them should. Ginny tells her, don’t say that, and Dakota walks away, refusing to look at Ginny. Ginny can’t follow because she’s on a chain.

Daniel and Grace head for Morgan’s village on horses, and Daniel says, hey, Victor, what’s going on? Victor says, Daniel remembers him, and Daniel says, it’s a conversation for another day. He asks where everyone else is, when Morgan comes out, and Victor asks where Ginny is. Morgan says, inside… if she’s still alive. John said the ground they were standing on is soaked in blood, and he was right. It took so much killing to get them there, to get them to win, and they have won. John just wanted the killing to stop, and so does Morgan. Doesn’t Victor think they can start by making her live with what she’s done? Morgan chucks his pokey weapon into the ground, and says, it stays there until they need it again, and he prays to God that they don’t. Shari says, it’s not his call. It’s not good enough. These people have suffered because of her. Bring her back now. She starts to move toward the doorway, but Dwight stops her. He says, just because Virginia caused damage, it’s not worth the people causing more. Victor says he hopes Morgan knows what he’s doing, and walks away. Morgan says, anyone who’s ready to abide by the law their foundation is laying down, is more than welcome to stay. He asked them to live before – just live. He hopes today is the day they start doing that, and that they do it there, June ponders, and gets off her horse. She takes John’s hat, and her doctor bag, and goes inside. Morgan sees Grace walking behind Sarah and Rabbi Jacob, who’s appeared out of nowhere, and goes to her. He asks if she’s all right, and they hug. He says he’s sorry, and she asks, why? He says, for taking as long as he did, and she says he doesn’t have to apologize. She wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t fought the way he did for her. He wouldn’t be here. She touches her pregnant stomach, and Morgan says, a boy? She says she doesn’t know for sure; she just has a feeling. She says, what he did up there… He’s still the same man she knew. He says he doesn’t know about that, and they walk inside.

June stands at the door, and Jacob walks in. He has a letter in his hands, and tells her, John wrote this when he thought he wouldn’t see her again. He thought she should have it. He gives it to her, and she puts in her pocket.

Dwight goes to Shari, and asks if she isn’t coming in. She says she won’t find what she’s looking for in there, and he asks what she’s looking for. She says he was right. She had a shot to kill Ginny, and it didn’t feel like she thought it would. It didn’t feel like she was putting the past behind her, but she won’t do it in there. He says she can, and she says, it didn’t feel like she was putting the past behind her, but it felt like a start. She’s not where he is. She thinks she’ll find it with them before she finds it with him. He says, okay, and she leaves in the tank. He watches until it disappears.

Alicia asks where Victor is going, and he says this place isn’t for him. She says he asked her not to forget who she is, and she’s doing that there. He says, they’re still out there. The reason why Virginia was putting together an army. They’re still a threat, and he’s getting ready for them. Whatever is coming, they can do this together. She says she wanted them to do this together. He made it clear he didn’t want to. Why should she believe him now? He says she doesn’t have to; he’ll show her. He’ll give her the reason to come join him. He rides off.  

A dog licks Dakota’s face, and she opens her eyes to find June there. June says, the bullet is out. In a few days, she’ll be fine to go. Dakota says, that’s the second time June saved her life, and thanks her. Morgan says they’ll have to talk, but he’ll let Ginny do what she has to, and then Ginny and Dakota will take their leave. June says, this place doesn’t need her; she needs this place, and Ginny says she gets it; they’re gone. He tells her that he knows a path through the mountains to a place where the Rangers won’t know where to find her. He’s not doing this for her; he’s doing it for Dakota. June says, she needs to change Ginny’s dressing, and stays behind. When the others are gone, Ginny says she owes June any number of apologies, but June says it has nothing to do with Ginny. It follows her wherever she goes; some kind of punishment for her past. She had a daughter. Her name was Rose. She was sick, and June tried to protect her. She ended up getting every survivor in her camp killed, and of course the love of her life was killed by someone’s daughter they were trying to protect. In some ways, it’s what she deserves. Ginny says, June was trying to protect her kid like she was, and June says, did Ginny know when they were back in Lawton with Cameron? Did she know what Dakota was capable of and protect her anyway? Ginny says she’d do anything for her daughter, and June takes out her gun. She says, it’s the gun Dakota killed John with, and points it at Ginny. She says she didn’t protect her daughter after she killed someone. She’d asked why Dakota killed her husband, and Ginny said she didn’t know. Is that true? Ginny stammers, and June says, that wasn’t true. Ginny is evil, and always was. June shoots her, and walks out.    

Morgan sees June, and asks, what happened? but she puts on John’s hat and keeps walking. Dakota runs in, and sees Ginny dead. Morgan calls to June, who wipes the blood off her face, and continues on. Everyone watches, and June looks like a gunslinger who is done with her job, as she walks out, into the sunset.  

Next time, more building in Morgan’s town, Morgan says there’s a threat to their existence and they have work to do, Grace goes into labor, and there’s an attack on the town.

💬 To Be Continued…

Calling it an as not-as-late night. Until we meet at the Hospital and/or on Deck, stay safe, stay composed, and stay not causing more damage to repair the damage already caused.