What I Watched Today

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

Fear the Walking Dead

Madison opens her eyes to a zombie head wrapped in a burlap sack and cinched in a vise above her. She struggles to get up, but realizes she’s tied up and strapped down. A guard comes in and tells her, sorry about the sedative, but it was easier that way. Madison asks if they haven’t taken enough blood, but the guard says, they’ve moved beyond studying her blood. It will be easier if Blue Jay explains. June comes in, and Madison says, Naomi, but June says, that was a long time ago. So long, I forgot she was ever called that. The guard says, PADRE wants her back on the island, and to get Madison ready. Madison asks if June is one of them, but June says, not by choice. Madison wonders if June has been the one drawing her blood, but June says she didn’t even know Madison was alive. She’s done everything she can to put Shrike off. Madison asks, from what? What is Shrike going to do to her? June says, Shrike has ideas on how to cure Carrion bites based on Alicia surviving as long as she did. It’s probably why Shrike was collecting Madison’s blood. It might be something besides radiation, something hereditary. Madison asks if Shrike is right, but June thinks it’s too soon to tell. There’s a boy who’s been responding to the radiation, but it hasn’t even been a week. Madison looks at the head moving around in the bag, and wonders if she can ask June a favor. June says, anything, and Madison says, there’s a file with the names of the children she took; their real names, not the names PADRE gave them. She promised Mo that she’d track down the kids’ parents, but June says, everything she’s tried to do since being at PADRE has blown up in her face. Shrike radios, asking if Madison is ready, and June nods. The guard tells Shrike that she is, and June reminds Madison of how she saved them all when she was left at the stadium. She won’t leave Madison now. She’ll be with her until the end. Madison looks again at the zombie head.

12 years ago. A teenage girl (obviously Shrike when she was younger) and boy walk into a room, and the girl says, they shouldn’t be here. They check out a two-way mirror, when a voice on the loudspeaker asks what they’re doing in here. They’re about to run, when a man in uniform comes in. It’s their dad, and he says, they should have seen their faces. The boy says, the mirror is creepy, and the soldier says, it helps him with meetings. The girl says, he needs to get the mic fixed too, but the soldier says, Sergeant Brenner says it’s probably just a faulty wire. The girl asks if he really has to go today, and the soldier says he wants to show them something.

The girl looks through binoculars and the soldier tells her, it’s a middle-spotted woodpecker. When their mom gave him the binoculars, she said, it was so he’d always see what’s coming. When he saw that bird this morning, he felt like she was trying to tell him that they’d be okay here. These birds live in families, and cooperate to raise their young. If the birds can do it, so can they. A soldier asks if they should load up, calling the man General Kreddick. The general asks for a minute, and his daughter says she hates when he leaves the island, but he says, that’s the way they’re going to help people rebuild; the same way they did this place. Each shipping container is filled with supplies to rebuild. The boy says, it’s dangerous out there. LA and Atlanta were bombed. Kreddick says, they need to seed new communities, calling the boy Ben. The young woman asks how they even know there’s still people out there, and Kreddick asks if they remember Elias and Senator Vasquez. They made contact with Vasquez yesterday. He and his staff are beneath the Franklin Hotel in Galveston. They’re safe. Ben asks why Kreddick can’t stay on the island until it’s safer, but Kreddick says, they’ll never survive here cut off from the world. What will happen when their supplies run out if they don’t have trading partners; other communities to rely on? He promises they’ll be safe here, and tells them to use the code names he gave them if they communicate by radio; it’s for their safety. The boy says he’s Crane, right? and the girl asks why she has to be Shrike. Kreddick says, the shrike may be small, but it’s brutal when it needs to be. Doesn’t hesitate to take care of its family. He tells her to take care of her brother while he’s gone, and she salutes him. He hugs them, says he’ll see them soon, and leaves.

Shrike removes the burlap, revealing the zombie head, which is pretty disgusting, and says, after everything PADRE gave Madison, she betrayed him. This is how she’s going to make it up to him. And she won’t be alone. Nightingale is going to next to her, as soon as they can find him. Madison asks why PADRE is doing this, and Shrike says, for the same reason he does everything. To ensure what he’s built endures.

Running along some railroad tracks, Mo whacks a zombie, and Dove asks if she realizes how far they are from the rest of the group. Mo says she has to do this. They need to see what’s in the railroad car.

Shrike tells Madison, years from now, when people talk about how PADRE was able to stop infections from Carrion bites killing, they’ll remember today. Madison will be a hero.

Mo thinks Finch might be inside. He never came back from his surgery. Dove says, he’s recovering from his surgery, but Mo says, after Finch’s boat got attacked, PADRE sent guards after him. She checked the logs, and it said they went to an old railroad museum, but nothing is there. She thinks someone moved the train car here. Maybe PADRE isn’t telling them the truth. What if something bad happened in there? What if it’s still happening?

June asks to sedate Madison, but Shrike says, she brought PADRE plenty of pain. It’s time she felt a little herself. The head moves closer.

Mo bangs on the tracks with a sledgehammer, and tells Dove that they have to know what’s going on in there. A guard asks what they’re doing, and comes toward them, but they run off.

Madison yells as the head comes closer, when Mo pulls the plug. Shrike tells the guards to get her out of here. Now. As the guards come for Mo, June grabs Shrike’s gun and knocks her out with the butt. Mo yells for June to help, and June stabs the head, then cuts Madison’s bonds, saying, she owes Madison one. June shoots one of the guards, and Madison gets herself free, grabbing Mo, and ducking down with her behind a cabinet. She asks what Mo is doing here, and Mo says they have to get out of here so they can do what they said, but Madison tells her that she’ll never be able to get near the island after this. Mo says her dad can help, but Madison says, until he’s back, they’re on their own. June has a gun battle with the remaining guard, and finally shoots him in the head. Mo tells Madison that they just have to find the prefects, and get through to them the way Madison got through to her. If they do that, the other kids will follow. June gives Madison some oxygen, and Hawk radios Shrike, saying,  they’re done for the day. Shrike reaches for the radio, but Madison kicks it away. Dove comes in, aiming her gun, and tells them not to move. Shrike tells her to call the prefects and tell them to get more guards, but Mo says, don’t. She was going to kill Lark. Dove says, Lark deserves it, and Mo asks if Finch did. Shrike tells Dove not to listen to Mo, and Mo says, Shrike killed him, didn’t she? Shrike says she saved him, but June says, that is a lie. Mo asks where he is, and Shrike says, somewhere his parents can’t do him anymore harm. June says, Shrike is the reason Finch got bit, and Dove asks, what the hell is going on here? Shrike says, she’s ensuring what PADRE built, and ensuring they have a future. Madison asks if that’s what this looks like to Dove, when Hawk radios Dove, asking her location. Shrike tells her to let them know and tell them to get over here, but Madison says, don’t do it. PADRE lied to her about this. Think of what else he’s lied about. Her parents could still be out there and she can help find them. Dove says, they abandoned her because they couldn’t take care of her, but Madison says, that’s not true. Dove asks how she knows, and Madison says she’s the one who took Dove away from her parents. Dove asks their names and where Madison took her from, but Madison says she doesn’t know, but knows Dove’s face. The only one tricking her is PADRE. June says, that’s why PADRE kept this a secret, but they can change that. Madison says she just needs to get to the island. There’s a file there with the names of all the kids she took, and where she took them from. That’s how she can help Dove. That’s how she can help all the kids. Hawk radios again for Dove’s location, but she turns the radio off. She says she’ll help Madison get back to the island. She doesn’t care what’s in the file, but she cares about the truth, and wants to hear it from PADRE. Shrike asks how she’ll do that, and Dove says she can if Shrike helps her. Shrike asks why she would, and Dove holds her gun to Shrike’s head. Shrike says, if Dove kills her, he’ll do worse than she planned to do to Lark today. Dove asks, why is that? and Shrike says, because she’s PADRE’s daughter. They hear something outside.

Kreddick tells the other soldiers, let’s move out, and Shrike peaks out from her hiding place, telling Ben the coast is clear. She says, he shouldn’t be here, but he says he just wants to make sure she’s safe. He sees that their dad forgot his binoculars, and wants to take them to him; he won’t be able to see what’s coming without them. Shrike says, it’s just a superstition. He’ll be fine. Ben says, that’s what they said about mom, and tells her to get out of his way, but she says, no. He shoves her out of the way, and locks her in, using a tool to brace the door shut. He runs after their father.

As they leave the train car, Shrike says, Dove is making a big mistake. Whatever answer she’s looking for, it’s not that. A group comes out of the woods with guns, and a man tells them, hands up. A woman (Diane) says, tell them what they want and no one gets hurt, and Madison says, she knows them. They’re all parents, aren’t they? Diane looks at Dove, who asks what she’s looking at. Diane asks where their kids are. Where’s Adrian? Madison says she doesn’t know any Adrian, but June says, he was here, he’s dead. Diane says, he just wanted to find his daughter, and June says, he did, but she’s dead too. She died a long time ago. Shrike says, because of June, but June says, because of what Shrike made her do. Mo says, if they want to find their kids, Madison can help, but Diane says, she’s with PADRE. Mo says, not anymore. She’s changed. Dove says, PADRE lied to all of them. Shrike is his daughter. Maybe they can find out what else he’s lied about – together. Diane says they’ll wait for the Commander, and Dove asks who that is, when a man tells them, turn around. Madison says, Daniel? and he says, Madison… and June. June says, he’s alive. Diane says, he knows these people? and he says, give them back their weapons. It seems they all have nine lives. Madison says, they’re going to need them.

Walking through the woods, Madison takes more oxygen, Daniel says he often considered the possibility of Madison being alive, but not like this. Madison says she’s not proud of what she did. She just wants a chance to make it right. He says, you and me both. Maybe they can help each other. He’s been looking for that damn island for years. If what she’s telling them is correct, she may be the best and only shot for these folks to get their children back from PADRE. She asks how he wound up with them, and he says, seven years ago, Morgan told PADRE they were out here, and PADRE found them. They brought everyone to a ship to assess them before deciding where they were going to be sent according to their skills and usefulness. Some went to the mainland, some went to the island; others, he doesn’t know where they went. PADRE thought he was too old to be of any use, so they dumped him in the swamp. Madison says she’s sorry, and Daniel says, PADRE was right about one thing, he is old. But PADRE was wrong about everything else. Being old doesn’t mean to be useless. He could take care of himself. So could everyone in the group, except for Charlie. She asks, what happened to Charlie? and he says, Morgan didn’t tell her? She says, Morgan didn’t get to tell her much before PADRE figured out what they were up to and separated them. He says, Charlie became very sick. She was like a daughter to him by then, and he promised he’d stay with her to the end, so she didn’t have to die alone. Like Ofelia. He broke his promise. He wasn’t there for her. He wasn’t there for Luciana either. She says she’s sorry, and knows Morgan would be too, and he says he had no purpose. Then he found these folks; this angry, desperate group of people in search of their kidnapped children. It gave him a purpose. He organized and trained them, and made them into an army. They’re strong and getting stronger, because there’s more of them out there. He lost his family, but he’s going to fight to help them get back theirs. She says, maybe he hasn’t lost all of his family. The files. There’s not just the kids in there. Luciana, Charlie, maybe he can find out what happened to them.

Dove says, maybe they can use the transport boat to get back to the island, and Shrike asks if she’s sure she wants to go down this road. Daniel suggests Shrike stop asking questions and start answering some, and Madison says, like who else knows she’s PADRE’s daughter? Shrike says, not many, and Daniel asks why her father separates children from their parents, but doesn’t do the same to himself. Shrike says, they don’t get it, but Madison says, they do. He’s an a-hole, like every other a-hole who runs places like this. Shrike says, he’s not. PADRE believes in the way the place is run and how they do things; he has for a very long time. Madison says, that makes no sense, and June says, she’s right. Why are they killing people for an experiment that will never pay off? Shrike says, it will pay off. Look at Finch. Madison asks, what happened to Shrike’s father? Why’d he build a place like this? Dove says, they’ve got to go, and Diane asks where Dove came from before PADRE, but Dove doesn’t know. Why does she care? Diane asks if Dove knows her, but Dove says she’s never seen the woman before. A bunch of guys from PADRE come out with guns, and one says, move away from the boat now. Madison says, they don’t understand. Shrike is PADRE’s daughter. They’ve been lied to. Daniel says, PADRE has been ripping families apart, yet kept his daughter by his side all this time. Mo says, it’s true, calling the guy Hawk. PADRE’s been lying to them all this time. Shrike suggests they focus more on getting her out of there, and Hawk says, Mo and Dove don’t have to go along with this anymore. Dove says, they’re going to the island, and Mo says, they’re going to get some answers from PADRE. Hawk asks who they are to question PADRE, and Dove says, it’s not just her. She’s seen some sh*t today. On the train. PADRE has a lot to explain. He says, she’s not thinking straight, and Daniel tells Hawk, the same could be said for him. All these people have lost children to PADRE. Maybe they could find Hawk’s parents. Hawk says, their parents abandoned them, but Diane says, we didn’t. We’ve been fighting this whole time. Daniel suggests Hawk’s group join them; fight alongside them. Hawk tells Dove to just hand her over, but Dove says, no. He says, maybe she’ll listen to PADRE, and takes out his radio, but Madison goes behind Shrike (who I keep wanting to call Shrek) and grabs her, holding a knife to her throat. She says, they can’t wait any longer. If PADRE knows they’re coming, they’ll destroy the files. Hawk asks, what files? and Madison says, the ones that say where Dove came from; who her parents are. Who all their parents are. Hawk says, they’ll make sure she never gets it. They’re not getting on that boat. Daniel says, they’re going to have to go through them, but Hawk asks if Daniel doesn’t think he’d shoot an old man. Mo stands in front of Daniel, and says, he might, but would he shoot her? Daniel says, they’ll hold them off, and tells Madison to go, but she says she’s not leaving Mo. Mo tells her, get that file. If Madison can show Dove the truth, the rest of the kids will follow. Go. June, Dove, Shrike, and Madison get on the boat, and Madison drives it away.

Ben runs through a container yard, yelling for his dad, while Sam/Shrike frees herself from the boat. She runs after him, calling his name, but it’s like a container maze, and she hits a dead end. She sees a container with DEAD HERE spray painted on it, reminiscent of the DEAD INSIDE sign Rick saw in the first Walking Dead episode. She hears Ben yelling for help, and zombies growling. A couple of them have cornered Ben, and more come and surround him. Shrike calls his name.

Finch sits in an interrogation room, and over the intercom, PADRE says he thinks it’s time Finch told them where he’s been. Finch asks what he means, and PADRE says, he was bit, but he’s still here. Healthy. Thriving. Finch asks where Red Kite is, and Starling, and PADRE says, they’ve been reassigned. Somewhere they can’t cause him any more harm. Finch says, they saved him, but PADRE says, they saved him. Over the radio, a man says, they have a situation, and the guard asks, what kind of situation? Madison says, they have his daughter. How about telling their guards to stand aside so they can have a chat? Shrike tells Madison not to do this, but Madison says, time to stop hiding behind the mirror and tell the truth. Shrike says, he doesn’t have to answer for anything, but Madison says, yes, he does. Every kid wants to know why they were ripped away from their parents, but he wouldn’t do the same with his own daughter. Over the radio, Daniel tells Madison that they got away and asks if Dove is still with her. One of their people thinks she might be Dove’s mother. He hands the radio to Diane, who says she didn’t think it was possible, but a mother knows. Shrike says, don’t fall for this crap, and Diane says, Dove’s name is Alex, and she was taken outside Baton Rouge years ago. She thinks it was that woman, Lark. She searched for so long. She sang You Are My Sunshine as they took Alex away. She never stopped looking. Shrike says, this woman is just trying to get into Dove’s head, but Madison says, stop lying to her. Shrike says she’s not lying, and Madison says, there’s one way to find out. Dove’s file. They want it. Shrike says she’s making a mistake, but Madison says, do it, or she tells everyone here who Shrike really is. PADRE says, give her what she wants, and Madison tells Dove that she’s about to get the answers she came here for.

Inside, a guard plops a box on the table, and Shrike says, there’s something Dove needs to understand before she sees that file. Madison asks, what’s that? They already know this place is built on a lie. Shrike says, it’s not what they think. It’s the only way to protect them from what happened here before. Madison asks PADRE, what happened before? but he says he doesn’t answer to her. She tells him, he always says he never lost a kid, but she doesn’t know if that’s true. Who did they lose?

Ben is totally hemmed in, whimpering, as Sam watches. There’s gunshots, and the zombies drop. Kreddick asks what they’re doing here, and Ben throws his arms around his father. Ben gives him the binoculars, saying, he forgot these, and Kreddick says, he has to get them out of here. The shipyard’s a pool of the dead. More zombies show up, and Kreddick shoots, but runs out of ammunition. The three of them take off.

Madison asks again, what happened here?

Kreddick says, they have to get back to the boat, but zombies are coming out of everywhere, and they’re completely trapped.

Shrike says, Madison is never going to get her father to admit to anything. Madison says, why is that? and picks up a sledgehammer she conveniently found on the way in.

Kreddick shoves the closest zombie away, and gives Shrike a boost to the top of a container. He shoves more zombies, and boosts Ben up.

Madison asks why he won’t answer them.

Ben reaches down, and Kreddick takes his hand, but they slip apart. The zombies start to feed on Kreddick, and he tells Ben, don’t let this die. It’s too important.

Madison smashes the two-way mirror with the sledgehammer.

Kreddick – who, to his credit, is taking this like a champ – says he loves them both. Ben and Shrike watch as the zombies envelop him, and a single tear rolls down Shrike’s cheek.

Madison sees Ben behind the mirror.

Kreddick goes down in a sea of zombies, as Ben cries.

Shrike says, her father can’t answer Madison because her father is dead. She and her brother lost him a long time ago. Dove wanted to ask PADRE for the truth. Go ahead. Ask them. They are PADRE.

Shrike watches the zombies mill around, her father now one of them.

Madison asks how this went from what their father was doing to what they’re doing now. Shrike says, they didn’t know how to go on.

Still on top of a container, Ben brings out a gun and says he found it inside. Shrike takes it, and in a voiceover, she says, what did they even have to go on for? In the past, a guy over the radio Shrike is holding asks if PADRE 1 copies.

Shrike says, but then the universe answered, and Ben says, it was one of the kids from the island. He wanted to know what happened to his parents. They all did. Shrike says, they knew what it would do to the kids if they knew their parents died; how it would break them. Madison says, so they lied, and Shrike says, they told them that their parents abandoned them. Their parents knew they couldn’t take care of them, so they fled. Madison says, and they believed it? and Ben says, their parents left and never came back. What else were they supposed to think? Shrike says, they told the kids that they’d face this new world together without their parents; that they’d be better for it. Madison says, and the shipyard? Those containers? Shrike says, their father died protecting what was inside. They made sure it stayed that way. Madison asks, how? but Ben says, it doesn’t concern her. June asks how they recruited adults. They were just a bunch of kids. Ben says, it was easy. They made them believe he was still here, and they kept on believing it. Dove asks why they lied, and Shrike says, to protect them. Dove asks, from what? and Shrike says, open it. It’s what she wanted. Madison looks through the files until she finds the one for Dove. Shrike says, go on. Tell Dove who she is. Madison sees that her name was Odessa and her mother was Ava Sanderson. She flashes back to Ava saying, she cried when Madison pulled Odessa away from her on the beach. Madison says, no, and Dove asks, what’s wrong? Shrike says, go on. She deserves the truth. Madison says, her name is Odessa, and Dove says, her parents? Madison says she knew Dove’s mother. Her name was Ava. Shrike asks, what happened to Ava? and Madison flashes back to killing zombie Ava. Madison says, she died, and Shrike asks, how? Madison says, she was trying to take Dove back from PADRE, and Shrike asks, who made her believe that was possible? Madison flashes back to telling Ava that they can help her and her baby, and Dove says, her mother is dead because of Madison? She slams Madison up against the wall, and June tells her, no. Dove says, Madison made her believe in something more, and puts her gun to Madison’s head. Shrike says, let her go, but Dove says, she needs to pay for this. Shrike says, she will, but not this way, and Ben radios the guards, telling Dove to stand down. The guards come in, and Madison asks what Shrike is going to do now. Shrike says, they’re going to continue what they started on the train, and June says, like hell they are, but Ben says she doesn’t have a choice. She says, he’s a monster, but Shrike says, she and her brother are protecting these kids from the worst pain of all; the pain of losing a parent. Madison asks what that has to do with the train. The experiments? Ben says, as long as the world is the way it is, children will continue to experience unimaginable loss, but if there’s a cure, that would change everything. Seriously? No one has thought of that before this? Shrike says, they can go back to family, to connection. But in the meantime, they’re going to protect these kids the way they always have. She holds out the microphone to Madison and asks if she wants to tell the kids she rescued the truth. Go ahead. Let the whole island hear… That’s what she thought. The guard takes Madison and June, and Dove leaves with Shrike.

June, Madison, and Dove are on a boat with two guards, Shrike driving. Madison asks what Nick and Alicia were like, and June says she doesn’t think Madison would have recognized them. The boat stops, and Dove says, let’s go. They start to walk through the woods, when Daniel, Mo, and company come out. Daniel says, they’ve got to stop meeting like this. The guards draw their guns, but Daniel says, let their people go, and they’ll walk away. No one has to get hurt. They’ve got another 12 soldiers deep in the woods, and they’ve got their prefects. Shrike says, they wouldn’t, but Daniel asks if she wants to take that chance. Shrike signals the guards, who lower their weapons, and some of Daniel’s group disarm everyone. Diane says, Alex? but Dove says, that’s not her name, and Diane isn’t her mother. Her mother’s dead. Because of Madison. June says, Dove can still have a family, even if it’s not who she thought. She said Madison made her believe in something more. That’s still there. Come with them. Dove doesn’t say anything, and Shrike says, looks like she made her choice. And every other kid on that island is going to make the same one. Remember that. Mo says, no, they won’t, and Madison tells Daniel that she’s sorry. Diane says, this was a mistake; she can’t help them. Daniel says, yes, she can, but Madison says, she’s right. Those kids are never going to follow her; not after everything she’s done. Diane says, not just them, and Madison says she’s not the leader they need. But she thinks she knows who might be. Mo asks, who’s that? and Madison says, your father. They walk off, leaving Shrike and Dove on the path.

Zombies growl behind a metal fence, as Shrike watches them. She asks if Crane copies. He says he does, and she says, he was supposed to meet her. Ben says, after what happened, being out in the open doesn’t seem like a good idea, but she says, they’ve got a bigger problem. The parents know where the island is, which means it’s only a matter of time until they get here. Ben looks at an old photo of him, Shrike, and their father, and says, they’ll destroy everything they’ve built. She says, not if they’re not here. It doesn’t matter if they know who they are. What matters is that what they’ve built survives. He asks how they’re going to do that, and she says, by expanding. They’re going to do what dad said. Ben says, there are thousands of Carrion in that shipyard. Carrion they put there to protect what’s inside. She says, they taught the kids to fight for a reason. It’s time the kids showed them what they’ve learned.

We see tons of zombies in the shipyard.

Next time, Dwight tells Morgan that there’s nowhere to go; Morgan says, they’re trying to burn them out; Mo calls to her dad for help; and Grace says, they’ll kill him if he doesn’t tell them what happened.

🧟‍♀️ Don’t Be a Stranger…

Stop by tomorrow for what’s on Deck, and smack talk about awful people reuniting and talking smack about each other. Until then, stay safe, stay remembering those we’ve lost in service to our country on Memorial Day, and stay knowing that if you ask for the truth, it might not be what you think it is, or what you want to hear.