Making friends in the apocalypse is not always a good thing. And Alicia on Fear the Walking Dead learns that the hard way in the episode “Blood in the Streets.” As another group threatens Alicia and company, we also learn about Strand’s past.
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Past Comes Back to Haunt Alicia
Travis and Madison question why Strand cut Jake and Alex free from the Abigail, while Chris and Ofelia bond on the deck. Suddenly, a raft floats up with two guys and a very pregnant girl who is bleeding. They board quickly and ask for help. Chris questions if he should shoot them, but of course, Madison takes the pregnant girl under her wing.
While all this is going down, Nick is missing, Alicia thinks she recognizes one of the voices and Strand grabs his belongings and abandons ship. Well, helping out strangers seems to go horribly wrong on Fear the Walking Dead, and the three uninvited guests turn on the group. They manage to tie everyone up, then Alicia realizes that one of the guys is Jack, the person she communicated with on the radio. He’s soft on her, so she tells Madison that she’ll try and save them and she goes off with him. As he explains to her that they are waiting for a man named Connor, she gets him to promise to keep her family safe. But it seems that he isn’t really the leader of the group.
Meanwhile, Reed, the other guy, manages to shoot at Strand’s life raft, which slowly starts to deflate. He also gets Travis to manually override the system to get the engine started.
Connor finally arrives and takes Travis and Alicia with him, leaving the others with Reed, the pregnant girl and some others in his group.
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Strand’s Past
As he floats in the open sea, Strand thinks about his past. He meets a man in a bar right after Hurricane Katrina, where he lost everything. They are both business men, though at first, Strand steals the man’s credit cards and racks up a very hefty tab. When the man, Tom, tracks him down, they strike a deal, but it’s more than just a business deal, as they become lovers.
Tom, and his brother Louis, have a mother in Mexico. Strand spends some time down there. When the outbreak starts, Strand insists on going back to Los Angeles to wrap things up, but Tom is worried. He promises he’ll be back in three days.
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A Way Into Mexico
While everything is going down on the ship, Nick swims ashore on a mission from Strand. He covers himself in walker blood and guts and finds an address in a community that Strand gave him. Louis is at the home. The two drive to the shore and get on a raft back to the ship. Louis informs Nick that he has only secured enough money and way into Mexico for him and Strand, no one else.
Nick and Louis To the Rescue
As the pair gets closer to the Abigail, Nick realizes the group is in trouble. Louis takes care of that by shooting two of the members of the group, while Madison manages to stab Reed. Chris wants to kill Reed, but Madison stops him.
Nick and Louis get on board and find out that Strand left and that Travis and Alicia were taken. Madison gets on a raft and rescues Strand.
The Truth
So, Strand was telling the truth about Mexico, but not the whole truth, as it looks like the group might not be able to go with him and Louis. But I guess they will just cross that bridge when they come to it. But you have to hand it to Strand, he has not steered the group wrong yet. He managed to pick up Louis. If only they had listened to him, Jack never would have found their ship.
But now, the group is split up, and that’s never good. Madison will obviously want to go after her family, while Strand will want to stay the course. Daniel will stay out of it, as he just seems to want to ride the waves until he can get Ofelia to safety, wherever that may be. And who knows just how long Strand has been away from Mexico. Maybe that fortified home isn’t there anymore.
It was nice to learn about Strand’s past, but I feel like I’m not invested enough in these characters on Fear the Walking Dead. While it’s upsetting that the group is split up, I wouldn’t care if Alicia didn’t make it back, as she’s the one that caused the mess to begin with. In fact, I think to make it more real, a main character needs to go soon. But I guess because the show is still in the development phase, or at least it feels that way, the group needs to adapt more to their situation. And then more people can die. Or maybe the group just needs to get bigger and stronger. Something needs to happen. They can’t stay on the boat forever.
Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
