Madison has a tendency to screw things up wherever she goes on Fear the Walking Dead. But it’s also clear that she does things to survive and keep her family safe. Things at the ranch are shaky since the Indians want their land back, and Madison doesn’t help the cause in “The Unveiling,” the first part of the summer finale. Jake manages to get a parlay going with Walker and the tribe, while Madison just wants to get her daughter back.
Meanwhile, in part two, titled “Children of Wrath,” we find out what happened to Ofelia when she left the resort. And the war with the Indians heats up at the ranch.
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Keeping the Peace
Alicia follows Jake after he leaves the ranch to try and reason with Walker. She tells Jake that Walker’s men killed the Trimbols and that the mission is too dangerous. She goes with him to the Black Hat Motel, which is where the tribal land begins.
Jake meets with the leader, Walker, who refuses to negotiate and just wants his land back. After some persuading, though, Jake convinces Walker to agree to a parlay to avoid more bloodshed. As they speak, Ofelia serves them lunch. Alicia is surprised to see Ofelia there, as she believes Walker is a very bad man. While Jake and Walker discuss the particulars of the parlay, Ofelia tells Alicia how Walker saved her.
Jake then tells Alicia that as part of the parlay, the groups have to exchange prisoners. He says he’ll stay with the Indians, but Alicia thinks it would be better if she stays with the Indians and Jake goes back to the ranch to explain the parlay himself to Jeremiah. She stays, and Ofelia goes with Jake as the ranch’s prisoner.
Making Things Worse
At the ranch, Madison and Jeremiah realize that Jake and Alicia have left the ranch to see Walker, but Jeremiah doesn’t think they should go after them, as he can’t risk losing another search party. Nick says that he’ll go out, but Jeremiah suggests that he join Troy’s militia instead to protect the ranch.
Nick goes to see Troy to join. A little later, Jake returns with Ofelia and tells everyone about the parlay. Madison is furious that he left Alicia there. And Jeremiah refuses to listen to Jake’s ideas to compromise with Walker. He fears that Walker won’t just take a little and bargain; he fears he’ll eventually take everything. Madison wants to get Alicia back, but no one will listen to her, as they just assure her that Alicia is safe.
Madison takes matters into her own hands and blackmails Troy into getting a team together to go to the tribal land and get Alicia back. Of course, nothing goes smoothly, and Troy ends up killing some of Walker’s men. The Ottos are not happy when the team gets back with Alicia.
Jake believes that Madison has made things worse, and now he feels he has to go back to try and renegotiate. Troy says it’s a death sentence, but Jake goes back anyway with Ofelia. The first thing Walker does is try to scalp Jake, but Ofelia stops him. Walker, instead, threatens the entire Otto family as well as the ranch.
Retaliation
Later on, a beaten Ofelia is dropped off at the gate of the ranch. She says that Walker kicked her out. Jeremiah lets her stay under Madison’s watch. Meanwhile, Troy wants his troops lined up along the border of the ranch to prepare for war. As night falls, two of the guards at the gate get violently ill, eventually die and turn. Soon, a whole bunch of the militia is sick and turn, wreaking havoc on the ranch. Nick also gets sick. As Madison and Alicia try and figure out what’s going on, they spot Ofelia running from the camp. Madison goes after her and finds out that Ofelia poisoned the coffee. Apparently, Ofelia doesn’t know what the poison is but says that it was meant to weaken the militia, not kill them.
Madison drags Ofelia back to Walker’s land, where she demands to know what kind of poison it is. Walker likes Madison and realizes that she’s trying to save her family and doesn’t really care about the Ottos. He tells her the poison is Anthrax and that there is no cure. However, he adds that if Nick is strong, he’ll survive. He also suggests that Madison leave the Otto ranch and take her family somewhere safe. Madison says she’s tired of running.
After they are alone, Ofelia tells Walker that he turned her into a killer. She reminisces the day he rescued her in the desert. It was after Jeremiah found her and left her for dead, as he felt a woman of color didn’t belong on his ranch. Days later, as she was on the brink of death, Walker found her and took her in. She has always felt she owed him her life, though Walker says her debt is now paid.
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War Begins and Ends?
It’s clear a war has begun since, after the Anthrax scare, even Jake wants to go to war. Troy’s militia sets fires to some tribal land as a distraction for Alicia and Madison to steal Walker’s trailer full of relics and family member remains. When they get back to the ranch, Jeremiah is taken aback, but Madison and Alicia feel that they can use the trailer for leverage. However, when they arrive back, they are followed by Indians, who surround the ranch, ready for an attack.
While the ladies are gone, Nick convinces Jake to release him from the infirmary. He goes to see Jeremiah, and then he heads back to his rebuilt home. He starts thinking and then starts to rip up the floor. He finds something and returns to see Jeremiah. He places a skull with a bullet hole on the table and asks Jeremiah to tell him the story of whose skull it is. Hesitant at first, Jeremiah finally explains that long ago, before the apocalypse, his family bought the ranch land from the Indians. Years later, some younger Indians wanted the land back, so one day, when three showed up, Jeremiah and his friends killed them. One of them was Walker’s uncle. And when Walker’s father came around investigating his brother’s death, Jeremiah killed Walker’s father too, and that’s whose skull it is.
Nick takes his knowledge and lets Madison and Alicia know. As they argue with Madison about leaving the ranch, Nick slips and lets Alicia know that Troy killed the Trimbols. Alicia yells at Madison and calls her heartless.
Truce?
Madison tries to give Walker his father’s skull as a peace offering. However, Walker doesn’t want it and gives it back. They talk some more, and Madison comes back to the ranch saying there’s no truce and that the community must vacate the ranch by the next day. However, it’s clear something else went down between Walker and Madison.
As her family packs up, Madison tells them a story about a little girl who had a drunk as a father. She says that one day the little girl couldn’t take her mother’s heartache anymore, so the little girl took her father’s gun and killed him. Then she reveals that she’s the little girl and that she’d do anything to protect her mother and her children.
Madison then goes to see Jeremiah. Eventually, Madison tells Jeremiah that there is a way to save the ranch but at a price — he has to die. Madison says she doesn’t want blood on her hands, so he has to kill himself. He obviously laughs and tosses insults at her. Nick walks in then, and as Jeremiah insults him, he takes out a gun and kills Jeremiah. Madison gives him instructions, but we don’t know what they are.
Madison waits with Jeremiah’s body as Jake and Troy come in. They then put Jeremiah’s body in a truck and ride off with it. Madison is then seen looking at a wooden coffin in a barn full of hay. And then we see Madison meet up with Walker. She hands him a backpack with Jeremiah’s head in it. Walker seems pleased, nods and heads off.
The Abigail
It turns out Strand is still alive after being left at a resort overrun with walkers. He somehow ends up on a beach and spots his boat, The Abigail, still in the water. He heads out, kills some walkers on the boat and then gets drunk off champagne. While there, he turns on the radio and plays guess the quote with the person on the other end. The next morning, Strand collects supplies from the ship and then burns it down.
What was Said?
I really want to know what kind of deal Madison made with Walker. There’s clearly more that was said, other than Walker not liking the idea of living separately and sharing supplies.
In the end, I think that Madison is really just looking out for herself and her family. She plays both sides to get to a quicker solution, which at this point is to survive and keep the ranch safe.
Now that Jeremiah is dead, I’m curious if Madison will be the new leader. I can only imagine that a fight will happen when Jake and Troy butt heads with her — or want to be the leader themselves.
Madison is an interesting character on Fear the Walking Dead, and I can’t wait to find out what she said to Walker and what the outcome will be now that Jeremiah is dead.
Do you think Madison would make a good leader of any community? Were you surprised that Ofelia was living on the Indian land? Do you think she’ll ever reunite with her father? What do you think Strand has planned next? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
Fear the Walking Dead season 3 returns Sunday, September 10 at 9/8c on AMC. Want more news? Like our Walking Dead Facebook page.
(Image courtesy of AMC)
Contributing Writer, BuddyTV
