In Memoriam

In a season that many have believed to be lackluster in some respects in comparison to its sister-show The Walking Dead, the Fear The Walking Dead season finale upped the ante. It was the climactic episode of the season, and it had us all gripping the edges of our seats with a white knuckled grip. The two-episode finale, entitled “Wrath” and North,” is a catalyst that has pushed the characters to the very limits of their humanity, and the effects of this are something that they will have to traverse through in season 3.

The finale begins with Ofelia, who has been alone for the majority of the second half of the season and who has proven that she is more than capable of surviving by herself. She runs into some car trouble, and when the infected notice her, she is forced to flee the truck with her backpack of supplies and a single half-gallon of water. But she has made it to the border, and after finding a hole in the fence, she makes it into the U.S. Too bad she only makes it a few yards in before shots are fired at her feet, and a man takes her knife.

Back at the Colonia, things still aren’t going too well. Nick makes it to the superstore to trade in the oxy, but Marco is no longer interested in it because he has his eyes on a much larger prize: he wants the Colonia, and he warns Nick that if he wants to live, he should flee. This sets Nick on a mission of convincing Alejandro to give his people permission to run, but their conversation is cut short when one of the people in the infirmary dies and turns, taking off a guy’s nose and a woman’s fingers before Nick manages to put it down. Alejandro, however, has suffered a bite from the infected, and it leads to his lie unraveling.

Nick begs Luciana to flee with him, but she refuses. The Colonia is her home, and she has faith in it and Alejandro. But a bomb is dropped when Alejandro admits that he isn’t immune and he created the lie in order to rally the people around him and create a safe place for them. Even then, Luci refuses to go, and Nick takes off by himself only to return after seeing a helicopter. There is hope. Hope that Alejandro’s people can survive, and he goes back to Alejandro and tells him this. If Alejandro gives his people permission to leave, they will never know that he had been lying to them and he can die a hero.

It is this hope that carries the people of the Colonia to the border. There is a refugee camp that is no more than a few hours walk. But this hope is shattered much in the same way that Ofelia’s was: bullets. Armed men begin shooting, and the group scatters, Luciana being shot in the shoulder. Nick and Luci attempt to hide, but are found.

Cut to the hotel, where, like with everywhere else, things aren’t going too well. Brandon and Derek have been let inside and are staying in the parking garage with the other refugees who had fled to the hotel when Madison had turned on the lights. They act less than grateful for what they have been given, and Madison is quick to pick them out of the crowd. She learns that they were in a car accident and that the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel and died. Madison picks up on the subtle hints that they drop and realizes that the driver was Chris.

She tells Strand about the predicament, and they both agree that Travis can’t know that Brandon and Derek are at the hotel; knowing that Chris is dead and no longer having the hope that he is out there would kill him. So she tries to sneak them out, but Travis sees them and demands to know where Chris is. Travis locks himself in a room with them, and when the truth of Chris’s fate is revealed, he unleashes his wrath on them, beating them to death with his bare hands and severely injuring Oscar in the process.

The law that Madison had made earlier in the season now comes back to haunt her. Travis has killed people, and he can no longer stay, and he is locked in a room for the time being. It is Alicia who suggests that they leave with Travis. Strand declines to go with them. Elena agrees to let them stay for the night with the promise that they will leave in the morning, but things go south when Oscar dies, and Andrés wants Travis dead. He and Hector show up in the room that Madison, Alicia, and Travis are in, and Andrés holds Travis at gunpoint, but before he can shoot and kill him, Alicia stabs Andrés in the heart with her knife.

The trio flees in a truck, Strand sticking to his decision to stay at the hotel, and they go to the superstore, hoping to find information on where Nick is. It is empty, though, the gang having already invaded the Colonia, but they find the bodies of Francisco and his family and discover where the Colonia is located. When they arrive, there is little left other than dead bodies and the infected roaming about. Alicia discovers Alejandro in the bus, which he had moved away from the fence to allow the infected inside to kill the gang, and he tells them that Nick has gone North.

Bullets:

• Fear TWD needs to chill with the music. It’s always on point. Always perfect. And I always want to buy the songs.
• Madison has some dark stuff in her past…but what exactly is she referring to?
• The Brandon & Bros boy band split up faster than One Direction. That sure didn’t last long.
• Chris may have been going way inShane, but he was such an interesting character and seeing a character have negative character development instead of strictly positive development was so interesting. Sad to see him go…it would have been cool to see him descend further down the path he was going.
• ProTip to survive the zombie apocalypse: do not be a Manawa. I repeat, do NOT be a Manawa.
• How will killing a human affect, Alicia? She’s shown that she is more than capable of killing the infected, but killing something that is already dead and killing something that is alive are two completely different things.
• Strand, please come back. Please. The group needs you.
• Alejandro may have been lying about his immunity (yes, he totally pulled a Eugene on everyone), but that man went out like a true hero.
• Nick thought that he was leading everyone to safety, but he was leading them to their deaths.
• And now for a series of questions. Who has Ofelia? Who has Nick and the rest of the Colonia? Do they belong to the same group? What’s North? Is there really a refugee camp and is it safe?