Title: Fear the Walking Dead: “Sicut Cervus”
Network: AMC
Air Date: May 15th, 2016
Genre: Serial Drama, Horror
What in the world was Hershel thinking keeping those walkers locked up in there….oh wait…sorry, I was getting flashbacks from season two of the Walking Dead. This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead will bring back some memories from a long time Walking Dead fans, as we’ve seen one of the main elements here before. The big question is…How does it work the second time around? I wasn’t thrilled with seeing this same situation again. At the same time, I try to keep an open mind with wondering what the odds would be that other individuals would have a similar train of thought, that being that the “infected” are not really dead and are still in some way the person they once were. Aside from that madness, it seems Chris is finally going off the rails and has pretty much become the most hated character of the show for me.
The group is finally on land headed towards Strand’s destination, that was initially sold as safe, but seems to have a dark secret similar to Hershel’s farm. Strand meets Thomas Abigail there who unfortunately is not doing well…he was bitten by one of the infected. Now we never see him get bit but the insane woman at the house Cecilia really seems to be the one to blame. She is the one that poisoned a whole group of church going people where Thomas was. Now I could be wrong but one could certainly assume that’s how Thomas was bitten. I’m very interested to see if that comes up later, especially since Daniel already uncovered the secret room and that Cecilia is the one who poisoned the church.
Daniel was a bit scaled back in this episode but still remains one of my favorite characters on the show. Daniel is having his own troubles here having several flashbacks to traumatic events that have happened in the past. The scene where he is about to kill the one infected boy and has a flashback to him holding another boy by the throat is haunting. There also seems to be a deeper meaning to the coin Daniel takes from the dying Luis. Instead of giving this coin to Luis’s mother like he was asked, he stares at it as if recalling some memory and then throws it in the ocean. The image of the owl on the coin is seen again later in Abigail’s compound, and that image also causes Nick to have flashbacks of his first encounter with the infected. We’ll have to wait and see how that mystery unfolds.
Now when it comes to Chris…Lorenzo Hernie goes a fantastic job at making me hate him as a character in Fear the Walking Dead. I mean I am ready for Chris to get killed at this point but I do accept the fact that it is possible my hate is misplaced. Madison thinks that Chris is mentally ill at this point, which is very a probable thought. Since the beginning of season two Chris has been dealing with the loss of his mother. In addition to that he killed an injured man to prevent him from turning, he let Reed and the others onto the Abigail which caused Travis and Alicia to be captured and he also killed Reed seemingly when he didn’t have to. That’s not to mention the group was going to be using Reed as a bargaining chip for Travis and Alicia. Now Chris hears from his father that Madison believes he didn’t have to kill Reed and almost lets Madison get bitten by the infected during the scuffle at the church. Not only that but Alicia sees it happen which causes Chris to corner her later and basically threaten her not to say anything. Through pretty much every scene we see Chris in, he just looks utterly disturbed. Perhaps some twist will come into play in future episodes but right now Chris seems to be falling apart.
When it comes to Strand I initially talked about the scene being a surprise where he was gay. Then I read an interview by Colman Domingo which led me to believe that maybe Strand has just been using Abigail this whole time for self-preservation. After this episode, though, I would say Strand’s love for Abigail seems to be real. If it’s not Strand is one hell of a two face and kudos to Mr. Domingo for some fantastic acting work. At first, Strand talks about dying with the bitten Abigail but changes his mind at the end of the episode by shooting him in the head after he has already died. Now is this because Strand is a coward and doesn’t want to die or was he in fact leading Abigail on a little for his own self-preservation? Given that no weapons are allowed in the compound on top of Cecilia’s love for Abigail, a conflict may be on the horizon given Strand’s actions.
Nick floundered in “Sicut Cervus” for me, given how far we’ve seen him come in Fear the Walking Dead so far. His flashbacks seem out of place along with his fondness for Cecilia. Nick went from covering himself in infected guts and being ready to face Connor in last week’s episode to a seemingly lost individual ready to believe whatever ideas Cecilia spews at him. The whole business there just felt jumbled and out of place causing me to have a very tough time having any emotional investment in it, let alone for it being believable. Sure Nick could be suffering on the inside from everything he’s dealt with up until this point but with little to no build up, this situation falls flat.
This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead really felt like it stalled with what it was trying to present. Cecilia is no Hershel so she may very well be a formidable villain for the group with her beliefs but I could be wrong here the same way I was with Connor. I’m hoping Nick turns around from this path that he seems to be on now with being so susceptible to what Cecilia tells him. With the loss of Abigail, I’m anxiously awaiting to see how Strand turns out and what that may mean for the group and furthermore what happens with Chris. I’m ready for him to be killed off now but hopefully, my impatience is shown to be an error with him becoming a major asset to the group. We’ll have to see how it all plays out on next week’s all new, Fear the Walking Dead.
- Characters: Cecilia is introduced at Abigail’s compound. Potential villain?
- Story: Brings back memories from Hershel’s Farm in season two of the Walking Dead
- Cinematography: Flashbacks and amazing cinematic shots of Mexico
- Acting: Colman Domingo brings an emotional Strand while Lorenzo Hearnie makes us hate Chris
[review]
