I am writing this Fear the Walking Dead recap with one eye open and my bed tantalizingly close to my left. After watching the pathetic football franchise in my home town continue to show why they are the Lions, I watched the recording of this week’s popular zombie show. Titled “Cobalt,” episode five of Fear the Walking Dead missed more often than not. The opening sequence had a very unusual character wearing suit and tie trapped in a cell talking to the emotionally-unstable Doug from the prior episode. We come to find out that he wields a lot of power in the jail cell, but the entire sequence made me scratching my head in confusion more than being intrigued.
The next major sequence of the episode focused on the conflict between the townsfolk and the military housing them. In one scenario, Travis talks to the lead antagonist military leader, Lt. Moyers to get a lift to the military hospital. After agreeing to do so, the military vehicle stops along the way upon discovering a walker inside of a diner. Moyers demands that Travis takes down the walker with his sniper rifle and Travis is unable to do so. I did enjoy this sequence somewhat, as the struggle between being human and shooting walkers rose to the forefront with Travis and he showed weakness that will not help you survive. Further down the road, the military convoy entered a facility with walkers and military doing combat. Army men poured out of the facility, overwhelmed by the walkers and retreated in the vehicle. A very limited amount of action with the potential to be better.
The second sequence led us to the basement of the home with the captured soldier Adams. Our resident barber entered his inner devil and tortured the poor soul for information. Along the way, Daniel shares a very horrible past in which he has tortured people in the past in order to survive. With that being said, I was still genuinely confused by this entire sequence. Adams already seemed quite willing to offer up information to the group, and was even more willing when Daniel showed the officer his blades. The entire sequence between the two had great tension but felt forced. We come to find that the keyword “Cobalt” is an evacuation plan by the military in which the civilians left behind are “eliminated.” These people are all healthy and have been screened multiple times, can’t they just ride or walk along with them? Regardless of who is giving the orders, you would like think decency wins the day.
Between various parts of the episode, focus is placed on the happenings at the military hospital and newly-dubbed Nurse Liza. Sadly, the elder wife Salazar’s leg was amputated, causing her to enter into a rambling frenzy about the devil and death. Liza was forced to use a pressurized canister to “kill” Mrs. Salazar after she was pronounced dead. Liza struggled to do it but did show that she is willing to kill a potential walker.
Nick had a small bit role in this episode, tied in with the strange power-hungry man inside of the jail. The military ran a temperature scanner on Nick to find he was well-above normal. While attempting to take him down to the quarantine zone to likely be killed, the man bribed the military to keep him in the jail. Ultimately, he is doing this to get something from Nick, but there are a lot of semantics and jumbled answers. Again, another disjointed sequence in the episode.
(Chris and Alicia went to a rich person’s home and started smashing stuff, that’s all you need to know about what they did this episode.)
At the end of the episode, Daniel discovers an enormous building housing thousands of zombies smashing at the door. What are they being held there for? Who knows, maybe the finale will answer that question (which is next week, that went quick!!!).
My thoughts:
-The first truly weak episode in the show’s run.
-Why is the military negotiating with the strange man in the suit? He’s trapped in a jail cell with no power.
-Alicia has faded so far to the back I forget that she is still part of the family. Chris does more with his on-screen time and conveys strong emotions between sadness and curiosity. Alicia is very wooden.
