‘We had no idea what kind of hell would come off that boat and we found new friends’
At long last, we meet some people who aren’t the survivors on the Abigail – a family, a past, some mystery – and then they’re gone, like a cast of characters from Scooby Doo. And they would’ve gotten away with it, too, if it weren’t for those pesky walkers.
While the Abigail flees from a bigger, faster boat, Strand and the gang decide to hide in a cove near a wildlife sanctuary and ranger station, as good a place as any to figure out whether San Diego has burned down. When they reach the island, they see a light at the station and Madison, Travis and the kids go to check it out. They meet George, Melissa and their three kids – but sense something fishy going on.
Naturally, Maddie pairs off with Melissa, Travis goes off with George and the kids keep each other company – just like any neighborly visit except that George tells Travis the government napalmed the entire coast, San Diego included. He also tells Travis that national parks have gone offline and the entire United States has become a buffet for the undead. Enlightening, but not encouraging.
‘I am at-risk youth’
The kids, meanwhile, continue to be the worst thing about this show. Alicia tells the little children that Ring Around the Rosie is about the black plague, and then, ever helpful, mopes around listening to moody music on her iPhone. Enjoy it while it lasts, Alicia – your charger isn’t going to come in handy after the apocalypse. She also won’t stop drawing the tattoo figure that her boyfriend drew before his death – oblivious to the alluring ginger with her on the island.
Instead, the blunt object that is Chris is hanging out with Seth and learning all about zombies. The duo of future goths use an axe to clear away walkers who wash up on shore, bonding over violence and gloom. But the scene also shows just how unprepared Chris is for this new world compared to Seth, whose father has taught him to survive. Is Travis really afraid for Chris, or does he just feel guilty about his lack of parenting?
Finally there’s Nick, the former junkie and the audience’s one hope. He’s charming with the kids, sniffs out a cache of pills and then finds the will not to take one. Possibly because he thinks they’re poison and that George wants to “go Jonestown on his entire family”. Nick might not have been much before humanity fell, but he’s turning into an MVP in the aftermath.
‘I’m mending the fence’
George’s plans remain unclear – after all, he bothers to mend the fence, grow food and keep the beaches clear of walkers. He wants to survive even though he doesn’t think he’ll make it for the long haul, and he theorizes that plague is nature’s way of thinning out the herd. If I had to guess, I’d say the pills are a contingency plan for disaster: suicide instead of gruesome undeath.
Melissa has other plans. She doesn’t want her kids to simply subsist, but wants her youngest, Henry and Willa, to have a real chance to overcome the world’s new dangers. Madison obliges, knowing that Strand and George won’t be happy.
Sadly, she never gets the chance. Willa takes her poisoned pill – who thought calling them “power pills” would was a good idea? – and dies. With Melissa cradling the body, Walker Willa wakes up and bites. Travis and Maddie’s attempt to rescue Henry ends when Seth intervenes, and before we know it it’s back to the boat and island for everyone.
Because the plot was obvious from the moment Nick found the pills, the episode was drained of nearly all its emotion by the time it ended. The effect of Willa’s death was dulled by its predictability, and the greatest pang of the episode was when Seth was forced to shoot the reanimated corpse of his mother. But that same scene showed Chris, watching, as if to draw pity for this brutal lesson – pity that Chris frankly hasn’t earned.
‘What’s the latest you can push it?’
Also in the annals of predictable TV show plot lines, Strand was almost certainly ready to leave the Clark-Manawa clan behind so that he, Daniel and Ofelia could sail off into the sunset together, with water and Daniel’s fishing skills to support them.
But who the hell was he talking to on the phone, and what’s their plan? How is the phone even working? A map of Mexico covered in Post-Its? A machine gun? Is Strand a drug runner and this a stolen boat? Zoinks, a new mystery, guys.
