6.02: Fear The Walking Dead - Welcome to the Club

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Virginia forces Alicia and Strand to clear an unusual walker threat, where an encounter with a new ally gives Strand an idea that could be the key to their freedom.

 

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Well I'm glad that our Warrior Princess is with Strand. They kind of need each other, even if at the end of the day it's Alicia who is the stronger one. We know that it's not about the love or need for a BBC, because Strand likes men. It's that they kind of compliment each other in the places where one is clearly lacking, with Strand's strengths being on what comes out from his mouth.

Not that the words helped them from being send to the factory. A place where words has a very little meaning. Away from Daniel playing barber again. What has Virginia done to him?

It surprised me that Virginia's sister Dakota was all googly eyed on Strand and like other teens, she wanted to get away from the mother figure, the authority that holds whole thing together. You have to wonder what would happen if she had an accident?

A big sh1tshow for sure, but at the end of the day, she had built a community under the dictatorship. And I for one wouldn't be trusting Dakota for any reasons. Her needs to get away from her sister can all be a cover to make Victor to be deeper in Victoria's pocket.

So, for Strand to work properly he needs Alicia to be the leader. One who gives me a problem that he can work out, eventually. Even if it means doing malicious things, like for example feeding Sanjay to the walkers.

I don't there is a heaven waiting for him. It's more likely that he'll end up in hell for all the bad things he has committed before and after the apocalypse. It is almost as if he is doomed to repeat the evil things, because that is the only way instead of doing it the hard way.

What I don't get is where did all the rangers go?

The guards asked for backup and to start the evacuation, and by the time Alicia started shooting they'd all fled. Including the guy on top of the silos.

It surprised me at the end that the weapon Virginia looked for was Mr Strand. A leader for Virginia's army. But I don't get why Victor needs to forget everything to be able to be the general. He is no good on his own.



As a side-note I turned off the subtitles to have more authentic Fear episode. I have watched all the seasons and TWD without them and it's only in these current ones that the captions has appeared on the screen. So why to use them now?

Also as a surprise, this episode was directed by Lenny James.

 

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But is there more to Strand’s turn that meets the eye? While he won’t say whether Strand has ulterior motives (he always does), Domingo insists that Strand is never, ever careless with what he says—or doesn’t say.

“[People say], ‘Well, Strand lies.’ I mean no, he doesn’t. He’s never lied,” asserts Domingo. “I have to hold that to be true and say if he’s going to lie, it has to be a big moment because the things that I know about him is that he may not tell you everything that you need to know, but he’s not going to lie.”

In Domingo’s mind, Strand is methodical and even ethical in his decision-making.

“It’s case by case, it’s very mathematic,” says Domingo of Strand’s methods. “That’s the thing I have always loved about this character. And I sort of fight for that. When you’ve been playing a character for six seasons, you have some ownership, and you work with the writers.”

Fear the Walking Dead: Strand's Shocking Turn Explained by Colman Domingo | Den of Geek

Has Strand turned to the dark side in Fear the Walking Dead season 6 episode 2? Here's what Colman Domingo told Den of Geek.

www.denofgeek.com

As one of the longest tenured characters on the show, we’ve seen Strand go through many changes. Compassion and self-preservation have always been at odds within him, but Domingo believes that Strand is settling into a place where he’s finally found balance.

“It’s been interesting to me to see all these different versions of Strand,” says Domingo. “I personally feel this is leading to the ultimate version of Strand, and now we’ve peeled away that sweet onion and we see what’s at the core and what makes him tick. He’s building himself up with all of these things that have kept him alive: being part of the group, being an individual, being a survivor, and I think now, he’s becoming the ultimate version of himself. He’s a bit more ferocious. He’s like, ‘If you’re going to come at me, come at me hard, cause I am coming for you.’”

 

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When Alicia and Strand take notice of a bruised Daniel's uncharacteristically subdued demeanor, Virginia explains he was "just hellbent on getting that darn cat of his."

"Things got ugly because he wouldn't stand down when it didn't go his way," she says. "Everybody's gotta contribute. So just be grateful he still knows how to give a decent haircut, or he'd be cadaver chum right now."

Was Skidmark turned into cat-flavored Fancy Feast and fed to zombies? Daniel, seemingly amnesiac and traumatized from whatever happened since the separation, says he doesn't recognize Alicia or Strand and has no memory of Skidmark.

Fear the Walking Dead Might Have Killed Off a Fan-Favorite in "Welcome to the Club"

Sunday's Fear the Walking Dead suggests an unfur-tunate fate for Skidmark, the cat companion of [...]

comicbook.com

 

[REBerg]

What? The whole sorting out the walkers from the molasses thing to get he secret weapon was just a leadership candidate ingenuity test? Very disappointing, not to mention a plot stretch.
I was shocked when Strand turned the cowardly character into a fresh meat distraction. I should have realized that any appearances of possible redemption in Strand are just that -- appearances.
I was almost ready to accept Daniel's amnesia. I doubt that Virginia has completely bought it, although he is in a perfect position to slit her throat.

 

[Jeffbert]

I thought that that kid was a liability & needed to either grow a pair, or go as he did. His fear was going to end up killing someone other than himself, as some do-gooder, who feels sorry for the guy, trying to save him from his own weakness, ends up dying in his place. With him, it was only a matter of time. Reminded me of TWD when Shane (was that the guy's name?) shot the other guy in a similar way, in order that he, himself could escape with the medicine, etc. Give the walkers something to eat, & maybe you can escape. I would not last 5 minutes!

 

[REBerg]

I thought that that kid was a liability & needed to either grow a pair, or go as he did. His fear was going to end up killing someone other than himself, as some do-gooder, who feels sorry for the guy, trying to save him from his own weakness, ends up dying in his place. With him, it was only a matter of time. Reminded me of TWD when Shane (was that the guy's name?) shot the other guy in a similar way, in order that he, himself could escape with the medicine, etc. Give the walkers something to eat, & maybe you can escape. I would not last 5 minutes!

Reminds me of the joke in which a guy brags he was able to beat a bear with a .22-caliber pistol, but the friend he shot in the leg wasn't so lucky.

 

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His fear was going to end up killing someone other than himself, as some do-gooder, who feels sorry for the guy, trying to save him from his own weakness, ends up dying in his place. With him, it was only a matter of time.

Yep. You got it absolutely right. He was too weak to survive Kirkman's world. It was the fear at the end that got better of him. If he had chosen to stand up and fight, then maybe. Thing is, when you're in the tight spot, it's very difficult to grow a pair if you're already weak and got used to it.

Reminded me of TWD when Shane (was that the guy's name?) shot the other guy in a similar way

Otis.

I don't know how long he would have survived if Shane hadn't shot him.

 

[nixie]

Strand using Sanjay as bait didn't surprise me, it's what he does.

I completely bought Daniel's amnesia, then again its Daniel he knows how to play the long game.

Least Alicia and Charlie are together.

If Morgan can persuade Daniel to join him Virginia Better get her affairs in order.

 

[Dave]

by the time Alicia started shooting they'd all fled. Including the guy on top of the silos.

Yes, he must have been safe enough, as long as he had enough ammunition. I would have thought that by the time he climbed down it would have been all over, one way or another anyway, so we not stay up there until it was?

What? The whole sorting out the walkers from the molasses thing to get he secret weapon was just a leadership candidate ingenuity test? Very disappointing, not to mention a plot stretch.

Yes, unlikely. What if the earlier group had managed it? Or was that the point, was she testing out different groups? So, she was loosing two rangers every time a test occurred. How many times? Didn't the rangers speak to each other?

I thought that that kid was a liability & needed to either grow a pair, or go as he did.

He was too weak to survive Kirkman's world.

But how had he survived so long? This world is over ten years old now. There is no place that characters could have been hiding for ten years. When it was only one or two years than that was possible, but not now. The only people who could have survived for ten years could not be a liability.

I completely bought Daniel's amnesia, then again its Daniel he knows how to play the long game.

I wasn't sure but surprised we found out so soon.

 

[ctg]

The only people who could have survived for ten years could not be a liability.

What about Eugene?

 

[Dave]

What about Eugene?

Eugene could make weapons and ammunition. He could fix electrical and electronic items. He was useful and was therefore protected by various different others. I think he's an exception that proves my point. Sanjay being a coward wasn't the problem. Standing out of the way while others got killed instead is a very sensible survival option, but what else did he have? I just don't see how he didn't get used as bait before by someone. We have seen several times that hiding out is not a long term option for survival. No place is safe from either the undead or living gangs.

 

[Marvin]

I would be terrible at writing content for this ‘world’. My ways would be far to clinical, effective and ultimately boring I guess.

After all this time they are still so terrible at clearing the ‘dead’.
They use a perfect cattle run, then place it away from the shutter to allow some convenient weak spots.
Then let them out of the end fully mobile to fight with. Putting the confirmed coward on shutter duty was another master stroke. Still, job done so well Strand gets promoted to a top position.

Lazy or poor writing, I can’t decide.

Me. Just use the cattle run, right by the shutter. Trustworthy operator lets them out in a pre arranged and manageable fashion. Everyone stabs them in the head through the very convenient gaps in the run. Calmly clear it out, and repeat as necessary.

It’s getting so hard to suspend my disbelief at the stupidity of characters that are supposedly used to surviving and have survived, in this world for so long.

The stories are always better now, when they are about the living.

By this stage the dead would be merely an inconvenience in the bigger struggle for food, shelter and rebuilding life.

I still watch because I enjoy certain characters, and am always hopeful for answers to the bigger story arcs, that hint at humanity surviving in a better way than what we have been witnessing.