It’s time to choose a side on Fear the Walking Dead. In “Damage from the Inside,” Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) makes a difficult decision to either stay in Ginny’s (Colby Minifie) good graces or fight for her freedom.
It’s the Fear the Walking Dead mid-season finale! And it’s a good one!
RELATED: Fear the Walking Dead Recap (S06E06): Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg
Last week an unknown group blew up Tank Town, the oil refinery run by Luciana (Danay Garcia). Ginny was determined to find out who set it up, but her efforts only put her in danger. She lost her hand after a walker bit her. Now Ginny is on high alert. She decides to send Dakota (Zoe Colletti) to a safe house and asks Strand to get her there safely.
Strand and Dakota drive in the middle of a convoy of rangers. Dakota tells Strand that now is the time to run or take out Ginny if he’s going to do it. Strand disagrees. He says people are at their most dangerous point when they feel threatened. The convoy goes on high alert when their scouts’ horses return without the scouts. Strand and a ranger ride ahead to see what happened. They find a tree was cut down to block the road. Then the rest of the convoy’s horses run past them. Whoever cut the tree down just attacked the convoy. When they get back, Dakota is gone and all of the rangers are dead.
THE GRUDGE
It’s been about six weeks since Strand sent Alicia away and she hasn’t forgotten it. Strand calls for her help but she spends hours studying a map and ignoring him. Finally Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) tells her to answer, but Alicia reminds her that Strand isn’t doing anything to help them, so they won’t help him. He says he has an emergency on his hands and she finally answers. Strand asks that they meet in person.
When Alicia and Charlie arrive, Strand tells them the basics. The convoy was attacked. Tank Town is gone. And the attacks could be by the same people. He needs to find Dakota before Ginny starts asking about her. He asks for Alicia’s help finding the girl because Dakota looks up to Alicia. Strand needs to deliver Dakota on time to get into a position to take down Ginny. With that, Alicia agrees.
Alicia and Charlie search the nearby woods, and Charlie wants to know why Alicia is helping him. She says she’s not. Alicia wants to find the people that hit Tank Town and the convoy. She thinks Dakota can tell her who they are. And then maybe they can help Alicia take down Ginny.
CABIN IN THE WOODS
They encounter a couple of walkers and take them down easily. A strange looking walker walks up and scares Alicia. It looks like it’s been augmented to look like it has scales. They look around and see a hunting lodge. Alicia is certain that Dakota is in that lodge. She decides to go in and look around and tells Charlie to look out for her. Alicia breaks in and finds a taxidermist, fitting a walker for antlers. The walker he’s working on is wearing one of Ginny’s keys. Alicia doesn’t do a good job of sneaking around because the taxidermist finds her and knocks her out.
Alicia wakes up to find herself strapped to the taxidermist’s work table. She easily gets out of her bonds and is about to walk out the door when Dakota walks in. Dakota says everything is okay. The man who owns the house is named Ed (Raphael Sbarge). He was modifying the walkers to make them look scarier.
Alicia asks about the convoy attack and Dakota says she didn’t see much. A group of walkers came out of the woods and someone ran by. She took off in the truck and crashed the truck. Ed found Dakota when she crashed the truck. He says he knocked out Alicia because he thought she was the one who attacked the convoy.
SUSPICIOUSLY SAFE
Ed takes the both to the living room where he plays chess with Dakota. Alicia sits quietly on the couch. Ed says Dakota reminds him of his daughter. He tells them about his family. He’s happy to have someone to play with. Dakota is comfortable enough to tell Ed that Ginny killed their parents. Alicia says it’s time to go, but Dakota is happy where she is. Ed backs her up saying whoever attacked the convoy is still out there. They are in the safest place in the area.
Alicia asks Ed to start a fire and he tells her where to find a blanket. She finds Charlie hiding in the house. Ed hasn’t seen her. Charlie says after Ed found Alicia, he boarded up the doors and windows. Alicia tells her to stay hidden while she finds a way out.
Alicia goes back to the workroom to look for a weapon, but Ed finds her. She reveals two things to Dakota. One, Ed boarded up the place. And two, she tells Ed that Dakota is Ginny’s sister. Ginny will come looking for her. He has to let her go. He says they can leave at dawn.
THE DEAL
Dakota is upset, she likes Ed and the hunting lodge. Alicia thinks Ed attacked the convoy, but she doesn’t know why. She’s afraid if they stay, they will all end up like the walker ranger. Dakota says it’s okay if she can’t stay at the lodge, but she does not want to go back to Ginny. Alicia says they will go somewhere else together.
Alicia finds a radio and calls for Ginny. She tells her that the convoy was hit, but she found Dakota. Alicia says she will take Dakota to the safehouse on one condition. Ginny has to let her and Charlie go and never try to find them. Ginny reluctantly agrees, but asks where they intend to go. Alicia has a place in mind.
Dakota and Alicia are asleep when Ed turns on some music. He has speakers on the outside of the house, so the walkers turn to the house. Ed says he’s bringing back all of his creations. He’s mad. He says Dakota didn’t want to leave until Alicia told her it wasn’t safe. Ed wants to make it safe for them.
Ed tells them about how he got into taxidermy. He wants to hold onto things as they were. Some rangers found out about his lodge. One day he went on a supply run. When he got back, he found his wife and child dead. Virginia and her rangers attacked the lodge. After Ed’s family died, he started augmenting the walkers to keep people away from the lodge.
DESPERATE TIMES
Ed pulls a gun on them and sends them upstairs. He locks them in a room together. Dakota feels responsible for their predicament. Charlie comes into the room, saying Ed is asleep. She got his keys and Alicia’s weapon. Charlie used a sedative to knock him out, giving them some time to get away. Alicia says they will lower the music and sneak out into the woods.The only problem is Ed wakes up. Apparently you have to inject the sedative into a blood vein.
Ed still has a gun and is angry that they are trying to leave. He only wants to keep them safe. Dakota offers to let him go with them, but he knows Alicia won’t let that happen. He asks why Alica used his radio and turned it to Ginny’s canell. Alicia says she was scanning to see if they knew where they were. He doesn’t believe her.
Alicia lunges at him, they start fighting for the gun. The gun goes off and Ed throws Alica to the ground. Charlie runs up behind him and knocks the gun out of his hand. Alicia kicks him backward. Ed falls into a chair and an arm impales him. The walkers outside heard their fight and are piling onto the door.
SURPRISING SAVIOR
Ed’s injury is fatal. So he tells them how to get out of the house. He will stay behind and distract the walkers. Charlie runs upstairs and tries to open up one of the boards. Ed tells Alicia not to do whatever she was going to do with Dakota.
Ed admits that Virginia didn’t kill his family, he did. He augmented a walker that got loose in his house and killed his family. Alicia says he did it because of Ginny. Ed says he created them but he couldn’t control them. He tells Alicia to go as the walkers break down the door.
Most of the walkers are augmented. Ed welcomes his creations home with open arms. Alicia and Dakota watch from the balcony as they eat Ed. Charlie gets one board off and they see the walkers leave the lodge.
Alicia runs downstairs and kills the remaining few walkers. Morgan (Lennie James) shows up and save Alicia from the ranger walker. He and Alicia finish off the walkers and Charlie joins them downstairs.
A LIFE FOR A LIFE
Alicia is happy to see Morgan. Everyone pretty much thought he was dead. He tells them the same thing that he told Al and Dwight. Someone saved him, but he doesn’t know who it was.
The next morning, they bury Ed and Dakota recognizes the clothes that Morgan is wearing as the bounty hunters. Morgan says Ginny sent the bounty hunter after him. Now they need to get on the road before Ginny finds them. He tells Alicia about the new home that he found. He is certain that everyone will join them soon.
Later, Alicia sits alone thinking. Charlie joins her and says what happened to Ed is not her fault. Alicia admits she called Ginny to bargain for their freedom. She was going to take Charlie to the stadium, but she didn’t know what to do about the rangers. That’s why she’s been training Charlie to kill walkers. The stadium was overrun, but they could take it back. Alicia says she was doing the same thing as Ed – holding on to something that’s gone. The question is if they will actually give Dakota back to Ginny.
DAMAGE FROM THE INSIDE
Alicia asks Morgan about the new home, but he says it would be easier if he showed her. Alicia asks if they can bring Dakota. Morgan wants to use Dakota to get their people back. Alicia figures out that Morgan attacked the convoy. Morgan says he gave them a choice and they chose Ginny. But he didn’t blow up Tank Town and doesn’t know who did.
Alicia admits she was going to do the same thing, but they don’t have to turn Dakota against them. She can help them take down Ginny. After seeing what Ed did, creating things that destroyed his family, they don’t have to do that. Morgan says it’s the only way to get everyone out is to give Dakota to Ginny. Alicia grabs the radio to stop him and they argue.
Charlie and Dakota find them arguing. Alicia tells Charlie to take Dakota to the place they talked about and she will catch up. Charlie starts to ask questions and Alicia says they are not going to Morgan’s place. Alicia says she can’t do Morgan’s way. They start to leave and Morgan stops them. He can let them walk away. Everything he’s is doing is so they can all be together. It doesn’t work if it’s not all of them. He will do whatever it takes to get everyone there. Dakota is welcome to come too. Alicia says okay.
PICK A SIDE
Strand arrives and is ready to return to Lawton with Dakota. Alicia informs him that Dakota doesn’t want to go back and Morgan backs her up. He even invites Strand to join them. They all pull their weapons on each other and tell Strand to pick a side. He hesitates, telling Alicia to be sure she wants to do this. Morgan says they will have to do what they need to do. Strand lowers his weapon and says they are dismantling everything he’s worked for. Alicia says she’s just doing what he told her to do.
Strand returns to Lawton to report what happened. Ginny isn’t happy. She steps up to Strand and asks who’s side he’s on. He says he’s on Ginny’s side. She’s okay with that and says she has something to show him.
Ginny told Strand once that a day would come that she would call him up for a big show. That day is today. They go to a guarded fence and then to a hidden door behind a shelf. Inside that hidden room is Grace (Karen David). She’s still pregnant and surprised to see Strand. He turns to Ginny and asks who she wants. Ginny says she wants them all back. Everyone they took from the Gulch.
RELATED: Read All of Fear the Walking Dead Recaps Here
Photo Credit: Ryan Green/amc.com
News Editor, Senior Contributor, and Press Editor. Coordinate breaking news, trailers and press releases. I also contribute reviews, recaps and interviews. Creator of the Indigenerd Wire, a column dedicated to the Indigenous creatives in pop culture.
GGA's resident Indigenerd, a little bit rez, a little bit classy...with a love for all things Star Wars, zombies, science fiction, and Indigenous. My ultimate goal is to start my own podcast.
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E07) I Could Not Prevent It - June 24, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E06) Like the Light by Which God Made the World Before He Made Light - June 17, 2024
- INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE Recap: (S02E05) Don’t Be Afraid, Just Start The Tape - June 10, 2024
