FEAR THE WALKING DEAD Recap: (S04E03) Good Out Here

Noetta Harjo

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We’re following two timelines on Fear the Walking Dead.

The past. Madison (Kim Dickens), Alicia (Alycia Debnam Carey), Nick (Frank Dillane), Strand (Colman Domingo), and Luciana (Danay Garcia) all live in a baseball park with about 40 other people. A group called the Vultures is threatening them.

The present. Morgan (Lennie James) arrives in Texas. He is injured so he has to rely on help from his new friends John (Garret Dillahunt) and Al (Maggie Grace). They just met Alicia, Nick, Strand and Luciana, who are a little bit feral. So what happened? And where’s Madison? Is everything “Good Out Here”? 

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Past

Nick has to burn his garden because of the weevil infestation.  Madison tells him that she’s going an a run and Nick decides to join her.  On the way out, Mel (Kevin Zegers) stops them to give back the book that Luciana left for Charlie (Alexa Nisenson)

Nick is disappointed because they never stood a chance with Charlie. She was never going to stay with them.  Madison believes they will get her back.  He changes the subject, asking why she still goes on food runs.  Madison says she looks for something good on every run.  And she always finds something. 

They find a church that the group has checked once before. They find the driver of the blue camino already there.  His name is Ennis (Evan Gamble) and he has crates of food in the back.  He tells them to get a faster truck.  Someone from the baseball park radios for Madison. She turns down her radio, but they hear the whole message because Charlie is there with a radio from their camp.  

Frank Dillane as Nick Clark, Kim Dickens as Madison Clark – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

Nick gets upset, but not at Charlie.  He’s upset at the camino driver.  The driver says they are the ones who found her and care for her.  Unlike Nick, he can provide food for his family.  That triggers Nick and he pushes the guy up agains the car.  He holds a knife to his neck.  Madison screams for Nick to stop.  Nick lightly cuts the guys neck and pulls back.  Charlie jumps in the car and the Vultures leave.

Nick tells Madison the reason he doesn’t like going outside of the ballpark is because of what the outside does to him.  He says it’s suffocating. He feels like who he will become is closing in on him.  Even when he tries to do the right thing, he ends up doing the worst. 

Present

Luciana drives the van with Strand in the front. Nick and Alicia watch Al, John and Morgan.  Al starts asking about their stories, but they don’t want to talk.  Luciana mentions that she can’t find the turn that Al said to look for. That’s because Al didn’t give them the exact location. She tries to bargain for their stories.  She says this is going to go her way.  Nick disagrees and Al kicks him in the groin.  She’s been in a zip tie before.

Al holds Nick hostage with a knife. She forces Alicia and Strand to put their guns down and tells Luciana to pull over. They run into a small group of walkers.  Nick tries to fight back, but Al pushes him forward, forcing Luciana to run off the road.  The walkers descend on the van. 

Nick is in and out of conscientiousness.  The others fight off the walkers.  When Nick wakes up, he, Alicia, Strand and Luciana are tied up.  The van is stuck.  Luciana says she saw some truck behind them, but she won’t tell Al until she unties them.  Al complies, but ties Nick to the van for insurance.  Al and John leave with Alicia, Strand and Luciana to get the truck.  Morgan stays behind with Nick.  

Frank Dillane as Nick Clark, Lennie James as Morgan Jones – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

Nick tries to talk to Morgan, but Morgan won’t respond.  Nick asks to be released so he can get some food.  Morgan cuts his ties and lays the knife down on the stairs to the truck.  Nick looks at it and asks if Morgan is worried. He tries twice to take the knife, but Morgan knocks his hand away.  Nick tries to run and Morgan trips him.  Morgan tells Nick that he’s not worried. 

Nick pulls out a peanut butter protein bar and shares it with Morgan.  Morgan decides to go to the road to practice his ninja skills.  In the meantime, Nick goes through Al’s van. He finds Morgan’s interview and watches it. 

Morgan sees a blue camino racing towards him. He runs back to the van and tells Nick to hide. Nick watches the camino drive by and tries to get out of the van.  Morgan stops him and they fight.  Nick hits a button that sets the horn off.  Morgan is down, so Nick grabs a hammer and goes to the road.  The walkers are headed for the van.  Morgan asks Nick to throw his stick to him, but Nick takes off running

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Maggie Grace as Althea, Colman Domingo as Victor Strand – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

Al, John, Strand, Alicia and Luciana find a truck and get it ready to go back to the van.  Strand asks Al why she wants their story. Al tries to turn the tables on him and asks what happened to his hand.  Al says someone needs to record what happened, even though there may be no one to see it.  The truth matters. Al tries to make another deal. The truth about their story for the location of the flag. 

Nick finds a field of blue bonnets.  He picks one and a walker shows up.  Two more show up and one of them pins Nick to the ground.  The walker is close to biting Nick, but Morgan shows up to save Nick.  Morgan picks Nick up and says the walkers are coming out of the woods towards the horn. They have to find a safe place. 

They find a small town and go to a drug store.  Nick asks Morgan why he helped him. Morgan says he doesn’t kill people.  Nick asks if Morgan’s leg is okay and tells him to lay off the karate until it heals.  Morgan asks why Nick wants to find the driver of the camino.  Nick asks if Morgan will try to talk him out of it. Morgan tells him it won’t end the way he thinks it will.  Nick asks who Morgan lost that made him that way.  Morgan tells him to just leave it alone.   Nick persists, wanting to know Morgans story, but Morgan end the conversation telling Nick to hunt down whoever he wants.

Alicia, Al, Strand, John and Luciana return to the van and find it surrounded by walkers.  They don’t see Nick or Morgan and John points out their tracks.  John wants to find Morgan.  Luciana wants to find Nick. So they leave together to look for them.  

Al refuses to leave her van.  Alicia tells Al they will help her get her van out, but she has to help them.  She has to tell them where she found the flag. And find the people who put the flag there.  Al also asks for their stories.  Everyone agrees.  Alicia takes the hook down to the van, killing walkers along the way. Al covers her and shoots any walkers that get too close to Alicia. Alicia hooks the van and gets into the drivers seat.  Strand pulls her out. 

Morgan walks up on the blue camino and meets Ennis.  Ennis tells him to keep walking.  Morgan tells Ennis that he needs to leave immediately. Nick walks up and sees Ennis. He still has the hammer in his hands.  Morgan tries to stop Nick from going after Ennis, telling him to walk away.  Ennis continues to move food into a silo, basically ignoring Nick.  Nick asks if Morgan has what it takes to stop him.  Morgan steps aside. 

Lennie James as Morgan Jones, Frank Dillane as Nick Clark – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

Nick goes inside the silo and lunges at Ennis.  They fight, smashing things around the silo.  Ennis tries to plunge a knife into Nick’s face. Nick is able to push Ennis off and onto a set of antlers.  Nick presses Ennis further onto the antlers until blood flows from Ennis’ mouth.  

Morgan has left, but he turns around to check on Nick.  Nick comes out of the silo, still hyped up from his fight.  Morgan says he lost his wife, son and friends.  And then he lost himself. Morgan knows what Nick is feeling because he’s felt that too. He didn’t know how to make it stop or if he wanted it to stop. He met someone who taught him that all life is precious.

Morgan gives him a book, the Art of Peace.  Nick says it’s too late, but Morgan assures him that it’s not.  He offers to talk to Nick about the book and about anything.  Nick take the book and looks over it.  

The others finally catch up to Morgan and Nick.  Alicia goes to find Nick.  Al takes the opportunity to look over her van and sees that someone when through her stuff.  She checks to make sure all of her tapes are there.  

Nick continues to look over the book.  He puts it away and finds the blue bonnet that he picked earlier.  He sits and remembers something. 

Past

Madison stops the truck and gets out.  Nick follows her. She finds a field of blue bonnets. She says there is still good out here.  Nick lies down in the field.

Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark, Danay Garcia as Luciana – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 4, Episode 3 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC

Present

Nick hears a gunshot.  He looks down and sees blood on his hands.  He looks up and sees Charlie in front of him, with a gun pointed at him.   Nick calls out to her and falls to the ground.  Charlie runs away as Alicia and Luciana run toward Nick.  Strand, Morgan and John join them.  Alicia tries to tell Nick that he will be okay, but Nick is bleeding out fast.  Alicia tells him to look at her.  He gives her one last glance and dies.  Alicia breaks down crying as Nick still holds on to the blue bonnet.

Thoughts

OMG! I hate that the best character on this show is dead!  That was heartbreaking!. However, it was revealed on Talking Dead that Frank Dillane asked to be written off the show.  Nick was such an intense character.  He truly understood the chaos of the apocalypse and what it took to survive.  I would have liked to have seen Nick become the leader that Madison had to become.  These types of deaths on the Walking Dead universe remind us that no one is truly safe.  

 

 

 

Noetta Harjo
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