Is the end on Fear the Walking Dead? In “The Beginning,” Morgan (Lennie James) and the Fear family seek shelter from Teddy’s (John Glover) destruction while also coming to terms with their own possible ends.
THE END
Last week, Morgan and Victor (Colman Domingo) tried to stop Teddy from launching the nuclear missiles from the USS Pennsylvania. He was able to launch one missile with 10 warheads. Now everyone is scrambling to find safety.
Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is locked safely in the basement of Franklin Hotel.
June (Jenna Elfman), John Sr (Keith Carradine), Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Sherry (Christine Evangelista) were in the submarine. They all left when the missile was launched. Grace (Karen David) was there too and wouldn’t leave Morgan behind
Luciana (Danay Garcia), Daniel (Rubén Blades), Sarah (Mo Collins), Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), Jacob (Peter Jacobson), Wes (Colby Hollman), and Rollie (Cory Hart) are all together.
As for Teddy, Morgan let him and Riley (Nick Stahl) go. I assume Dakota (Zoe Colletti) is with them.
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THE BEGINNING
Rachel (Brigitte Kali Canales) is three miles away from the ship and was stopped because of a flat tire. With baby Morgan crying in the truck, Rachel radios for help and sees the missile fly into the atmosphere.
Morgan sends out a final message for everyone. He says they did their best, but he’s still going to try to stop what Teddy started. But he’s not sure that it will be possible. The missile will reenter the atmosphere and it has multiple warheads. This may be all the time they have left. They should use it; they should make it mean something. Morgan suggests they give themselves the ending they wanted, even if it’s not the one they imagined.
PROMISE ME YOU’LL FIND SOMEONE
Rachel refuses to believe this is the end and continues to work on the flat tire. The jack collapses from under the truck and the truck falls on Rachel’s leg. Her bone is exposed, but she finds a splint that will help her stand, despite the pain. Rachel puts Baby Morgan in a backpack and tries to start walking, but her broken leg can’t handle the weight. She falls, and realizes she is dead in the water.
Rachel sees the missile reenter the atmosphere. Rufus, the dog is nearby and Rachel does the only thing she can do. She puts Baby Morgan on her back and ties a rope around her waist. She ties the other end on Rufus’ collar and asks him to promise her that he will find someone. Rachel ties a scarf around her mouth and says she’s sorry. She takes her own life, leaving Baby Morgan crying in the road.
FAMILIAR VOICE
Rubén Blades as Daniel Salazar, Danay Garcia as Luciana, Alexa Nisenson as Charlie, Mo Collins as Sarah, Peter Jacobson as Jacob – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Daniel hears a radio transmission and etches a message into the wall of the wrap-around. He’s travelling with Luciana, Sarah, Charlie , and Jacob. He hears Morgan’s message as the group returns from scoping out a building for shelter. Wes drives up with Rollie. They captured Riley and were able to get information about where he’s holding Alicia. Rollie thinks it’s the best place for them to go, but Daniel is skeptical.
Daniel tells them about the radio message with the coordinates to a safe place. He recognized the voice but couldn’t place it. Rollie doesn’t necessarily trust Daniel because of his recent memory loss. Luciana asks if Daniel’s sure he heard the message, but he’s not. They decide to go to the hotel as Rollie suggested.
Everyone packs into the wrap around with Rollie driving. He runs over a walker and something flies up into the tires, causing the breaks to go out. Daniel is still skeptical and asks Riley why he told them about the hotel now.
¡DAME EL ARMA!
Sarah gets out and she has to patch a hole in the breaks. She is worried about Wendell (Daryl Mitchell) and Jacob tells her that it will be okay. Daniel continues his interrogation of Riley, but the dude likes to talk in circles. He says the phoenix will rise quicker than they think.
Sarah fixes the hole and they get going again. She tells Rollie to hurry and he says they will make it out like a phoenix. Daniel hears him and asks Luciana to give him a gun. When she asks why, he says the traitor of Tank Town should die. He points the gun at Rollie’s head and shoots him.
Daniel says Rollie was working with Riley and Teddy. He told them they were coming and that’s why they were ready for Morgan. Riley tries to run, but Charlie shoots him. He confirms Rollie’s involvement in their group.
They see the missile reenter the atmosphere. They are almost out of time. Daniel says they can make it to the coordinates. Luci is confident that Daniel is right about this.
ENJOY THE VIEW, A**HOLE
Austin Amelio as Dwight, Christine Evangelista as Sherry – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Dwight and Sherry rode off into the sunset together, trying to find shelter. They hear Morgan’s message and find a house. Sherry suggests they stop there. Maybe the house has beer and pretzels. (That’s from TWD. They agreed to meet and have beer and pretzels when they reunited.) She says if this is the end, it’s how she wants to go. Just her and Dwight.
They go into the house to look around and find a beer. Sherry finds pictures of a little family. She wonders why they didn’t find a home together. They found each other. She’s sad that she wasted so much time, mad about the past. Dwight consoles her and says she has nothing to be sorry for. They still have this life even if it’s for a couple of minutes.
The couple in the photos confront Dwight and Sherry. Sherry tells them to get somewhere safe. They have a storm cellar, but a couple guys forced them out and took it over. The guys were ranting about the end is the beginning. Sherry and Dwight know who the guys are and want to help get the cellar back.
MAKE SURE THE BAD GUYS DON’T WIN
Dwight ties a rope to the cellar door and the horse. He slaps the horse, making him run away and runs to hide. When the door comes off, Dwight and Sherry start shooting at two guys emerging from the cellar. They kill one and the other runs, but Dwight shoots him in the leg.
The guy tells Dwight to kill him but Dwight decides to let the guy watch the show he helped create. Sherry tells him to enjoy the view and shoots his other leg. They walk to the cellar and Dwight says they should do more to help people and make sure the bad guys don’t win. They see the missile coming down and run into the cellar.
YOU HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT
Keith Carradine as John Dorie Sr.- Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Teddy and Dakota drive together and hear Morgan’s message. Dakota is sorry that she saved Morgan’s life. If she had let him die at the Gulch, Teddy’s plan would have worked. Teddy says he’s glad things happened the way they did. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have met Dakota. She is the only one who truly understands him. They stop at a reststop overlooking the landscape. Dakota expresses her gratitude to Teddy for accepting her as she is.
John Sr walks up and says he’s there for Dakota. She raises her gun and points it at John Sr. He wants Dakota to see that people can change and make their lives mean something. Even after he left his family, John Jr found a way to forgive his dad. And now John Sr is there to forgive her for killing his son. Teddy tells her not to listen to him, but Dakota already heard him. John Sr puts his gun down to show her that he’s serious.
MAKE IT MEAN SOMETHING
Teddy pulls out his gun to shoot John and June shoots the gun out of his hand. She’s becoming quite the gunslinger. June says she’s there to forgive Dakota too. Dakota asks why June killed Virginia. June says when she lost John, she lost what he believed. She found it again and so can Dakota.
John Sr kicks Teddy’s gun away from him and hears a scrape under his boot. The grass is covering a door to an underground bunker. John thinks Teddy intended to survive all along while his followers perished. Dakota is shocked. Teddy covers his tracks, saying when the dust clears, they are going back to the submarine to finish what they started.
Dakota starts to wonder if everything he told her was a lie. John says Teddy is using her. He brought Dakota long because he needs two people to launch the missiles. And Teddy will kill her when it’s over. The missiles come down. Teddy tries to tell Dakota that she can still be who she is with him. Or pretend to be someone else with them, confusing Dakota even further.
WHICH MAN ARE YOU?
Colman Domingo as Victor Strand, Omid Abtahi as Howard – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Victor rides into the city and stops at what looks like a government building. He fights his way through the walkers in the building to find a safe space. He runs up to the second floor where people were camping, but they are all dead. He looks out the window and sees that he’s surrounded by the dead.
Victor hears music and follows it to another room. The room is full of art, old guns, miscellaneous antiques and some furniture. A man (Omid Abtahi) appears behind Victor with a gun. He let the dead in the first floor to keep the living out. The man saw the missile. Victor says unless the man has a basement, there’s nothing they can do. The man lowers his gun and offers Victor a glass of bourbon. The man is listening to old blues records. He is a historian and travelled around Texas collecting art and other pieces for prosperity. Victor sees that he’s wearing a St. Christopher’s necklace. That reminds Victor of the one he gave to Alicia.
The man asks about what Victor was doing out there. Victor says his group was up against another group that wants to end the world and they couldn’t stop them. Why? It came down to two men to sacrifice themselves to save everyone else. When push came to shove, one man wanted to survive and take the glory for himself; leaving everyone else to the fate he was trying to stop. Which man was he? Victor says he was the man who was ready to die. And now something led Victor to that place. He guesses this is the ending he deserved.
They see the missile come down. The man wishes he had met Victor before all of this. His name is Howard. Victor introduces himself as Morgan Jones.
I CAN HEAR HER
Grace lays on the submarine watching the missile fly into the air. She asks Athena if she knew this was going to happen. She hears Morgan’s message and throws the radio, screaming. Grace looks into the submarine and says she knows the ending she wants.
Grace goes to the control room in the sub where Morgan is frantically working. She talks him down saying they can’t stop it. Grace convinces Morgan that the aftermath of the missile is going to be far worse than anything the world has seen. She’s seen people die from radiation exposure and doesn’t want to see that happen to Morgan. She tells Morgan that she loves him and he loves her too. They finally kiss.
Grace pulls out a gun and says she won’t watch people die anymore. Morgan talks about his hopes of building a world for Athena and having a family again. But that can’t happen now. Grace says she didn’t get to hear Athena cry when she was born. She needs to hear her baby cry.
CRY BABY CRY
Karen David as Grace – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
They hear the warheads separate. There’s no time left. Morgan says he’s sorry it has to end this way, but Grace says it’s for the best. He takes the safety off the gun and points it at the back of his head. Grace puts her head against Morgan’s forehead. Grace hears a baby crying and says she can hear Athena. Morgan can hear her too. They hear Baby Morgan, crying on the radio.
They run out of the submarine and find Rufus leading walker Rachel to them. Morgan puts Rachel down and takes Baby Morgan out of the backpack to stop her from crying. Grace won’t even look at Baby Morgan. She takes the rope off of Rufus instead. Morgan holds the baby and says she feels like a gift from Athena.
THE BEGINNING
The wrap around arrives at the coordinates that Daniel wrote down, but there’s nobody there. Daniel is afraid that he got it wrong. Riley is bleeding out in the back of the van. He laughs at them saying there’s no escape. Daniel pulls Riley out of the van and Riley dies. Charlie sees a helicopter. It’s a CRM helicopter. Everyone runs. The pilot holds up a radio and Al (Maggie Grace) is the other end. She tells them not to talk to the pilot. The less they know the better.
Dakota starts to lose it, saying she won’t change for anyone. She’s staying where she is. John Sr looks at June and asks if she knows about the St. Louis barn raiser. (I guess a gun show act??) She does. So John Sr pulls a second gun, shoots it in the air. Dakota shoots John Sr in the shoulder and June shoots the gun out of Dakota’s hand. June and John Sr climb down in the bunker. Dakota refuses to go with them, saying she has to see the end.
After John Sr closes the bunker door, Dakota picks up her gun and points it at Teddy. He’s shocked that she would turn on him. Dakota asks if he really cared about her or if he just needed her to turn that key. She shoots him in the chest before he can answer. And then shoots him in the head. She says she will never change and he will never see his ending.
Victor and Howard watch the warhead hit it’s target in Houston. Dakota sees another warhead hit near her and the blast immediately kills her. June and John Sr are safely in the bunker but the impact shakes up the bunker. Dwight and Sherry hear the impact. They are holding the door with a rope, but have to take cover when the ground starts shaking. The door stops shaking and everyone is okay.
I KNOW HOW TO SURVIVE
Colman Domingo as Victor Strand, Omid Abtahi as Howard – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 6, Episode 16 – Photo Credit: Ryan Green/AMC
Luciana’s group jumps into the CRM helicopter. Daniel thanks Luciana for believing him. She says he just needs a little hope. If they stick together, they’ll be fine. The helicopter takes off before the blast hits. Wes spray painted a message before they left. The message says, “This isn’t the End.” Riley’s corpse gets up as the warhead hits. The Franklin Hotel starts to shake, but we don’t get to see Alicia. Morgan and Grace see the impact and run to hide under a semi truck.
The building that Victor and Howard are in shakes, but not major damage, even though there are lots of windows. Victor starts laughing because he survived. After everything he did, he’s still alive. He admits that he’s not the man he claimed to be. He’s not Morgan Jones; he’s Victor Freaking Strand.
Victor Strand is the man who throws men to the wolves when necessary. Who’s not afraid to cut the cord when he needs to. He’s a survivor. He’s done it all is life, and despite his critics, he’s still here. Victor says he comes from nothing and he knows how to survive. He’s had to build and rebuild himself up from the ground over and over again. They have a great future behind them. They can take that future and rebuild with art, books, music and good bourbon. It’s the dawning of a new day.
Morgan, Grace and the baby are okay, I guess. They walk back to the submarine and look around. A flaming walker comes toward them and Morgan kills it. A warhead goes off and it’s close. And a second one explodes nearby. Morgan just stares at Grace and the baby.
RELATED: Read All of our Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 Recaps Here!
THOUGHTS
That’s it for Fear the Walking Dead season six. I’m very excited to see what Victor Strand has in store for us in season seven. But I don’t have a clue where this is leading. Too many questions to list here.
The Walking Dead universe will return to television August 22 with the season 11 premiere of The Walking Dead. It’s the final season. Let’s hope we get some Rick answers.
THE WALKING DEAD Announces 11th and Final Season and A Daryl-Carol Spinoff
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.
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