You can’t run from your past on Fear the Walking Dead. In “King County,” Morgan (Lennie James) returns to where it all began, King County, to take care of some unfinished business.
PADRE is just like a lot of other places we’ve seen before … run by tyrants who believe their way is the only safe way. Morgan was supposed to be a subject in Shrike’s (Maya Eshet) radiation therapy research managed by June (Jenna Elfman). Before they could get to the train, Madison (Kim Dickens) helped him escape. The only test subject in the radiation therapy is Finch (Gavin Warren), Sherry (Christina Evangelista) and Dwight’s (Austin Amelio) son. So far, the therapy is working. But June escaped PADRE and is now working with Daniel (Rubén Blades) to take down the island.
Morgan walks up to a familiar house and stops in front. He apologizes for taking so long and then walks up the steps to let Duane know that he’s there. Morgan hears his son’s voice and walks away from the house. He takes his frustration out on a group of walkers eating a skunk.
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The last time Morgan was in King County, he had just lost his son Duane. Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) found him in a very manic state of mind. He kept talking about being clear, but couldn’t explain what that meant.
Grace (Karen David) shows up, saying she received a message to meet him in King County. Morgan says nobody knew he was coming to King County. He sees something move in the back of the truck and gets ready to attack. It’s Mo (Zoey Merchant). She’s the one who sent the message. She coded the message with “Dock of the Bay” because she knew the song meant something to them.
Mo informs Morgan that Madison told her that he was taking care of some old business. She remembers seeing King County on the walls at the cabin in the swamp and put two and two together. She also saw the names Duane and Jenny. Grace explains that they used to be Morgan’s family.
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Mo also tells Morgan and Grace that Madison got away. She’s with Daniel and his army of disgruntled parents. They are planning to take PADRE down. Morgan agrees, but he has to take care of Duane first.
Morgan tells them about the day Duane died. He left the kid in the kitchen and went to the basement to look for food. When he returned to the kitchen, Jenny, a walker, was on top of Duane. Morgan couldn’t bring himself to kill Jenny and ran away. He doesn’t remember much after that. Mo and Grace offer to go with him.
A flare is shot up in the air and riders from PADRE arrive. Its Dwight and Sherry. They made a deal with PADRE to bring back Morgan in exchange for Finch. A walker approaches Grace and Mo while they talk. Morgan moves to kill it but Dwight stops him. He sees the ladies after killing the walker. This changes everything.
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Dwight suggests they use the old plan of dressing up walkers like Morgan and Grace so they can run away with Mo. And Dwight and Sherry still get their son. Morgan won’t do it. Not with Finch’s life on the line, but Dwight can’t trade in another kid for their son.
There are two PADRE guards babysitting them. They need to figure something out before the guards catch up. Morgan says he has to do something first. Grace tells him to let it go, but Morgan can. He takes up his bow staff and tells Grace and Mo to turn. They go to the house that he stayed in when he met Rick. Morgan tells them to get ready to stay for a while. It will get dark soon.
While they hide, Morgan apologizes to Mo for saying they are not her parents. They are in every way that matters. Her biological parents, Isaac and Rachel sacrificed their lives to make sure she moved.
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Grace is getting worried. There are too many walkers at their door and she thinks they will Dwight and Sherry directly to them. Morgan suggests they get to Grace’s truck so she and Mo can escape. He has to stay behind to take care of Duane. She doesn’t think that’s a good idea. Morgan says it’s the only way he can be sure he can give Mo everything she needs.
Dwight and Sherry catch up. Morgan sends Mo upstairs. Grace tries to convince Morgan to leave. Dwight tries to talk Morgan into giving himself up. Sherry says PADRE thinks Morgan went to King county to gather weapons and soldiers for an attack. He tells them the real reason he’s there, but they need to think about their own son.
Mo yells for Morgan. He and Grace race upstairs and find the room where Rick found Morgan, with all of the writing on the wall. Morgan doesn’t remember being there. He finds the rifle that Rick left him the first time he left King County. Morgan was supposed to kill walker Jenny with it, but couldn’t bring himself to pull the trigger. Mo asks what ‘clear’ means. He says it was when he was killing anything or anyone who came near him.
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Mo finds an old photo album of Morgan, Jenny and Duane. She comments that he has a nice smile. Grace likes his smile too. She wonders what they’ve been doing this whole time. They haven’t seen each other much because if PADRE knew what they meant to each other, he would have used it against them.
Dwight shoots up another flare and one of them hits a walker. The walker is on fire and headed for the house. Dwight kills the walker, but says he will let the next one make it to the house. He gives Morgan five minutes to give himself up.
Mo suggests that they can make it to the truck. He needs to clear for them now. This is his second chance. Grace apologizes for wasting so much time not being with Morgan. She kisses him and Mo is disgusted. She’s never seen anyone kiss before. Grace gives her a kiss on the cheek.
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There are a lot of walkers in the front yard. Morgan leads the family out the door with the gun. Grace follows with the bow staff, followed by Mo with a hammer. Everything is going okay until two things happen. Morgan raises the rifle and sees walker Jenny. And the porch gives in, putting Mo in danger. Grace tells Mo to run back into the house.
Walker Jenny is actually a fire walker. Grace yells at Morgan to shoot it, but he can’t pull the trigger. Dwight, Sherry, and two others ride up and kill the walker for him. Dwight says PADRE wants to know the real reason that Morgan is there. He says it’s because of his son and Dwight asks Morgan to show him.
Everyone but Mo returns to the house where Morgan left Duane. Morgan asks them to save Mo after he shows them and they agree. They don’t find a child walker though. Morgan starts to lose it saying he waited too long.
One of the other guards pulls a gun on Morgan and the other asks why Morgan is really there. She reports to Shrike that Morgan is lying. She holds the radio to Morgan and asks him again why he’s there. Grace pleads with Morgan to tell them what happened to Duane.
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Morgan pulls the guns to his head and tells them to kill him. Grace screams for them to stop. Dwight and Sherry knock out the other two guards, saving Morgan. Dwight says they couldn’t let PADRE kill them. Living under PADRE’s rule is like living in the Sanctuary again. Morgan is more concerned with Finch saying he will end up like Duane and he doesn’t want to live with that.
Shrike radios the team for answers. Dwight answers her, asking to speak to Finch. Finch is in the room and Shrike allows them to talk. Dwight asks if he remembers a move he taught him in training. Finch remembers. Dwight tells him to move fast. Finch takes a chair and hits Shrike in the legs. She falls, hitting her head on the table, knocking her unconscious. Dwight tells Finch to get on a supply boat and hide. They will meet him the next morning. Before Dwight and Sherry leave, Dwight reminds Morgan that he has a chance to do things right with Mo.
Grace calls Mo to let her know they are on their way. Morgan tells Grace to go alone because he doesn’t think he can protect Mo. Grace says he has to do it because she can’t. The radiation has caught up with her. She can feel it. She’s sick and doesn’t think she will survive this time. Morgan promises to get Mo. And then they will all spend time together.
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One of the walkers made it to the house and now it’s on fire. Mo is upstairs and can’t get out. Morgan tells her to go to the attic and he will come get her. When she gets up there, she finds a walker … a child walker. Meanwhile, Morgan is at the front porch and tries to kill the walkers in front. He keeps seeing Jenny. It takes him a minute, but eventually he starts shooting walkers.
A beam falls from the ceiling in the attic, trapping Mo. Morgan makes it to the attic and is sad to find walker Duane closing in on Mo. He lifts the gun and only sees Duane when he was still alive. He hears Duane call him Daddy and pulls the trigger. Everything is okay.
The next morning, Morgan buries Duane’s corpse. He promises to come back and visit. Mo explores the rubble while Morgan and Grace reflect on their next move. She finds the photo album and picks it up. A walker jumps out of the rubble and grabs Mo. Morgan and Grace run to rescue her. The walker tries to grab Grace, but Morgan uses his bow to kill it. Everyone seems okay until Grace reveals a bite on the side of her stomach.
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Sherry and Dwight hide in a tower near the mainland. They see the supply boat, but no sign of Finch. They hear a noise and Finch runs up. The family is reunited, but they hear a truck approach. Morgan gets out and shoots the supply team. Dwight and Sherry look out to see what’s going on. Morgan tells them about Grace’s bite. He wants to take her to June immediately. Dwight and Sherry hurry to help him.
They all get on the supply boat and race to find June and Daniel. Mo and Morgan sit with Grace. Morgan says June will fix it. No matter what’s coming, they have to live. Grace promises she will.
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