Even the fearless have bad days on Fear the Walking Dead. In “The Portrait,” Victor’s (Colman Domingo) benevolence is tested when Morgan (Lennie James) shows up with a sick baby.
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We all know Victor will risk everything to prove himself right. And that goes double when dealing with Morgan. This episode starts out with Victor having his portrait painted. And getting interrupted multiple times while sitting there. It seems the lighthouse light is attracting more than walkers. Several people show up, asking to be let in. Victor refuses them all. He gets pretty tired of saying ‘No,’ so he just tells Howard (Omid Abtahi) to do it for him. Howard’s first call isn’t what they expected.
Morgan shows up with Baby Mo. Mo is sick and Morgan is only asking to see June (Jenna Elfman). Of course Victor says no. About the same time, his portrait is finished and he doesn’t like it. He wanted the portrait to portray him as he sees himself. He throws the painting over the rooftop, saying the artist doesn’t see the real him. None of them do. Victor then tells Howard to let Morgan in. Mo has two ear infections. June gives her antibiotics, but she needs to observe the baby for at least 24 hours. Victor does the right thing and allows Morgan and the baby to stay.
INVASION
Morgan and Victor sit down to talk and someone catapults a walker at the windows. Victor looks out and the stalkers have arrived. Their leader, Arnold (Spencer Granese) just wants a safe place for his people to stay. If Victor doesn’t let them stay, he will catapult more walkers inside. This time the walkers will be armed with parts from the warhead, easily killing everyone inside just from the radiation alone. Arnold gives Victor one hour to make his decision.
Grace (Karen David) and Sarah (Mo Collins) are with the m-wrap waiting for Morgan and Mo to return. Morgan offers to call them to kill the stalkers for Victor from the outside. Victor says no. Something strange starts happening. Victor starts having some weird reaction that causes him to have trouble breathing and pass out.
June thinks Victor may have been poisoned and that drives him nuts. At first he thinks the Stalkers infiltrated the Tower. He sends John Sr. (Keith Carradine) to the roof to assess the situation. Then he thinks one of his own people poisoned him. He even accuses Wendell (Daryl Mitchell) saying he’s mad because Victor turned Sarah away … which Wendell didn’t even know about. Essentially, Victor knows everyone has a reason to hurt him, except Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey).
WORK TOGETHER
Victor decides to contact Grace and ask for help. He needs to get to the armory to get a walkie, but it’s blocked off. Victor takes Baby Mo and forces Morgan to help him. He takes Morgan to the elevator shaft but gets weak. Morgan says he will go to the armory and call Grace.
As soon as Morgan gets down the elevator shaft, he gets scared that Victor might die while holding baby Mo. He asks Victor to give him the baby. Victor might be a little scared and lowers Mo down. He quickly tells Morgan that Alicia is alive but he doesn’t know where she is. Victor hasn’t gone to look for her because he doesn’t think Alicia wants to see him.
Later Victor wakes up by the elevator shaft. June and Morgan are with him. He is severely dehydrated, but he will live. Morgan came through on his promise and helped Victor. The Stalkers are gone and the Tower is safe again, thanks to Sarah and Grace. Morgan took June to Victor to revive him.
Morgan could have killed Victor but he knows Alicia wouldn’t have anything to do with him if he did. He says the only way Alicia will agree to stay with Victor is if he makes the place more welcoming. Victor isn’t sure they will even find Alicia, but Morgan they will if they work together. He offers his hands to pick up Victor and Victor sees Morgan’s thumb is blue. He poisoned Victor’s drink. The two men start to fight. Howard shows up and holds a gun to Morgan’s head. Victor tells Howard to take Morgan to the roof.
LET’S MAKE A DEAL
Victor’s men are about to throw Morgan over the roof when Grace calls. She says Victor needs her. Some of the walkers equipped with parts from the warhead got loose and are moving among the dead in front of the Tower. Grace offers to help him get rid of those walkers if he lets Morgan and Mo go.
Howard looks through binoculars and sees the radiated walkers among the rest. He says if Victor kills Morgan, he creates a martyr, but he could let Grace in. Victor says Morgan will go free, but she has to live with Mo in the Tower. Grace agrees. Victor allows Morgan to talk to Grace. Morgan says she doesn’t have to do this for him, but Grace says she’s doing it for their family. He promises he will find his way back to her and Victor hangs up the phone. Victor tells Morgan not to worry about Grace and Mo. He will give them everything Morgan couldn’t, food, shelter and security. He tells his men to show Morgan the exit. Victor also sends someone to retrieve his painting.
Victor stares at his painting when Howard reports on Grace. She needs certain equipment to get rid of the radiated walkers. Victor sends a patrol out to get what she needs. He realizes he was wrong for trusting Morgan and that makes him question who else he’s wrong about. Howard says not to let that make Victor second guess himself. Victor asks to see Mo, saying she has to get used to her new father.
FRIENDLY ENCOUNTER
Morgan walks alone into the woods and is surrounded by the stalkers. Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Sherry (Christine Evangelista) ride up, happy to see Morgan. They take him to a camp and say the leader wants to see him. Morgan approaches the tent and Alicia comes out. She says she needs his help. Her people are tired, hungry and getting desperate. Morgan understands but isn’t sure he can give them much. Alicia thinks he can and that’s why she asks Dwight and Sherry to find him.
Someone yells that walkers are approaching. Morgan and Alicia run to see what’s happening. As Morgan gets closer, he sees one of the walkers has parts of the warhead imbedded into its stomach. He yells for everyone to not shoot at the walkers, but it’s too late. Someone shoots the radiated walker and it explodes. A cloud begins to form in front of them. Morgan yells for everyone to run.
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Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays on AMC. You can also stream new episodes early on AMC+.
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.
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