The ranch was overrun with the infected last week on Fear the Walking Dead. Alicia, Ofelia, and Crazy Dog made the quick decision to move everyone into the food pantry. The horde was led to the ranch by Troy who thought he was cleansing the land for him and his brother Jake. Jake died and the ranch is destroyed. Nick is with Troy as they try to figure out a plan to save everyone in the pantry.
In episode 13 of the third season, “This Land Is Your Land,” Alicia is tested like never before. Her decisions make a big impact on the ranch…bigger than Troy ever could.
Click Here to Recap Last Week’s Episode of FEAR THE WALKING DEAD “Brother’s Keeper”
Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) assesses the situation in the pantry. There are a lot of people in there and the air is pretty thick. She distributes drinks and sees Blake (Michael William Freeman) examining a bite on his torso. Alicia doesn’t say anything, but continues moving about. Ofelia (Mercedes Mason) calls her to the side.
The air vent in the pantry is not working. There is only one way to the fan and that is through the vent. Alicia figures they have about two hours of air left before the carbon dioxide emissions will kill everyone. They have to get to that vent and fix it. In the meantime, they have to do something about the people who were bitten. Putting them down before they turn will eliminate some of the carbon dioxide emissions and could provide a little more time. Ofelia and Crazy Dog (Justin Rain) volunteer to crawl through the vents to get the air flowing.
Alicia addresses the residents and lets them know what the situation is. She then asks those who were bitten to step forward. Blake is the first then others slowly reveal their bites. Alicia and Blake find a box of morphine and syringes. The plan is to drug the infected, putting them to sleep, and quietly kill them. Sound easy right? WRONG!
One by one, Alicia has to put the infected down. She was incredibly freaked out when she put down the first man. Technically, these people are still alive when Alicia kills them. And with each one, Alicia shuts down a little more. Blake the last one. He apologizes for everything he has ever done wrong. Alicia tells him it’s going to be okay before she injects the morphine.
Outside, Troy (Daniel Sharman) starts to dig in the ground with his bare hands. Nick (Frank Dillane) tells him there is no time to bury Jake (Sam Underwood). Nick’s plan is to drive to the fuel reserves and blow it up. He thinks the explosion will draw the horde away from the pantry and allow the survivors time to get out.
They use the grenade launcher to distract the horde first. Then jump in the truck and plow through the infected. Troy is laughing as he runs over dead bodies, splattering blood all over the truck. Things get so crazy that they crash the truck. They get out of the truck and run to the helicopter. I’m pretty sure I saw a small smile on Nick’s face during all of that.
Once inside the chopper, Nick turns on the propellers and the two are delighted by the sight of the infected getting shredded. The propellers break down and smoke is coming out of the chopper. Nick and Troy are trapped inside as more and more infected surround the helicopter.
Alicia sits with one of the ranchers, Christine (Linda Gehringer). They talk about their families before the apocalypse. Christine tells her how her family moved to the ranch out of fear of what might happen when the world ended. She makes Alicia promise that she will live her life to the fullest and not make decisions based on fear.
Alicia tells her a story about how Nick saved her from singing ‘This Land is Your Land.’ It’s the first time we’ve heard Alicia laugh in a long time.
Alicia looks around and sees that everyone has passed out. She starts to feel dizzy and her vision is blurry. She sees someone is up and goes to check on them. It’s one of the ranchers who has died and is feeding on the others. Alicia fights her off, but the fight takes all of her energy. Alicia passes out after she kills the infected woman.
Ofelia and Crazy Dog slowly make their way through the vent. Crazy Dog has a moment of anxiety and fear from being confined in the vent. He says that hasn’t happened in a while. He apologizes that Ofelia had to see him like that.
They finally get to the fan and an infected is caught in the blades. Crazy Dog lifts Ofelia up on his shoulder so she and stab the infected before removing it from the fan. He gets dizzy from lack of oxygen and passes out. Ofelia falls too. Ofelia grabs on to the infect and is able to pull it down on top of them. She shoots it in the head and the fan starts back up.
The air gets to the pantry, but it’s too late. Alicia wakes up and see more infected feeding on other residents of the ranch. Alicia is the only one awake in the pantry. She fights her way to Christine and drags her to the armory and closes the door. She grabs a gun and starts shooting the infected. The ground starts shaking.
Alicia has to fight off the infected when she runs out of bullets. More infected descend upon her, making her fate look really bleak. It’s seriously intense!
Someone shoots the infected, saving Alicia. It’s Madison (Kim Dickens), Walker (Michael Greyeyes), and Strand (Colman Domingo). Nick and Troy are with them as well. Instead of leaving with them, Alicia runs to Christine to try and wake her up. Christine is dead, so Alicia stabs her in the head and leaves the pantry.
So what happened. Madison, Walker and Strand were able to get to the fuel reserves before Troy and Nick. The explosion caused the horde to turn their attention elsewhere. Madison was able to get Nick and Troy out of the helicopter and open the pantry doors for any survivors.
The bad news is, Alicia, Ofelia and Crazy Dog are the only survivors from inside the pantry. The ranch is gone. Thanks Troy!
Alicia lays in the water truck while Madison and Walker tell Ofelia that her father is alive. She is overcome with emotions.
Madison asks where the horde came from. Nick says that Troy found the horde and warned them, but it was too late.
Alicia gets out of the truck and asks for Jake. She is sad to hear that he was bitten and died. Alicia tells Madison that she doesn’t want to go to the dam. Jake showed her where his cabin is. She will go there. Madison starts to object, but Alicia tells her that she is tired of fighting, tired of running, and tired of fighting for something that doesn’t exist. She says she won’t run from place to place. Alicia no longer wants to live in fear. Nick offers to follow Alicia to the cabin to make sure she gets there okay. Madison tells him to take Troy and meet them at the dam afterward.
They all leave the ranch that is now overrun with the infected.
Thoughts…
Oh Alicia… First of all, let’s not forget that Alicia is supposed to be around the age of 17-18. She has handled things well up to this point…about as well as a teenager can. Then again, she hasn’t been the one to get her hands dirty. Madison has always hid the dark side from Alicia. Perhaps underestimating Alicia at times and how much she can handle.
Of course it didn’t help that Madison has been focused on Nick this entire time. Nick was always center of attention, even in her story. Alicia has always felt that her needs come second to Nick’s. And her accomplishments were overshadowed by Nick’s problems. Alicia has had to learn to be self sufficient physically, mentally and emotionally. Why should now be any different?
The loss of life will take its toll on Alicia. She will need to take time to heal and come to terms with the death she dealt with. I am confident that she will emerge a better leader and able to handle anything.
As for Troy…why did Nick lie? Why do Madison and Nick make excuses for him? Ok…yes, Troy was probably most prepared for the chaos that ensued after the world ended, but at some point, he has to realize when he goes too far.
Is Nick as sick as Troy? Can he go too far when it comes to Troy? The same could be asked of Madison. These three characters are seen as strong because they can make the quick decisions and kill and lie and do what needs to be done for survival. When will they go too far and who will have to pay the price?
I guess that’s why Alicia can’t be with them anymore.
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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