On September 13, AMC played episode three of their new horror show Fear the Walking Dead. If you missed the episode, catch up here.
The show opens on Chris looking out the window at the riot. He sees a man who has become a walker and is startled. His father tells him to move away from the window. People start breaking into the store next door. Chris feels heat coming through the wall. The building is on fire.
They gather at the front door together, open it, and fight the influx of people from the riot before getting out. Once outside, they run. They see walkers biting police and the cops fighting back with bullets. People are dancing in the streets, setting things on fire. Scaffolding falls and lands on Griselda, the mother of the family whose shop they were keeping safe in. It damages her leg and she has to be carried to Travis’s truck. Chris and Travis jump in the front, everyone else lay in the back. Liza is a nurse and examines Griselda’s leg, which looks bad. She Tells Travis to take them to a doctor.
Travis drives by the hospital, but it’s been taken over by the walking dead. Police surround the building, shooting those that come out of the building. Liza tells Travis to go to another hospital, but Daniel, the father of the other family, says they’ll all be like that. He tells Travis to bring them to Maddie’s house where he will call a cousin to pick them up. In the valley they can see from the road, all the city lights go out.
Maddie and the kids are at their house. They hear strange noises from outside, but it stops. Nick asks Maddie for more oxy. She tells him she’ll give him more later and that they have enough to get him East before weaning him off. Maddie breaks out the Monopoly game which keeps them occupied for a while. They hear gunshots which distract Maddie. Alecia asks how long they’re going to wait for Travis. Maddie says they can go to sleep soon, but Alecia says she can’t sleep while waiting for someone to come home. She says she’s having déjà vu, alluding to what must have happened to Maddie’s first husband. The game ends.
The power goes out. Nick tries to convince Maddie to leave without Travis. She refuses. The noise outside the house starts again. They look outside, but can’t find anything. Nick tells them to get away from the windows. They hear scratching at the glass sliding doors. Nick pulls back the curtain, but it’s just a dog. The dog starts barking at the window and Nick sees a walker in the street. They decide to break into the house next door to get the family’s shotgun.
They cut through the garden trellises out back and enter the house. No one is home. The power keeps flickering. Nick finds the gun and Maddie looks for shells. Alecia looks out the window and sees someone in their house. The dog barks aggressively and then goes silent. Suddenly, Travis and his crew pull into the driveway. Maddie and the kids run to try to warn him not to enter the house. They’re too late.
Travis walks into the house calling for Maddie. Liza and Chris follow him. Travis finds the walker eating the dog in the living room. The walker is a neighbor. Travis tries to get him to realize that he knows him, but the walker just attacks him. Daniel shoots the walker in the head twice. Chris runs outside to throw up.
Meanwhile, Alecia realizes they forgot the shells and goes back to look for them. She finds the owner of the house, Susan, is now a walker. Alecia runs through the maze of trellises to get back to her house, but the walker grabs her. Chris tries to help her get over the fence, but she pushes him off and jumps over herself. Someone Sue is sick. Nick says she’s dead. Alecia freaks out because Matt was sick. She screams that Matt isn’t like that.
Chris asks Travis what was wrong with the neighbor. Travis says he was sick. When they join the others in the living room, Daniel’s family says that they’ve called a cousin who will pick them up the next day. Maddie asks Travis if they’re leaving. He says they’ll leave in the morning. She argues with him that they need to leave then. He disagrees. She says if they’re going to stay, he needs to take care of the body in the living room. Travis buries him in the back yard.
Travis thanks Liza for helping the mother of the other family. She says she’s not really helping and that the woman needs a doctor or she’ll die of blood poisoning.
Daniel’s daughter tries to convince her parents to go with Maddie and Travis the next day, but Daniel doesn’t want to be in anyone’s debt. It turns out the cousin doesn’t exist. The daughter argues that they need Liza, the nurse. Daniel says he knows where to take them and that they’ll find another doctor. The daughter leaves the room, angry.
Maddie tells Travis that Daniel had to kill the walker. She says she was afraid she would lose Travis. Liza later comes upon Maddie standing by herself, looking out the back door window. Liza tells Maddie that they need to support each other for the kids’ sake. Maddie tells her that Susan was a good friend. Maddie says if she ever ends up like Susan, for Liza to take care of it and not make Travis do it because it would break him.
The next morning, Travis finds Daniel teaching Chris how to use the shotgun. He’s upset, but Maddie says she didn’t see the harm. She says she has one more thing to do before they leave.
Maddie goes outside with a hammer and says hello to Susan. She’s worried that Susan’s husband will find her. Travis says that Susan is Maddie’s friend and what if there’s a small chance that she can be helped. He says it’s not Maddie’s call. Maddie gives him the hammer. They then finish packing the car.
Nick asks for more oxy. When Maddie gets him one, he sees that the supply has dwindled. She tells him that she gave some to Griselda, the mother of the other family for her pain. Maddie says she’ll help him. He says he doesn’t need her, he just needs his medicine.
As Travis and Maddie are pulling out of the driveway, they see helicopters. Then Maddie notices that Susan’s husband, Patrick, has come home. She calls to him, but he doesn’t hear her. She pulls up to his house to stop him, but is too late. He finds Susan tries to attack him until her head suddenly explodes. She’s been shot by soldiers wearing gas masks.
The soldiers stop Travis and Maddie’s families from leaving. They ask how many people live in the house. They say nine to include Chris & Liza and Daniel’s family. Maddie asks where the soldiers took Patrick. The closest soldier says that Patrick was exposed to the blood and asks Maddie if she or anyone in her house has been exposed. She says no. The soldier asks what the grave in the backyard is. She says their dog died.
The show ends showing the soldiers swarming the street. Travis says that things will get better now. Maddie looks on doubtfully, as does Daniel.
Image courtesy of INFphoto.com