This week on Fear the Walking Dead, Maddie confronts Strand about Mexico, while Daniel and the kids check out the wreckage from a plane crash.
A woman, a boy and three men climb onto a life-raft after a plane crash. One of them has been bitten. Another man clubs him and leaves him dead in the water. The boy has an infected burn. The woman, Alex, treats him with medicine. In the night, one of the men tries to club the boy to death, but Alex stabs the attacker and throws him overboard. The last remaining man tries to convince her to put the boy out of his misery before he does.
Strand tries to call his destination by radio, but can’t get a signal. Who is he trying to contact?
The boat makes a terrible noise and Travis gets out of bed to solve the problem. Something is blocking the water intake and the engines are overheating. Strand tells him to unblock it. Maddie wants to wait until sunlight, but the men think it’s too dangerous.
Travis finds a walker stuck to the bottom of the boat. It attacks and we hold our breath, wondering if he’s been bitten.
Flash forward to Travis trying to clean out the valve. It’s full of gore from the walker’s body. Strand and Travis choke on the smell. Travis says he has to pull the walker out, pump the whole system and see if it restarts. It will take the whole day. Strand orders him to get it done sooner, then apologizes. He’s been a jerk the last few episodes.
Daniel finds Ophelia tending to her infected shoulder wound. She’s out of antibiotics. She wants to ask Maddie for stronger medicine, but Daniel says they take care of themselves. We feel for her when she teases him about going to Walgreens.
Alecia sees luggage along the shoreline. Maddie doesn’t want them to go, but the teens talk her into it because they need supplies. Daniel offers to take them. Maddie says to get heavy clothes because it’s cold on the water. Daniel makes a snide remark that it will be warmer in Mexico. He tells Maddie to question Strand about their destination.
Daniel and the kids drag the raft on shore. They start picking through the suitcases. We can tell they feel bad about the circumstances. Chris especially is upset. He separates from the group and investigates the cabin of the crashed plane. Nick finds a switchblade in someone’s luggage and places it in his pocket.
Meanwhile, on the boat, Travis goes underneath to displace the walker from the intake system. Maddie follows his movements along the rail. Blood bubbles up from the water. Was Travis wounded? Maddie calls for him, then sees the walker floating free. Travis comes up beside it. We’re relieved he’s all right.
Chris makes a makeshift weapon out of a metal airplane part and steps inside the cabin. Walkers are still belted to their seats. He taunts them. What’s he thinking? A man in one of the seats wakes and asks for help.
Maddie questions Strand. He tells her there’s a house in Mexico with food stores, a water filtration system and reinforced walls. It’s the only safe place left for them. Maddie asks what we’re all thinking – why lie? Is he going to abandon them? He denies it and they make a tentative peace.
Daniel finds a rosary. He puts it back. He tells Nick it’s bad luck to steal from the dead. He found a bag full of medicines, but they’re not anything that will help Ophelia. Daniel finally realizes Chris is missing and goes to look for him.
Chris unhooks the injured man’s belt and he falls to the floor. There’s no way to help him. He’s just going to die painfully. Chris bashes him over the head with his weapon, screaming. He’s clearly disturbed.
We feel optimistic when Nick finds boxes of pills. Alecia is worried about the others.
Maddie fills Travis in on her conversation with Strand. She claims they should trust him. Travis says it’s not trust if it’s the only option.
Alex runs towards Daniel over the horizon. She yells, “They’re coming! Run!” Suddenly the dead plane passengers come wandering over the hill.
Nick hears a walker nearby and finds it stuck in a pit. We’re disgusted to see its abdomen swarming with hungry crabs. Nick gets too close to the edge and falls in. The walker attacks him and he stabs it in the head with his switchblade. Just when he thinks he’s safe, another walker tumbles over the edge on top of him. Will he survive?
Alecia finds Chris covered in blood. He claims he killed a walker. They hear Daniel’s gunshot. Maddie hears it, too, and grabs the binoculars. She yells at Strand to start the boat.
Alecia can’t find Nick. Our group fights off walkers with improvised weapons and has to drop everything they came for. They’re being backed towards the beach. Alecia is almost bitten, but Nick appears, covered in gore, and saves her. We see that the walkers ignore him because they can’t smell his true scent.
Travis de-gunks the intake system and the boat starts running. Alex joins Daniel and the kids on the raft. She tells them they have to make a stop. Daniel tows the woman and the boy on a life-raft back to the yacht.
Strand refuses to let Alex and the boy on the boat. Travis makes a compromise to tow them behind the yacht. They give Alex food, water and blankets, then let out the rope.
Nick gives Ophelia the rosary from the luggage her dad was going through. She’s pleased.
Alex convinces the boy that this is the worst it will ever be. Every day will get better. Suddenly Strand cuts the rope. We’re furious. Was that really necessary?
See the promo for episode 3 below: