‘Fear the Walking Dead’ season 2, episode 7 (midseason finale) review: Daniel’s fire; Nick’s decision
At the beginning of “Fear the Walking Dead” season 2, it was not entirely clear what the road would be to the finale, or to go along with it, who was going to be the largest threat. By the end of the midseason finale on Sunday night, it’s fairly safe to say that became abundantly clear: It was Celia, and not just because of her zombie army and her beliefs. It was also because of her influence.
In many ways, Celia got to Nick and complicated his mind further by speaking reminders of how these were just people. They were family, albeit in a grotesque and evolved state. In her mind, they needed to be treated as such. There was such an interesting juxtaposition between this philosophy and that of Daniel, who seemed to be much more about survival of the fittest, and a willingness to destroy for the sake of others.
Through some flashbacks to his early life, we learned precisely that Daniel is a man who does what needs to be done, and tonight, that included setting the whole compound ablaze. Meanwhile, Madison certainly did her part by leaving Celia to her “children.” This villain seems to be done, but others could rise soon … and who knows? Maybe Nick is one of them after he refused to get in the truck on the way out.
This episode was in some ways confusing, given that we’re still not clear what the fate of Daniel is, how Travis and Chris will get back with the group, and how the ragtag group of Strand, Madison, Alicia, and Ofelia are going to survive. Still, we did see here further proof that we are in the “growing pains” stages of the zombie apocalypse; everyone is still figuring out how to survive, and clinging to their viewpoints. This is before they realize that little else matters other than survival. (Read the Rick Grimes doctrine.)
Despite our concerns over this ending, we still feel like the last two episodes of the show are the best for the series to date. It’s really not even close in that regard. Episode Grade: B+.
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