Fear the Walking Dead delivers some real horror this time around. I'm was impressed by this episode.
The scariest parts of TWD are always the ones dealing with real people, not zombies. the fear, the distrust of strangers is a powerful motivator for Rick and his crew. You simply can't be too careful. Hence, the famous three questions everyone gets asked.
FTWD did a great job tonight of creating some interesting, disturbing characters who could certainly become a problem for our protagonists. First up, what's up with our man Daniel? we learn a lot more about him in this episode, and very little of it is good. Turns out, back in El Salvador, he wasn't only on the receiving end of the torture he had alluded to before. Apparently, he's kind of an expert at causing suffering, and seems very anxious to practice his skills on his daughter's soldier boyfriend.
Then there is the mysterious man in the holding cell, the one that "saves" Nick, the one that reduces another man to an hysterical, blubbering mass using only his words. This strange fellow is tall and well-spoken, and something about the way he dresses and uses his hands suggests he's a magician or a con artist. When Nick thanks him for bribing a guard who was going to remove him from the holding cell, he says, "I didn't save you, I obligated you. There's a difference." then he goes on to give a brilliantly succinct explanation of how the rules of the game have changed. The "frequent fliers" have lost, and will now by a "buffet" for men like himself. He's obviously a bad dude, but at the same time, he seems like someone you want to have on your side during a zombie apocalypse.
Travis has his own run in with a potentially evil character. The Army Sergeant, who up till now has seemed cold and uncaring, but relatively reasonable, starts to get aggressive when Travis demands to know where his friends have been taken. the Sergeant Dickhead's form of torture (sensing Travis's pacifism, no doubt) is to try to force him to shoot a walker. The other soldier's are creeped out, clearing sensing that this man is going off the rails. As it happens, after fending off a zombie attack, Sergeant Dickhead doesn't make it back to the humvee. Funny thing, huh?
what's happening is that things are falling apart. It's the part of the apocalypse where people still think they can be saved, but it's transitioning to the part where only those who realize they are on their own, and are repsonsible for their own survival, have a chance to make it. They are the strong, the one's not afraid to get their hands dirty. As cruel as Daniel is, as sick as his actions are, we find out at the end that he was right. The soldiers have been holding a terrible secret from the civilians they were supposed to protect. It's every man and woman for themselves. Things are about to get ugly.
