Fear the Walking Dead, S2 Ep6 – Sicut Cervus

The main characters finally reach Mexico in this week’s Fear the Walking Dead, but it isn’t the paradise it promised to be. As they meet new and intriguing characters, they also realize that they may have entered an even more complicated situation. And Chris begins to take a darker path.

After a minor scuffle at the border which resulted in the death of Luis, the gang finally reaches Thomas Abigail’s so-called safe haven in Mexico. But not before having to deal with a mob of walkers who were once parishioners of the local church. It was exciting to have this many walkers and to watch the characters deal with the problems efficiently. They’ve finally become better able to defend themselves against these common horrors of their world.

The new setting also gave Fear the Walking Dead more distinction from the mother show, as there were some shades of magical realism that provided a different flavor. The religious themes were definitely not subtle what with the church scenes, the title of the episode derived from a psalm, and Ofelia and Nick’s late night visit to a candle-lit shrine. There was even a mysterious tree with an owl’s face carved on it (as well as on a coin Luis enigmatically asked them to give to his mother) that seemed reminiscent of a weirwood from Game of Thrones.

Madison and her family enjoy the material comforts of shelter, showers, and good food while Strand has to deal with emotional turmoil over the fate of his lover, Thomas. Strand arrived just as Thomas was fading away from a walker bite. In a rare show of emotion, Strand spends as much time as he can with his lover and even almost volunteers to commit joint suicide. Thomas asks Madison to take care of Strand when he’s gone and we’ll see if she keeps that promise. This was a good episode for Strand, because it showcased a vulnerable side that helped humanize him but did not diminish his capacity for survival.

Chris becomes extra problematic this week as he watches Madison almost get killed by a walker. Luckily, Alicia stepped in to save her mother. But when the girl confronted Chris about this, he panics and threatens to hurt her if she tells anyone. Madison raises this issue with Travis and they try to figure out how to deal with Chris. So it really doesn’t help that Madison and Alicia wake up to find him in their bedroom, holding a knife.

An intriguing addition to the cast of Fear the Walking Dead was Luis’ mother, Celia, who was clearly a very capable woman and the person in charge of the estate. Nick takes a liking to her and unfortunately, she turns out to have a twisted agenda. She’s keeping the entire community of walkers in the cellar because she believes that their bodies must be preserved, because they are still the people that they were. And Nick is beginning to believe her.

This particular subplot is too reminiscent of Hershel’s barn of walkers back in season 2 of The Walking Dead, as another reviewer pointed out. It’s a tired retread of a story with the inevitability of those walkers in the cellar being released one day or another. A big distinction is that Celia is way more sinister than Hershel, to the point that she murdered an entire parish with poisoned communion hosts just to get her way. Celia is not one to be trifled with and as characters like Daniel continue to butt heads with her, there can only be more trouble for the rest of the group.

Check out what happens next week on Fear the Walking Dead: