Fear the Walking Dead, S2 Ep10 – Do Not Disturb

This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead was all about making new friends, as Travis and Chris meet a group of party-boys-turned-survivors and Alicia finds an unlikely ally hiding in the hotel. How helpful these new acquaintances will prove to be remains to be seen, but interacting with others tends to bring out the best or worst in people. In Alicia’s case it’s the former and in Chris’s case, unfortunately, it’s the latter.

Travis broke away from the rest of the group last mid-season finale in an attempt to guide his son away from the latter’s murderous tendencies and to somehow deal with the tragic death of Chris’s mother. And for a while during this episode, the approach seemed to work. Spending time exclusively with one another they began to properly bond, including a late night driving lesson and some storytelling by the fire.

Even after all they had gone through, Travis somehow maintains his optimism, convinced that some day, somehow, someone would come to their rescue in the midst of all the madness. In the meantime, Travis wants to build a quiet life with his son, a prospect Chris doesn’t seem too keen on. But this is Fear the Walking Dead and such pipe dreams don’t do anyone good.

They meet a group of arrogant douchebags to whom Chris immediately relates, as they seem to validate his skills in killing walkers and stealing other people’s supplies. They offer the pair a ride and though Travis doesn’t trust them, he reluctantly agrees. Travis is right not to trust these guys. There’s something definitely vile about them that makes them a bigger threat than the walkers. But Chris, of course, is eager to be one of them and by the end of the episode, to Travis’ great disappointment, Chris proves just how terrible he is by shooting an innocent farmer. Travis should just leave him. Chris deserves his new friends.

Elsewhere, Alicia proves to be a brave and resourceful fighter, avoiding walkers, climbing up elevator cables, and accidentally meeting another survivor in the hotel, one of the hotel managers, Elena. During a flashback at the beginning of the episode, Elena is shown locking up a group of wedding guests after one of them had turned into a walker. It was a brutal choice and one that she seems bothered about. But like for everyone on Fear the Walking Dead, survival is the first priority.

Elena is a shrewd and capable person but also one who should not be immediately trusted. But Alicia forges an alliance with her nevertheless and they descend to the lower floors of the hotel to search for Madison and Strand. There’s still no sign of Ofelia. Some of the remaining guests (who were betrayed by Elena), manage to take the keys of the hotel away from her in exchange for her nephew.

She and Alicia fight their way through the walkers and eventually stumble upon Madison and Strand, who somehow managed to escape the horde of walkers relatively unscathed. As mother and daughter are reunited, they all need to figure out how they’re going to escape the hotel overrun with walkers. I suppose we’ll have to wait till the next episode of Fear the Walking Dead to see how that pans out.