This episode pulled back from the tension of last week as
the military gained control of the area our family is staying in. This is what
I expected after the ending last week, but I didn’t necessarily like all of the
execution in tonight’s episode. Some of the decisions our characters made
tonight didn’t make sense for the scenario they found themselves in. It was
still an entertaining hour of television, but this was the weakest episode of
the series to date.
Starting out with Chris talking to his camera and giving us
information about how much time has elapsed, was a good way to introduce us to
what has been happening since the military arrived. This was bookended by
Alicia reading Susan's suicide note at the end of the episode. It was a
nice way for the episode to begin and end. Alicia is not believing everything
is going to be ok. She was a bright spot tonight. Her initial appearance yelling at Nick and Madison
to stop bickering like everything was normal was perfect. Everything isn’t
normal, no matter how much they pretend, and it was good for her to voice this.
Her scenes at her neighbor’s house where well done. She was the only person who
we didn’t see process what was happening because she was kept in the dark. The
one who was kept in the dark the longest, is the first to accept nothing was
going to be the same again.
Travis on the other hand is trying to act like everything
eventually is going to be ok. He has become a liaison between the military
leader and the rest of the community. He goes and talks down a neighbor who is
hiding in his bathroom. The neighbor is struggling to tell his children things
are going to be ok, and having a nervous breakdown. The neighbor relents and
gets tested, but soon goes off the rails and drives to the perimeter of the
fence in his muscle car. Travis discovers the military found him and detained
him. He tells Lt Moyers he should have told the man’s wife, to which the Lt
says he’s not a social worker, as he takes hacks with a golf club. It was one
of the better scenes in the episode, with Travis behind the fence and the
military outside “keeping him safe.” The military shipped the neighbor to a hospital
facility to be detained and supposedly get help. This is also where some other
sick people of the makeshift town are being taken.
Liza, Travis’s ex-wife, has been caring for these individuals.
While she is making her rounds for the day a doctor has moved some of her
critical patients to the military hospital. The doctor realized that Liza is
not truly a nurse, but wants her to keep pretending and help. Liza also tells
the Dr. Exner about Griselda’s foot and about Nick needing methadone for his addiction
withdrawls. Nick has been steeling morphine from a patient Liza has been taking
care of to get his fix. Madison finds out he has been using, and starts
slapping him. She is fed up with him and let down. Kim Dickens does a great job
in this scene of portraying how utterly disgusted and disappointed Madison is
with Nick. It was her best scene of the night.
Madison was a weak point for me tonight. Her decisions to
cut the fence and go and look for the people Chris found on the hill made no
sense. I know she has a distrust for authority figures. She didn’t like them in
the first episode of the season, and made references before she went outside
the fence that she didn’t trust the military. I still don’t see her going outside on her own
and investigating. She knows what is out there, and she is endangering the rest
of the town by cutting the fence. She
also decides to head out without a weapon? I get why they did this for the
show. Madison sees the military is
killing people who are not infected. I think there should have been some other
pretense for her to break out. Maybe having Nick go and look for drugs and
following him. This would have made more sense for the overall story. She wants
to protect Nick at all cost, and having him sneak out to get medication because
of his withdrawals follows the story of the show. She would find him, know he
had been using, slap him, and then still see the military shooting innocents.
Instead they have her go out and risk her life, and everyone else’s life to
investigate a flashing light? It still
worked for us finding out about the military, but just didn’t jive with the
overall narrative.
This leads into the military coming to take Griselda to the
hospital, but they also end up taking Nick. Madison freaks out, and winds up
blaming Liza who also leaves to go help at the medical facility. As good as I
though Kim Dickens was in the first scene with Nick, I didn’t buy her
desperation in this scene. I get her reaction to Liza. She is lashing out and
they set up her going stir crazy in the house at the start of the episode. I
just thought something was missing when they were taking Nick away. I liked
Travis in this scene, and I think he is starting to realize things aren’t going
to be ok. This scene coupled with the ending were he sees gunfire on the hill
where the light was coming from should wizen him up.
This weak was the deep breath before the fall. I thought the
military would wind up gaining control for a period. It was nice to see the
logical progression in the show, but next week I fully expect things to start
unraveling. The military doesn’t have as firm as a grip on the situation as it
seems. If they did the town would have more power, food, and medicine. While I
thought this week had the most problems of any episode so far, it still provided
good character moments. I still am excited for where the story goes and can’t
wait for the final two episodes.
My Rating: Solid episode
In case anyone cares the Revelation verse on the fence in tonight’s
episode was Rev 21:4
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no
more death' or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has
passed away." (biblehub.com)
What did you think tonight? Comment, share and all that
other fun stuff if you are liking the show and my recapJ.
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