Fear the Walking Dead (Season 1, Episode 3)

Fear the Walking Dead, Season 1

Episode 3, The Dog

Summary:

The Dog starts with Travis and his son still in the store in downtown. His son looks out the window and he sees one of the infected staring at him, in the middle of becoming one of the walking dead.

Outside things are crazy, but the strip mall they are in is on fire, forcing them to flee out into the madness. Right outside the door a cop is eating another cop.

As Travis, his son Chris, and the family from the barber shop are trying to get back to Madison’s they roll by a hospital where cops are opening fire on the walkers.

Back at the house Madison is trying to wean Nick and the neighbors are all quiet. After Nick gets two oxy he is in slightly better shape. To pass the time they decide to play Monopoly while they wait. At least until the lights go out. After finding a dog covered in blood Team Nick decides they need to retrieve a shotgun from the neighbors house where Madison had stashed it. Just as Team Nick recovers a shotgun Team Travis rolls up as the dog in their house is eaten by a walker.

Of course Travis gets home just as the biter is eating a dog at the back of the house. He has to see, not sure if it is Madison or someone else he cares about. Just then the lights come on showing the walker eating the dog is one of the neighbors. Team Nick shows up just in time to save Travis from being bitten – but it takes two shots with turkey shot to kill the dog eating walker.

The family regroups in the house. Madison want’s to run for it. Travis wants to wait until daylight. He wins out. Daniel, the Barber set up in a bedroom with his wounded mother while everyone else deals with their rapidly changing reality. Madison tells Travis’s ex wife to shoot her if she ends up as a biter – which isn’t something you should really tell your lover’s ex wife. They might just speed things up a little and shoot you before you fully turn.

In the morning Travis rolls the garbage out to the front door while Madison goes to the back of the house to take care of the neighbor who used to watch their kids. Madison’s got a hammer, she wants to take care of the woman before her husband comes home and finds his wife already turned. Travis doesn’t want her to do it. He still thinks people might be helped. All the while Daniel the barber is watching from the window. He doesn’t have a good impression of Travis after watching him stop Madison from killing the walker.

Ofelia watches Team Nick packing up and she wants to go with them. Daniel is dead set against it. He thinks the combined Clark/Manawa clan is doomed.

As Team Nick is rolling out of their neighborhood, the camera pans across the bloody jump house their neighbor were setting up the day before. As they are driving out  Madison see’s her neighbors husband coming home and has to do something. Just as the old man is reaching out to hug his wife (who has her mouth open – ready to bite) the national guard shows up and blows her head off just in time.

It looks like the Manawa & Clark families aren’t going to be making it out to the desert. The national guard is locking things down, finding out if anyone has been exposed.

I guess this kicks off the next story line for the the show. I’m both eager to see how they deal with the national guard and the worsening outbreak while at the same time hoping they don’t make it too human on human related. I want to see people fighting zombies – not each other.

Things I loved about this episode…

• The suspense when the lights go out at Madison’s house.
• Alicia seeing the biter’s feet as she is recovering the shells from the neighbors house.
• Nick dropping truth bombs. “She’s not sick. She’s dead.”
• The fact that even in the midst of the Apocalypse Travis has to apologize for bringing his ex wife to his girlfriends house – although I think Madison purposely misunderstood the apology to be about the Salazar family.

Things that I didn’t like about this episode…

• How do the rioters not notice the people eating other people?
• Why would Nick & Family think that running when the lights go out would be the best course of action? That seemed silly to me. Even if it was to go get a gun.
• Why is Alicia not with her brother and mom in the gun house? Why would you separate ever?
• Everyone is just a little too calm after seeing someone’s head blown off.
• Travis and the Barber are a little to relaxed moving the neighbors body outside.
• Why are people moving about the house freely? And why are all of the lights on? They should be bunkered down in an interior room.
• Travis just rolling his garbage out as if the world wasn’t ending. Come on, you just killed a man in your living room. Your taking the garbage out?

Main Characters:

• Nick Clark – Starts the season off by finding his girlfriend turned into a walker in a church. Has a addition problem.
• Alicia Clark – Nick’s sister. Has already lost her boyfriend to the virus.
• Madison Clark – Mother to Nick and Alicia. She worked at the high school where she met Travis Manawa, her boyfriend.
• Travis Manawa – School teacher and Madison’s love interest.
• Chris Manawa – Travis’s son.
• Daniel Salazar – The Barber who shelters Team Travis in Episode 2.
• Ofelia Salazar  – The Barber’s cute daughter.

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