BWW Recap: Grab Your Nick and Double Click on FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Hey! Happy (almost) Fall TV season! I'm pretty excited to be back and diving into the world of walkers/zombies/floaters etc. And FEAR THE WALKING DEAD returns and reminds me, yet again, to not eat dinner while watching this show.

Where We Were Left back in May:

• Strand - He had to shoot his love, Abigail, and promised to go with him to the afterlife. Abigail's crazy mama, Celia, wanted the whole group to leave her ranch.
• Nick - Pretty much the only one who Celia likes, convinces her to let he and his family stay. She agrees, but still makes Strand leave.
• Madison & Alicia - Pretty scared of Chris and tell Travis about it. Celia takes Madison down to the cellar to show her that her pets (aka walkers) are still human. Madison locked her in the cellar and decides to leave with Strand and Alicia.
• Chris - Losing his damn mind!
• Travis - Finally realized that he needs to be a Dad to Chris and get him through his crisis du jour The two take off and beg Nick to tell Madison that they were nowhere to be found.
• Salazar - Hearing voices, losing his mind, sets the cellar on fire with Celia in it. Is he dead? Doubt it, but we'll find out soon.
• Ofelia - Uh... she was around... crying at a tree or something?
• Cliffhanger - Madison, Alicia, Ofelia and Strand leave, Nick stays behind to walk amongst the dead (If he lived in LA, it'd be Silverlake #localhumor) and Travis and Chris are out on a sojourn. Daniel and Celia may be dead?

Where We Are Now:

Our first episode back is the journey of Nick as he leaves the compound. First, and foremost, a big kudos to Frank Dillane for carrying this episode on little to no dialogue. What a performance!

Second, we got a little glimpse into Nick pre-apocalypse.

Flashback - Rehab

Found out that Nick was in court ordered rehab for "dealing" even though Nick claims he was only "holding" for someone. Nick's rehab girlfriend encourages him to see his parents at family day as it will lessen his sentence. (A Frank Dillane smile occurs. Not sure I knew he had teeth!) Nick reveals to rehab girl that he feels a little bad about using his family to reduce his sentence, especially his Dad who is super sweet. Although, while role-playing, Nick does reveal that he has a little bit of anger toward his father. When Madison does finally arrive, she reveals to Nick that his Dad has been killed in a car accident. Sure Nick was messed up in drugs before this incident, but was this the one that drove him over the edge? Cut to the church (from the beginning of the series) a few months later where Nick and girlfriend are shooting heroin. #fullcircle

Back in real time, Nick decides to leave the compound and head off on his own. I would ask why, but it's just Nick being Nick. His journey isn't a simple one as he encounters a few minor obstacles.

Obstacle #1 - Attack

While Nick finds solace in an abandoned building on his first night, he is awoken by its actual inhabitants, a woman and her daughter, who beat him and force him out without his supplies.

Obstacle #2 - Mexican Gang

As he is scrounging for more supplies, he comes across a not-so-friendly group of fellas who shoot a not-dead man in the head for sport. When they see Nick they chase him into the mountains. Nick manages to escape, but he is now in a desert. He tries to siphon water out of a cactus to no avail. He tries to eat the cactus which doesn't stay down. He successfully drinks his own urine, so there's that...?

Obstacle #3 - Rabid Dogs

He is next awoken by a pack of raid dogs who lay some large bites on him. He manages to escape them when they are distracted by a herd of walkers. The walkers destroy the dogs and Nick gets to have a few bites of the dog carcasses. (So happy I was eating at this point...) Nick decides to blend in with the herd and walk with them.

They again counter the Mexican gang, but the herd overpowers them. Shortly after, Nick passes out from dehydration. He is revived by a downpour of rain and manages to stumble to a nearby village. Once he convinces its inhabitants that his bites are from dogs, not walkers, he is taken to a doctor. Impressed by his survival skills and his claim that he doesn't think of the dead as monsters, the doctor heals his wounds and reveals to him a thriving village behind guarded walls with a market, supplies and even kids playing soccer. There's that smile again.

So, that's where we are with Nick. I'm not saying I don't enjoy seeing Nick constantly smeared in blood, I'm not particularly proud of how hot I think he looks, however, it was nice to see him in different settings. Is this his new home for a while? From the looks of next week's episode, there is a slight chance it isn't as perfect as it seems. Woodbury, anyone? Not gonna lie, y'all, this is one of my favorite episodes in the series. I sure hope they do more of these one off character episodes.

Here's a preview for next week's all new episode:

Photo Credit: AMC

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