We come to that point in the story where our zombie killers take off for some summer holiday time and just like in the past, you’re getting back-to-back recaps, just like Fear the Walking Dead used to do! So let’s kick back and get ready for the (dead) end.
Walls
Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is busy hacking her way through one made of zombies and Strand (Colman Domingo) and Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) are hiding behind one made of their late but not lamented beer balloon. While this is going on, Morgan (Lennie James) is trying to get to Strand and Charlie, but he also realizes he’s going to need a truck or van to haul the propellers The Balloon Gang brought from South Texas.
Now that Grace (Karen David) understands Morgan isn’t leaving the Hot Zone without his people and propellers, she tells him where he can find a vehicle and a decontamination suit. As she speaks she’s working hard to hook up the generator she got from Our Gang to get the number two reactor’s cooling pumps running.
Just when it looks like Alicia is never gonna find her way through the crazy wall of zombies, Dylan (Cooper Dodson) shows up and decides to take her to their camp. Leaving the zombies behind, she follows him.
Can’t Leave the Past Behind
John (Garret Dillahunt) and Dwight (Austin Amelio) are on the road looking for Sherry and they’re getting so far away that the handheld radios are out of range. Dwight still thinks Sherry is just around the corner, so John is really starting to hate that he knows the truth.
They keep heading further and further away from the truck stop until they reach a point where they’re out of gas and there isn’t any more to find. And that’s when John, who really seems eaten by guilt, brings out Sherry’s last letter and tells Dwight the truth.
It’s a good thing Dwight is nothing like Simon, which means he just mopes and broods a lot instead of launching into a murderous rage and cutting John’s head off.
Morgan finds the location given to him by Grace. Guess what? It’s her old house! And along with a van and a radiation suit, Morgan finds all the stuff that was part of her old life. It doesn’t take him long to put the pieces together to realize what’s driving Grace, but he doesn’t have time to think about that – he’s got people to save and parts to move.
Grace has the generator running and starts up the pumps. There’s only one problem, the pumps draw a lot more juice than the generator puts out and it doesn’t take long for the generator to short out. She’s on the radio to Morgan telling him his people better have that plane ready to fly within the next day, because s**t just went from real to extra real and this little slice of Lone Star State is about to glow so much you’ll see it from space.
Gas Run
Back at the truck stop, there’s a new issue with the plane. It’s been leaking fuel for a while and while they may have enough to take off, there’s not nearly enough to make it home. Luciana (Danay Garcia) suggests getting it out of the tanks at the truck stop, but Althea (Maggie Grace) reminds her they need aviation fuel, which is a special blend that you don’t run in cars and trucks.
Strangely enough, Al may just know where she can get her hands on some aviation fuel. With June (Jenna Elfman) in tow, she hops in a truck and heads back to that super-secret helo pad where there just happens to be a whole lot of the fuel they need.
They get the fuel, though June is really suspicious about the whole “I just happened to be up there and found it” line Al’s giving her. They’re getting the load secure and June is trying to raise John without any luck–and that’s when Al lets June know she wants to talk.
Without naming names or going into details, Al tells June she met a woman she’ll never see again and she doesn’t know how she’ll deal with that. June lets her know when she used to be on the run from everyone, she always knew John was out there and that gave her a little hope she’d see him again. If that worked for her, it’s a good bet Al will see her lady friend again in the future.
The Hot Gates
Alicia finally meets up with Annie (Bailey Gavulic) and Max (Ethan Suess) and the rest of the kids. Annie’s really not happy that Alicia’s presence is all about wanting to do something to prove she cares and has nothing to do with them. Her weapon is taken and she’s pretty much held prisoner.
But as you could likely guess, the s**t she’s been foreshadowing for so long happens and the zombie fence the kids have up breaks–while being fixed, mind you–and all those zombies are headed for Camp Tasty Kid.
Alicia begs for her weapon, telling Annie she needs to protect her kids by getting them out. As she’s doing that, Alicia goes all Thermopylae on the dead, setting up a couple of choke points so she can take care of the zombies one at a time.
It doesn’t work perfectly, but Alicia’s in berzerker mode, killing everything in sight. It’s only once she’s covered in blood that she recognizes one wearing a dosimeter and that “Oh, s**t” moment of realization comes that she may be contaminated to the point of death. Realizing she can’t keep fighting these zombies, she lights out.
The Past Is Here
Morgan gets to Strand and Charlie, takes care of the zombies, and tells them how to get to the truck stop. He’s got stuff that he needs to do elsewhere.
Althea and June show up with the gas and start fueling the plane. Strand and Charlie show up with the propellers, get decontaminated, and get to work mounting them on the engines. Things are starting to look up.
The kids show up. She tell everyone that Alicia saved them, but… she’s somewhere else, condition unknown.
Grace is still trying to fix the generator when Morgan shows up. He tells her she’s coming with him and getting out of there, otherwise, he’s staying to help her. Realizing time has really run out, she leaves with Morgan.
Dwight finally comes to accept that Sherry wants him to find something to live for and to keep living – something she said in her letter. John is sorry about hiding the truth, but Dwight isn’t upset. In fact, he tells John it’s time he helps him. And he’s gonna help him get back to June.
Alicia is washing her face, resigned to the possibility that she might be dying. Morgan’s on the radio to her, saying Grace and he will pick her up. Oh, and he tells her they’re still standing (title shoutout!) and they’re gonna get everyone out. She takes off with the zombies still following.
Grace and Morgan talk. He realized that she’s like him: she lost her old life and decided to throw herself into helping others. She does realize that now and as she says, “You think your life is worth less than everyone else’s.”
They’re in the truck on their back to pick up Alicia and head back to the truck stop. And that’s when they hear it: The klaxons. The number two reactor is melting down.
Fear the Walking Dead airs at 9/8c on AMC.