Episode 10 of Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 saw Daniel Salazar (Ruben Blades) suffer an apparent mental break. However, some viewers question if Daniel is merely faking it in order to gain information.
During the episode, it appeared that Morgan’s (Lennie James) tentative new community had come under attack after an explosion and the subsequent theft of their weapons. This also led to a breach of the perimeters, and a small group of the undead managed to infiltrate the location.
By the end of the episode, though, it was discovered that Daniel was the one behind these events — even though he couldn’t remember doing it.
June (Jenna Elfman) was called in to assess the situation and she genuinely believed that Daniel had suffered a psychological incident. However, some believe that perhaps Daniel was merely faking it.
After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he faked having amnesia.
Daniel has pretended to have amnesia in the past
When he was under the control of Virginia (Colby Minifie), he acted as though he had amnesia in order to not only appear less threatening but to gain information that he may not have been privy to otherwise.
And, according to an interview that Ruben Blades did with TV Insider, fans should consider the fact that Daniel might be faking it.
“I think one of the wonderful things about this episode is that because of Daniel’s background, there’s always going to be a little question mark in everything he does,” Blades said.
However, the actor also believes that Daniel was completely unaware that he did some of those things.
“I think at this point, he did not remember [moving] the weapons. I don’t think he did. I really think that that moment was a horrible moment for him. When he had to actually admit that he was confused.”
Why would Daniel fake his mental break?
Daniel has always been the character that has done the things that had to be done — even if they were horrible and morally wrong.
While this could very well be the reason why his mental issues caught up with him in the latest episode of Fear the Walking Dead, it could also merely be a ruse so that he can continue to do the things that must be done.
Already, viewers know that there is a new antagonistic group that has been going around and spray-painting slogans. This group also infiltrated Tank Town and caused great devastation there.
Daniel could be using this ruse in order to appear as a sick and confused old man so that he can find out more information than he would if he were fit and healthy and the Daniel that everyone knows already.
In addition, with Strand (Colman Domingo) offering to take Daniel in at Lawton, it would also give the character a way to find out more about Strand’s newly-formed group that consists of a large percentage of Virginia’s old Rangers. As usual, Strand’s true allegiance appears malleable and it would stand to reason that Daniel would want to explore this further.
However, as yet, whether Daniel has suffered a true psychological break or not remains to be seen and viewers will just have to continue watching in order to find out more.
Fear the Walking Dead airs Sunday nights at 9/8c on AMC.