Fear the Walking Dead: Sicut Cervus

May 16, 2016 11:21 AM - Season 2, Episode 6

Conflict arises as the Abigail approaches its destination. Chris makes a staggering decision. Nick meets a new maternal figure.
posted by tobascodagama (7 comments total)

Was not expecting the deep, dark secret of Abigail's estate to be a brujería/Santa Muerte thing, but I'm down with it. It makes perfect sense that people would turn to a folk religion based on the reverence of the dead in the wake of the zombie apocalypse.

It's funny, too, that we get a callback to Herschel's walker barn, but it seems so much less stupid here. It's not a rickety barn but a wine cellar with a pretty sturdy-looking gate. And Celia isn't afflicted with the delusion that the zombies are still alive and awaiting cure, like Herschel was. Celia knows they're dead. She's just embracing the new order.

The only other thing I have to say is that Chris is a fucking creep this season.
posted by tobascodagama at 11:26 AM on May 16, 2016 [2 favorites]

What the hell sort of poison is undetectable in Eucharist wafers & causes sudden tummy aches & bleeding from eyes?
Is it some new form of Ebola infused warfarin?
posted by goshling at 9:00 PM on May 16, 2016

They weaponized the show's writing. It didn't take much, really.
posted by entropicamericana at 7:58 AM on May 17, 2016 [2 favorites]

I'm still on the 'cautiously optimistic' train with the show, presently.

* Celia's fun. That whole thing didn't feel like Herschel's farm to me, it felt more like the opening of Dawn of the Dead, with the cops raiding that building with the zombies inside. Honestly, this situation - society in slow breakdown, instead of S1's 'bam, the USA is gone' - works for me reasonably well.

* Strand's dilemma had some weight, IMO. I liked that he had to agonize over it, and I'm looking forward to the fallout.

* Didn't like Nick or Daniel zoning out. This franchise doesn't use that device very well at all. That said, they were fine _apart_ from those moments.

* I'm glad Chris' problems are accelerating so fast, and I think the show is doing a good job with them. He's clearly been damaged by what he's seen, and his actions feel like a combination of 'budding serial killer' and 'dumb teenager.' So... nice one, show.

* Still wanting more out of Not!Lexa, but Ofelia is coming along nicely.

* I continue to find Travis and Madison's disagreements believable, although I'm still not enjoying them.

Hope they keep up the trend of being mostly okay.
posted by mordax at 3:55 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

The character stuff with Strand was fantastic, I agree. Definitely the best part of this episode. The Nick-Celia scenes were excellent as well. Both of these shows are at their best when they give their characters space to breathe, which happens all too rarely.
posted by tobascodagama at 5:23 PM on May 17, 2016 [1 favorite]

By far the least believable thing in Fear the Walking Dead, stretching my suspension of disbelief more than the dead rising with a hunger for human flesh, is the notion that Madison (whose backstory is that she works at a public school in Los Angeles), doesn't know how to say "asshole" in Spanish. The pendejo who wrote that scene needs to consider character histories.

I was really hoping that Celia's scene with Nick was going to result in her becoming his sugar mama; it felt like that was where the scene was going before Nick started talking to her about her zombie theories. I wanna see a firm older lady extract some lovin' from that sweet young thing!
posted by Parasite Unseen at 10:19 PM on May 18, 2016 [3 favorites]

Wow are the effects poor on this show conpared to WD! And I still don't understand why no one appears afraid. Will officially stop watching now.
posted by agregoli at 12:35 PM on May 23, 2016