Cindy Hawkins

Nuclear radiation, zombies and intense boredom. Not a combination that's easy to put together. They're using it to not only kill off the Walking Dead franchise but the whole genre. Dedicated to watching to the last episodes but dreading the experience. Like a zombie, the franchise is dead but still walking.

I dont like how showrunners and writters are turning this wonderful series into an anthology. In Dave Ericson's times this used to be like a long movie split into episodes.

Ron Underwood returns to the TWD Universe to direct another episode of Fear TWD. He does an amazing job with the direction, the camera work and cinematography are great. The sound editing and musical score is fantastic. Though an impressive production, the good things sadly stop there. The writing is flawed and unbearable at times, at least the dialogue is better in this episode than the previous episode. The fallout shelter set are impressive and claustrophobic, There's plenty of suspension in the fallout shelter and throughout the episode. But the unnecessary smoke and sets outside where the nuclear missiles hit is still looking like a B movie which takes you out of the immersion completely.

June and Dorie's routine in Teddy's fallout shelter is disrupted when they discover the origins of their home and its sinister connections to Teddy's past. That's the premise of the episode and well it's quite a slow burn with not much of the plot progressing, sadly keeping the anthology format with only a handful of characters and for this episode we got Jenna Elfman as June Dorie and Keith Carradine as John Dorie Sr, their performances are some if not the season's best. But that's about it, their story and individual character arcs are interesting but dragging it out with its slow pacing isn't a good thing. The storyline regarding Victor Strand and Morgan Jones is continued in a very small scale. One thing that I really liked in this episode is of course the John Dorie Sr's quest to find out what happened with the final victim of Teddy and learning more of the villain.

"Cindy Hawkins" was overall a good episode, but it didn't meet my expectations. It was better than the previous episode but that doesn't say anything, all the problems that this season is having still exists in this episode. For a serialized TV show, this season have failed immensely on that level. But it's such an artistic episode with truly superb cinematography and direction, with Ron Underwood's visual storytelling. There's much to love about this episode but for a serialized show like Fear TWD and The Walking Dead, an episode like this only hurts the show more than it improves on the show. John Dorie Sr and June Dorie are two of my favorite characters in the show right now but following them for 40 minutes is just a waste of storytelling if we're talking the bigger picture. It needs to be said, though the showrunners have a big plan for Alicia. Keeping the actress and character she's playing, the only remaining cast member except for Colman Domingo and the forgotten Ruben Blades that have been with the show since it's first season, keeping her away from the seventh season is so wrong as she should be the main character and in every episode. Dave Erickson should be hired again, a man can dream. Though a good episode: the writing, pacing and showrunners anthology format drags the rating down immensely. I'm starting to think this nuclear aftermath is a bad thing for the show, the writers aren't skilled enough to handle such a big plot. I hope I'm wrong in the upcoming episodes.

Over the course of several months, John Sr. And June establish a routine while waiting out the year that June has determined is the time that they must wait before it is safe to go outside. However, the bunker becomes increasingly unstable over time with a wall collapse smashing their supply of liquor and revealing a secret room where Teddy had killed and embalmed his victims in the 1970s. John goes into alcoholic withdrawal and experiences hallucinations as a result of Teddy's last victim, Cindy Hawkins, whose body John had never been able to find. John's hallucinations and guilt cause him to search for clues to the location of her body with disregard to anything else.

He emerges from the bunker due to Cindy calling to him and, after putting down a reanimated Dakota, finds the Stalkers watching him. The Stalkers demand that John and June surrender, while John realizes June has been lying the whole time about how long they must wait, afraid of facing the outside world without her husband. Briefly abandoning June to search for Cindy's body, John snaps out of it in time to kill the Stalkers and save June. The two subsequently discover Cindy's body in the bunker by accident, bringing John peace. The bunker collapses, but the two are rescued by Strand's Rangers and taken to the Tower. When Morgan arrives at the bunker, Strand contacts him on a radio. Morgan threatens to kill his former friend if Strand hurts anyone he cares about, but Strand is unmoved by his threats.

Season 7, Episode 3 of "Fear the Walking Dead," titled "Cindy Hawkins," dives deep into the backstory of June and John Dorie Sr. As they find refuge in an old, abandoned bunker that once belonged to serial killer Teddy. This episode adeptly intertwines the current apocalyptic struggles with the psychological ghosts of the past, setting a chilling tone from the outset.

The central plot revolves around June and John Dorie Sr. As they sift through the remnants of Teddy's bunker, uncovering artifacts that reveal more about Teddy's gruesome past, and importantly, the mysterious Cindy Hawkins. The bunker serves as a claustrophobic backdrop, enhancing the episode's tense and eerie atmosphere. As they delve deeper, they encounter physical and emotional traps left behind, which Teddy had set for his victims, metaphorically trapping June and John as well.

A particularly striking scene involves the discovery of Cindy Hawkins' belongings, leading to a cathartic moment for John Dorie Sr., who had been haunted by his failure to capture Teddy sooner in his career. This moment is both a narrative and emotional climax of the episode, as it confronts the theme of unresolved past trauma and the search for redemption. The episode does a commendable job portraying how past and present horrors can intertwine, mirroring the outside world's chaos within the confines of the bunker.

Cindy Hawkins" stands out in its season for its psychological depth and character development, particularly for John Dorie Sr., who emerges as a more fleshed-out character grappling with guilt and seeking closure. The cinematography and tight scripting keep viewers engaged, while the episode's pace maintains suspense and dread effectively. Overall, this episode is a strong entry in the series, offering a mix of psychological horror with poignant drama, and emphasizes that sometimes the ghosts of the past are as terrifying as the zombies outside.

The length of the review has to have a certain minimum, and so does the essence of an episode before viewer is forced to change a channel. Enough to sit for the duration of the show, not enough to enjoy it.

The first few minutes, the repetition of the daily routine was interesting, everything else but the last few minutes was rubbish.

It is even difficult to give a "spoiler", because the whole episode is rotten.