Iron Tiger

(I also wrote this review for episode 7, but it fits here)

I was so surprised at how much I was enjoying these first two episodes at first, then I realized that they're basically picking up from where season 3 ended with these last six episodes. So many reunions are happening for the first time since the dam: Madison and Strand (the big one), everyone and Troy, etc. And the focus has primarily been on the show's original characters.

I began watching season 4 when it aired and got tired of it very quickly. I've seen a few episodes here and there but if you dropped the show after season 3, this is a great place to jump in. The atmosphere is the most vibrant since season 3 and the writing is surprisingly sharp, if still not perfect. Excited to see how it ends!

This review is probably going to get negative feedback. Knowing this, just like this show, I'm going to go through with it anyways.

Anybody remember? Like a over a decade ago, when 'TWD' was golden age television and every week was suspenseful stakes because it could be your favorite character's last. But then the show ran too long and they could raise the stakes only so much every new season. Season 6 stakes raise--a penultimate episode with a fake out death of a fan favorite character--then actually killing him off in the following season premiere. How many viewers did you lose, AMC? Me, I stuck it through, I gave benefit of the doubt.

I even stuck with 'FTWD' when even the cast wanted out and we saw Madison go the way of the Dodo, then Nick, then so on...And they kept raising the stakes until it got to a ridiculously absurd proportion--THEY INTRODUCED A NUCLEAR APOCALYPSE DURING THE ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE! Then they killed off my two favorites, Charlie and Alicia. Like, that's it, FIN, the end. They've killed off the main FTWD family, thus the storyline.

But some producer over at AMC believed they could staunch the bleeding, revive the show with television magic deus ex machina CPR, and bring back to life, Kim Dickens, like another Andrew Lincoln survival fantasy. Now they're just having fun. "Let's do the reverse!" Bring back our friends for one last go. Budget a few to come back, not in flashback, not zombie back to life, but like alive back to life, then unalive them right away because...no one actually pays for AMC+. Poor Charlie. Alexa Nisenson, I love to see your beautiful face, but on another show, please. AND, if I see, Alycia Debnam-Carey, any time this season, I swear.... I swear I will petition the writers guild and get the writing staffs' memberships revoked.

It's like the showrunners were rolling dice on descision the characters would make in this episode. Absolutely bizar. I saw someone in their review talk about the fact that it ''doesn't feel real''. It's just flat out bizar, so nothing surprising on that front. They threw allot of old names into the script to crank up some nostlagia, which came off extremely cheap. The plot was really thin, and fell flat. There's absololutely no way of predicting what you're going to wittnes from one episode to the next in the worst sense.

I Recently saw an interview of the FEAR cast in SDCC(2017). Where it once again got annoucned that the showrunner was going to be leaving the show... God damn it, have Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg driven this ship into the ground.

I honestly believe that even the actors are aware of how bad this is and they too are trolling the writers by doing awful acting on purpose. That's the only logical explanation.

So Kim Dickens is either trolling everyone or she's just a terrible actress. I mean honestly, her performances this season have demonstrated some of the worst acting I've ever seen. And she's not the only one. I know that the actors are given some of the worst dialogs that's ever existed on TV but surely, they can do better than this. I've literally seen NPCs with better acting than this.

This season of FTWD has undoubtedly contained the worst TV I have ever seen. I've seen a lot of stuff, and more importantly, I've seen a lot of bad stuff, but I genuinely cannot think of anything I've seen that has come anywhere close to being this bad.

This show is not made for intelligent adults. Hell, it's not made for any adults. It's basically made for people without an ounce of brain. Cuz that's how the writers treat you. If you actually enjoy this show and think it's good, you need help.

In search of gas, Daniel, Strand and Madison are reunited with Luciana and Charlie who was cured of her illness by PADRE. After being captured by PADRE, Luciana had agreed to refine oil for them in exchange for the use of PADRE's resources to help other survivors across the country and for the release of Daniel whom PADRE had intended to kill. Charlie confesses to an enraged Madison that she was the one to murder Nick, causing Madison to blame her choices for the deaths of her children. Madison demands that Charlie use her skills to assassinate Troy, but relents and forgives the girl after discovering that Charlie had Nick's body dug up and cremated, leaving Nick's ashes for his mother.

However, Charlie is captured by Troy who demands the location of PADRE in exchange for Charlie's release. In the chaos of an explosion that she set, Charlie breaks free and commits suicide, sacrificing herself to protect PADRE. Madison briefly helps Troy to search for his missing daughter Tracy, learning that he was cutting off the arms of walkers to mess with her and that Troy blames Madison for the death of Tracy's mother, something that Madison has no knowledge of. The death of Charlie causes Luciana and Daniel to turn against Madison, and Daniel leaves to be with Luciana. Realizing that they're right, Madison leaves PADRE in Strand's care and goes off on her own.

After several episodes of absence, Luciana (Danay Garcia) is finally back with a fresh twist. Luciana's journey in Fear the Walking Dead is both sad and intriguing. Introduced in the middle of the second season as one of the series' most "Bad*ss" characters, she exuded leadership and bravery. However, over the seasons, she drastically lost this edge, becoming a character who was the opposite of her initial portrayal.

After Nick's (Frank Dillane) death, Luciana had the potential to grow and develop further. Instead, the writers sidelined her, reducing her to a background character. Declining since the fifth season, culminating in the seventh where she became practically useless, Luciana now returns prominently, becoming the focus of an episode for the first time. The writers attempted to revive her character in this episode, restoring her as a leader and bringing back the brutal edge she had in the second season. While this was a good idea and it works, it's lamentable that the character had to wait until the series' end to receive the spotlight she deserved.

Bringing Charlie back also served to conclude an arc and canonize an anticipated event, the showdown between Charlie and Madison (Kim Dickens), and the revelation about Nick's death. This episode finally delivers on these storylines, and it is satisfying in terms of their development and conclusion. This showdown had always had the potential to trigger something significant and definitive, which may explain why Charlie was absent for the entire first part of the season; once she appeared, this storyline had to be resolved. With Madison absent, Charlie was able to evolve over the seasons and become one of the main characters of the series. When we finally see this showdown, we as viewers are torn. We feel Madison's grief but also understand Charlie's evolution and redemption, a point that has been well-developed in this second phase of the series.

If the impression before was that Troy had returned stronger than ever and seeking revenge, this episode gives him more depth and a motivation beyond what was previously established. Now, he has a daughter, and his quest for vengeance against Madison is not for his father and brother (whom he clearly didn't care much about) but for his daughter's mother. Seeing him lose his composure and all his imposing demeanor upon discovering his daughter had disappeared humanizes him and puts him in parallel with Madison. Now, we know that Troy is just a mirror image of his enemy, with the same motivations and objectives, but fighting on the other side.

Like the previous episode, the climax of this chapter is in the third act and the decisions made. Charlie's death was one of the most impactful scenes of the entire series. Depicting suicide is always delicate and dangerous, but here, credit must be given to Heather Cappiello, who directed this episode. In this segment, she focused on showing only what was necessary and creating an impact, even with so little shown. Portraying the suicide of a teenager in the way it was done could have gone very wrong, overstepping boundaries and making the scene problematic. However, fortunately, this is not the case. Similar to the approach in Season 9, Episode 14 of the main series, where the execution of children was carefully avoided, the decision to show Charlie's death in the background was a smart choice. Additionally, Charlie's death carries significant narrative weight and leads to irreparable consequences for the characters.

One of the best-developed aspects of the episode and the season is how the series portrays Madison as a character full of flaws who constantly makes questionable decisions. While in the early seasons, she had a protective matriarch vibe, here she is given a new role, becoming a leader who consistently fails and is driven by emotions. Surprisingly, this is not a negative point. By addressing the consequences of her actions, the series adds depth to the character. Madison's rash decisions led to Charlie's death and the group's disbandment, leaving a scar on Daniel (Rubén Blades) that he could never forgive. Furthermore, this tragedy gave him a development that had been lacking for a while. The episode effectively explores the actions and consequences theme, something basic but seemingly abandoned by the series for some time, as few actions had consequences for the characters. This is crucial for the plot's evolution and essential for adding depth to the narrative. Perhaps this was the best-executed aspect of this script: how each action, both past and present, is generating consequences and influence over these characters. If this approach continues in the final episodes, the series has the potential to deliver a worthy and memorable ending.