This is a Thug review of Fear the Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2, “We All Fall Down.” As you all know, the Thug likes to spoil his readers, so consider this your warning.
Well, Grue-believers, I have a torrid love/hate relationship with Fear the Walking Dead. Well, not really. I will be honest and call it a hate: hate relationship. Outside of the finale of season one, this show has been pretty dang terrible. Maybe the season one finale wasn’t that good, maybe I was just happy it was the end and that is why I enjoyed it. Let’s jump on board Abigail, pull up anchor and see how this week’s mess of an episode turned out.
I am going to be honest right off the bat here and use a phrase that my big bro Santos Ellin Jr. often shares, “I didn’t hate it.”
The opening has two children playing on a fenced in beach and swimmers are coming up out of the water. The children are making something out of shells and run up to the fence with it and lay it there before running back to their home. I have no idea what it was they made so if one of you know, please enlighten me. We left off last week with Strand (Colman Domingo) in a bit of a panic as he suspects Alicia’s (Alycia Debnam-Carey) radio friends are coming to play pirates. The plan is to port in San Diego but reports are that San Diego is not safe either; so, they decide to pit stop at a nearby island. As they drop anchor, Madison (Kim Dickens) notices a light flick on and off at one of the homes. Travis (Cliff Curtis), Madison, Nick (Frank Dillane), Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) and Alisha make their way to the house and are greeted by the little boy named Harry (Jeramiah and Clayton Geary) from the earlier beach scene. He is followed out by his father George (David Warshofsky), mother Melissa (Catherine Dent) and sister Willa (Aria Lyric Leabu).
Travis and company are invited in and Travis hangs out with George, Madison with Melissa and Nick with the kids. Alicia and Chris just kind of hang by themselves being angst filled teens. Melissa is quizzing Madison on what she did for a living asking some probing questions which make sense a little later. Travis and George are conversing about reading and life as they now know it; George has a survivalist mentality. Nick is playing mostly with Harry and he shows Nick some toys that all have red dots on their heads. Nick asks why that is and Harry explains that is the way things need to be now. Harry seems a little young to know so much which further shows that George’s mentality on survival. We see this even more when Chris meet’s the oldest son Seth (Jake Austin Walker) who takes Chris down to the fence on the beach and shows him how he dispatches of the swimmers turned walkers three times a day. Chris kind of digs it and takes his turn with the pick as Travis watches on in horror. Have I ever told you guys how much I can’t stand Travis?
As I stated last week, I think I am digging the way Nick’s character is being developed. Well, he decides to rummage through the house looking for narcotics. He does not find anything to his liking but discovers an alarming stash of pills in a small globe. He brings this up with Travis stating that he thinks George is going to pull a “Jonestown” (If you don’t know what that is, just think of the term “drinking the kool aid”). Travis is of course puzzled and Nick reassures him that he knows his pharmaceuticals. In the meantime, Melissa confides in Madison that she has a disease and her time is limited. She wants Madison to take the two young children with them when they leave; hence the earlier conversation. As she is giving Madison the bags George walks in and asks what is going on as Harry frantically interrupts saying there is something wrong with Willa. Well friends, my boy Nick was correct: Willa got a hold of the globe pills and she took one. Melissa desperately holds her begging her to wake up and she does with a blur hue to her eye she proceeds to rip into Melissa’s throat.
George tells everyone to leave so Madison and the gang get Harry and make their way to Abigail. Strand doesn’t like the kid being with them but Madison who I told you has bigger balls than Travis stand up to him. Just then Seth comes to the boat with a rifle and demands Harry back. Daniel (Rubén Blades) was going to take him out but refrains. As Seth and Harry are walking down the dock, a zombified Melissa makes their way towards them. Seth tells Harry to keep looking at and waving to the people on the boat and he takes his mom out — a different take but still reminiscent of a “look at the flowers” moment.
During the episode Strand was on the phone scheming with someone. Daniel is very suspicious of Strand and finds some questionable maps and indications of said scheme. We will see where this goes.
We All Fall Down is directed by Adam Davidson and written by a total of ten people. Dang, I guess it takes 10 people to write a decent Fear The Walking Dead episode. As I stated I like the arc Nick is getting, hopefully he stays off the pills. Here’s to hoping we get more episodes of this quality.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 2 Episode 2 “We All Fall Down” 
(4 / 5) on the Thug Meter
