Fear the Walking Dead delivers its best episode yet.
Here is our review of “100.”
ThisFear the Walking Deadreview contains spoilers.
Hes more or less intact, save for nasty burns on his leg.
More importantly,FTWDdelivers what is arguably its strongest, most effective hour to date.
It somehow seems more intimate and personal.
The best part of 100 is that it functions as a standalone episode with a self-contained story arc.
While I generally bristle at the introduction of too many new characters, this fresh set of faces works.
Daniel is a stranger in a strange land, in search of redemption.
We also know Daniel will eventually be drawn here, where hell be reunited with Strand.
But more on that encounter in a bit.
He grants them absolution before driving a nail through their heads with a mallet.
Hes a collector of sorts, and he adds Daniel to the cluttered hodgepodge of his abode.
Here, Daniels healed physically and emotionally, though his heart remains burdened by difficult truths.
Efrain senses Daniels inner turmoil and does his best to draw the truth out of him.
Theyre already friends, drawn together by unique circumstances and what seems like a mutual will to live.
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Like Daniel, one gets the sense that Efrain is grappling with his own demons.
Its easy to imagine that life for him before and after the apocalypse are pretty much the same.
We also meet Lola (Lisandra Tena), the groups de facto medic and moral compass.
She works at the dam.
This is a moral compromise for her, a necessary evil.
He wants to protect them, even if it means getting his hands dirty.
Being forced to beat the very person who saved him presents a true moral dilemma for Daniel.
How much more is he willing to sacrifice of himself in the name of the greater good?
Is it any wonder that he so desperately wants to die, to escape his sins?
But try as he might, Daniel cant seem to end it all.
Either way, Strand suffers.
Either way, his story continues.
But what is there left to learn about a man consumed by his own self-interest?
Some closing thoughts:
Did Efrain remind anyone else of Bruce Spences Gyro Captain from 1981sThe Road Warrior?
Hes slightly unhinged without being incompetent.
You have to hand it to this showthey find creative ways to kill a zombie.
Never, ever mess with another persons Spam loaf.
Not unless you want to be stabbed in the face with a fork.
(What is it with this show and weaponized eating utensils?)
Kudos to AMC for delivering an episode that was almost entirely in Spanish.
This is definitely something we havent seenor heardbefore onTWD.
Dont forget to listen to Den of Geeks Walking Dead podcast, No Room in Hell!
Rating:
5 out of 5
