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Posted in: AMC, Fear The Walking Dead, Review, TV, Walking Dead | Tagged: amc, episode 13, fear the walking dead, Review, season 7, walking dead
Fear the Walking Dead S07E13 Review: Dwight, Sherry & TWD Universe
Directed by Gary Rake and written by Nazrin Choudhury & Nick Bernardone, this weekend's episode of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead had a lot to say. And much of what it had to say had more to do with the still-lingering divide between pre-Morgan (Lennie James) & Post-Morgan Fear TWD and what's going on with the TWD universe overall than with the actual Tower storyline. Now before anyone starts thinking otherwise, that's actually a really good thing because it was nice to have a reminder of where the original spinoff fits in the overall TWD landscape. In "The Raft," Morgan looks to get Dwight (Austin Amelio) & Sherry's (Christine Evangelista) help with not only Baby Mo but also that wave of Strand's (Colman Domingo) walkers that's have been following them since the last episode. But when a now-returned Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) learns of Morgan's plan to attack the Tower now that it's temporarily unprotected, the two butt heads over Alicia's hesitancy as Morgan prepares to leave with Baby Mo- one way or another. Meanwhile, Dwight and Sherry face a major change in their lives that has them questioning just how realistic their "Code" is in the face of the world they now live in now. So with that in mind, I'm throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer as we get ready to do a deeper dive into what "The Raft" had to offer.
Okay, as much as I look forward to writing up my weekly reviews of all of the TWD universe shows, these are the kind of episodes I really like because they gave us a lot of interesting moments & lines for "Walking Dead" fans to chew over when it comes to the franchise's bigger picture. Which is a fancy way of saying that I get to play another round of… "The Walking Dead: It's All Connected!" But first, we're going to start with…
Fear the Walking Dead: The Review
What I appreciated the most about "The Raft" was that it continued the TWD universe's tradition of having very intimate & personal episodes on the eve of a huge battle. This one was all about Dwight and Sherry, and to say that Amelio & Evangelista seized the moment and made it their own would be doing their performances a disservice. Look, I've said in the past that I wasn't sure how I felt about both characters even when they initially reunited. But since that time, not only have they become personal favorites but they might also be the most realistic couple we've seen in any of the series. They have baggage. They screw up. They fight. They make up. They break up. They get back together. And yet because of all of that, they not only continue to survive but they continue to survive together. While I could cite a number of moments from the episode to make my case, I'll go with the obvious (obvious because quality like that stands out) and ask that you rewatch the scene in the collapsed tunnel where they finally check out the results of the pregnancy test… together. Especially how they each held an end so they could do the reveal together? Oh yeah, that was golden. So with that said…
The Walking Dead: It's All Connected!
Look, I don't know if Choudhury & Bernardone intended this, if it's just a matter of the unconscious mind speaking through the pages of a script, or that I'm suffering from "Walking Dead Paranoia" where I'm now looking to see how everything's connected so I can add more red strings to the It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia/Pepe Silvia conspiracy board in my mind. Because not only do we get some interesting callbacks to The Walking Dead but we also get a side storyline between Morgan & Alicia that felt like a debate between old-school & new-school Fear TWD fans followed by what vibed like a symbolic "re-passing of the torch" from Morgan to Alicia.
Morgan & Alicia: On the surface, it made sense because Morgan had been saying all along that he was going to do what Grace (Karen David) wanted him to do for Baby Mo. But didn't it feel like Morgan was breaking the fourth wall and asking Alicia if she was ready to take the show back over so he could move on? It's quite possible that knowing Madison's (Kim Dickens) returning is creeping a little too much into my brain, but even Morgan asking Alicia why she was hesitating to act was something I connected with because that's one of the things I didn't like about the first three seasons, that they could've been told in essentially 1-1/2-2 seasons. So when Alicia told Morgan that she was ready to take the lead against the Tower before sending Morgan & Baby Mo off and then gathering the troops, there was a deeper meaning there. Wherever this season goes from this point forward, the eighth season is looking to be another series game-changer season similar to what worked with the fourth season. Now, do we think that's the last we see of Morgan? Nope, and we're also not feeling too secure about our heroes' chances against the Tower. But that doesn't take away that this episode definitely spoke to some bigger perspectives.
Morgan Misses Rick? Here was one of those moments, folks! While speaking with Alicia, Morgan references leaving his The Walking Dead family before heading off to Fear TWD, saying the decision to leave "never sat right" with him. With the original series getting ready to wrap up its run and rumors of some "fixing" going on to get timelines to line up (including talk of a time jump during the final few eps), could we see Morgan back on his original series before the final credits roll?
Sherry Doesn't Miss "Savior" Dwight: And another one of those moments, folks! While expressing her concerns to Dwight about his resorting back to his old Savior days if he agrees to like in the Tower under Strand's rule, Sherry drops a number of Negan/Saviors references. Sure, it made sense because it gave Sherry a painful but effective example to use to explain her concerns. But when you add it to what we're already addressed, you could understand why our mind's dumpster fires of random speculation raging red hot & bright.
So What's the Deal with Mya? Would we be wrong to be righteously curious about where boat survivor Mya came from? She wasn't alone, they had been traveling for some time, and for some reason, she wasn't attacked. Seriously, how could that not be something worth following up on?
Fear the Walking Dead: Random Stuff
Okay, we don't have too many for this episode but here we go. Dwight & Sherry need a Tales of the Walking Dead episode… having Alicia's weapon be what helps Dwight & Sherry escape was a nice touch… folks should be worried about who let those nuclear walkers free… and Colby Hollman's Wes is a righteous f***ing d*****-**g. Sorry, but it needed to be said and I'm not ashamed to say it.
So with that said (whew!), we'll meet you here next week with a look at AMC's Fear the Walking Dead S07E14 "Divine Providence" as the battle for the Tower begins…
Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 13 "The Raft"
8.5/10
Directed by Gary Rake and written by Nazrin Choudhury & Nick Bernardone, this weekend's episode of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead had a lot to say. And much of what it had to say had more to do with the still-lingering divide between pre-Morgan (Lennie James) & Post-Morgan Fear TWD and what's going on with the TWD universe overall than with the actual Tower storyline. Now before anyone starts thinking otherwise, that's actually a really good thing because it was nice to have a reminder of where the original spinoff fits in the overall TWD landscape. In "The Raft," Morgan looks to get Dwight (Austin Amelio) & Sherry's (Christine Evangelista) help with not only Baby Mo but also that wave of Strand's (Colman Domingo) walkers that's have been following them since the last episode. But when a now-returned Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) learns of Morgan's plan to attack the Tower now that it's temporarily unprotected, the two butt heads over Alicia's hesitancy as Morgan prepares to leave with Baby Mo- one way or another. Meanwhile, Dwight and Sherry face a major change in their lives that has them questioning just how realistic their "Code" is in the face of the world they now live in now.
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