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Posted in: AMC, Fear The Walking Dead, Review, TV | Tagged: amc, fear the walking dead, fear twd, Review, season 8
Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 Ep. 6 Review: Morgan's Redemption Song
AMC's Fear the Walking Dead heads into its midseason break in strong form, leaving behind big cliffhangers & even bigger TWDU questions.
If you checked out our previews during the week leading up to this weekend's final midseason finale of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead, then you know that we made it pretty clear that we were concerned about what the future had in store for Morgan Jones (Lennie James). After a heartbreaking episode that saw us saying goodbye to Grace (Karen David) and Morgan confronting ghosts from his past, it's more than understandable – especially with this week's episode rocking the title, "All I See Is Red." To stop PADRE from expanding its operations, Madison (Kim Dickens), Daniel (Rubén Blades), Mo (Zoey Merchant), and the rest of the resistance are going to need Morgan on his game – but has he moved past a point of no return?
Directed by Michael Satrazemis and written by Andrew Chambliss & Ian B. Goldberg, "All I See Is Red" served as both a midseason finale overall and a finale in some very specific ways. And yet, with six episodes remaining, the creative team was able to bring just enough of a sense of closure to make the first half of Season 8 meaningful without doing it at the expense of what's to come. So with that in mind, we're throwing on the "MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!" sign and throwing down an image spoiler buffer as we take a look at why Fear the Walking Dead offered viewers the perfect setup for the long-running spinoff's final run. In other words… did the episode meet our requirements for a quality midseason finale? Yup, and here's why…
The Cast: While we had excellent performances from Blades, Merchant, Jennie Elfman (June), Austin Amelio (Dwight), Christine Evangelista (Sherry), Gavin Warren (Finch), Maya Eshet (Shrike), and any number of others, this episode was a Lennie James tour de force that left us with what should be a guaranteed Emmy Award nomination submission. While some actors have difficulties finding layers to their characters, James presented us with the final version of Morgan we needed to see: the one who actively wanted to break his cycle of death & violence instead of attempting to compromise with it.
Doing that – and coming to understand that Mo will be with him even if she's not literally with him – helps him accomplish his final breakthrough. And at that moment when Morgan tells Mo that he's returning home to find his other family, we realize that he's finally achieved that answer he was searching for when he last spoke with Andrew Lincoln's Rick Grimes before heading off to join the spinoff series. And it looks like a reunion might be on the way… maybe if we get a second season of the upcoming Rick Grimes/Michonne spinoff? Hmmm…
You may have noticed that I didn't mention Kim Dickens' Madison previously, and the reason for that is Dickens deserved special honors for being the best-supporting player for James to work with. Because if there's anyone who knows what Morgan's going through, it's Madison – and it's that dynamic that made their moments hit hard but in a loving way. If this is the last that we see of Morgan and Madison together, then much will need to be said for those final scenes when it felt like James was handing the keys to the car back to Dickens. And that just felt right… especially considering… well, we'll get to that in a minute.
Finally, special mention for the final moments between Dwight and Sherry, as the two make the heartbreaking decision to go their separate ways after years of attempting to make things better between them and the world around them. As much as I found myself yelling at them on my screen that it's not their fault – it's the shitty world that they're in – I also found myself understanding their mindset. And that's even before factoring in the tragedy of their son dying before their eyes. Amelio and Evangelista always impress, but it was the silent moments between them – the ones that allowed us to remember back to their time together – that gave those scenes the emotional weight that they had.
The Storyline: What we need from a midseason or season finale is a resolution of some type as well as a set-up for what's to come – and we got that and this some in "All I See Is Red." Along with the bigger-picture cliffhanger of Morgan & Mo heading off to find Rick, we have Madison and the others staying behind to make a go of reuniting families. But those coordinates are just sitting there, waiting to be a plotline. Then there's the still-MIA Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), who we all know will be a factor in the final six. But the biggest eyebrow-archer was the end credits scene that appeared to drop a ten-ton hint that Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) would be making a return. Think about it. Madison. Strand. Alicia. Daniel. It almost feels like Chambliss & Goldberg are extending an olive branch to the OG fans. If so, a very smart move indeed heading into the final run.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 8 Episode 6 "All I See Is Red"
8.5/10
If you checked out our previews during the week leading up to this weekend's final midseason finale of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead, then you know that we made it pretty clear that we were concerned about what the future had in store for Morgan Jones (Lennie James). After a heartbreaking episode that saw us saying goodbye to Grace (Karen David) and Morgan confronting ghosts from his past, it's more than understandable - especially with this week's episode rocking the title, "All I See Is Red." To stop PADRE from expanding its operations, Madison (Kim Dickens), Daniel (Rubén Blades), Mo (Zoey Merchant), and the rest of the resistance are going to need Morgan on his game - but has he moved past a point of no return? Directed by Michael Satrazemis and written by Andrew Chambliss & Ian B. Goldberg, "All I See Is Red" served as both a midseason finale overall and a finale in some very specific ways. And yet, with six episodes remaining, the creative team was able to bring just enough of a sense of closure to make the first half of Season 8 meaningful without doing it at the expense of what's to come.
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