‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Turns In A Winning Midseason Finale In Spite Of Itself

The midseason finale of Fear the Walking Dead was another one of those episodes where nothing made sense, the inane plot contrivances were stacked on top of each other, and the lapses in logic were plentiful. And yet, the episode still mostly worked, thanks to the happy ending the characters receive and the fact that — even when they’re making idiotic or illogical decisions — we still have immense affection for most of these characters. I’m not sure the happy ending was worth the last few weak episodes, but I suppose it says something about the way I feel about the characters that I cared enough to pause the season finale a couple of times to watch the season 5b trailer to make sure everyone survived.

Everyone does survive in the midseason finale, although a number of those redshirt kids mysteriously shrank in half by the time they made it to the plane, which is just one of several issues viewers might have had with the episode. There’s also the fact that a shower seems to somehow clean away all of the radiation poisoning Alicia got from the nuclear contaminated blood, rendering last week’s cliffhanger moot. Or the narratively convenient way that John’s walkie-talkie batteries die at the exact right moment he’s saying goodbye to June, or the fact that Daniel — who we haven’t seen or heard from in several episodes — suddenly materializes with Christmas lights to create a runway just as the plane is on its way, or the fact that a zombie tripped over the Christmas lights cord just as the plane is landing, or the fact that Grace wrecked her truck just as slow-moving zombies began approaching. Three-point turns are hard in the apocalypse.

In fact, that slow-moving horde may have been the most ridiculous part of the entire episode. Somehow, Alicia couldn’t shake it; and then Grace and Morgan couldn’t steer it away; and then for some ridiculous reason, Morgan, Alicia, and Grace led the entire zombie horde to the airplane as it was taking off. Meanwhile, two zombies — who are too dumb even to open a doorknob — manage to hang on to an airplane as it is taking off. Or the fact that Grace unbuckled her seat belt mid-flight with the backdoor open and stood up to break Morgan’s stick, as though Morgan desperately needed his stick at that moment. Or what about the fact that, in the very same episode that John and Dwight’s car dies because of old gas, they learn from Logan that Clayton has a secret gasoline refinery, and that the refinery holds the only hope for the future. Oh, and the second half of the season will be all about finding that gas refinery, and that Logan isn’t really the bad guy after all, just a pawn for the real bad guys, who are … who knows More red shirts.

On a micro-level, the entire episode was a disaster. Nothing made sense. Multiple contrivances seemed to be written in just to extend the episode to its full runtime. And yet, I didn’t hate it. In fact, there were several great character moments that redeemed the otherwise bad writing. It was absurd that John’s walkie-talkie battery died just as he was saying goodbye to June, and the speech he delivered to June was badly written, but the way John delivered it was fantastic — I felt a lump in my throat when John pulled the walkie-talkie away from his face and gave a little “wooh” sound. There was also the nice moment when Strand told Alicia that her mom would be proud of her. John proposing to June was a sweet, crowd-pleasing moment, and the reunion between Daniel and Alicia basically redeemed the entire rest of the episode, even if Daniel barely resembles the character he was in the first three seasons.

Essentially, the entire midseason finale reinforced what we already know about Fear the Walking Dead: The foundation is here. All the ingredients for a great show still exists, but right now, the showrunners have no idea how to mix them. Hopefully, the series can right itself in the back half of the season. The trailer does look good, but only in a vacuum. Compared to the season 10 trailer for The Walking Dead, however, Fear looks like child’s play.