Fear the Walking Dead Review: Episode 312 – Brother’s Keeper

TV Description: As Nick and Jake set out to handle a delicate situation, the Ranch prepares for a threat greater than any they've faced before.

[Warning: Spoilers Incoming]

PREVIOUSLY ON FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Madison Clark, Strand, and Walker arrive at the dam and reunite with Daniel Salazar. However, their attempts to make a trade for water do not go well as the dam’s leader, Lola, believes trading water would upset the already angry people who scream for water. Strand saves the deal though after rigging an explosive up on a water truck and convincing Lola to trade the water for weapons and supplies from Madison and Walker.

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This episode of Fear the Walking Dead felt like the beginning of the end. I knew Troy was going to return and bring about some great destruction sooner or later and in this episode he does that in a big way. First a grenade launcher with plenty of ammo, then the biggest horde of infected that Fear has ever seen? What else to do but send them down to Broke Jaw Ranch~

Nick and Alicia had huge roles in this episode, though Nick shines more than her sister by bringing about the death Jake Otto. I was pissed, oh so pissed and Nick for knocking Jake to the ground so that he didn’t have time to not get bitten. And Nick was defending Troy, a character who we are constantly reminded is a sociopath, has multiple times endangered others through his habits, and who continually makes us worry who he will attempt to kill next. This situation seems to be making Nick digress as a leader and potential hero for the audience, which hurts after we’ve seen him grow and become more capable of surviving after so many adventures on his own. It makes me wish Luciana was still around to comfort him. I can understand why Nick wants to care for Troy, both had hard childhoods, fathers who died, and have been rejected or shunned by society multiple times. Nick however has gotten over his problems and in doing so has turned him from a drug addict to an incredible apocalyptic survivor. Troy still has his problems and despite his brother trying to help him he continually brings danger upon himself and others.

While I hoped and hoped for Jake to become a regular for this show I had a feeling that he wasn’t going to live on in season 4. And so watching Jake getting bitten and die from blood loss after a failed attempt at amputation was a huge blow to me. However, Jake’s death did something to Troy. After hearing him ask for Nick to “do what my brother should have done,” I think Troy now has realized, though a bit too late, what his actions this episode have done. Maybe Troy will finally begin to change to turn into a more moral character, though maybe it also means he also will join his brother in the afterlife before the season ends. Either ways, I did admire Nick’s refusal to end Troy’s life and instead tell him they both have to save the ranch before Alicia and the rest of the ranch’s community die.

And now we come to Alicia who, unlike Nick, seems to become more a leader than we thought Nick would be. While true it is destressing to hear that she and Jake will never get to be together anymore, their talk before the quest to find Troy brought a lot to life. Jake finally questions if Alicia had been playing him the whole time, that they weren’t really a couple, but only allies. Alicia confirmed that they were just allies, making me wonder if she’ll turn more Madison soon. Alycia Debnam-Carey though acted this scene incredibly, showing disbelief, anger, and denial into her talk with Sam Underwood. As their last scene together it went out wonderfully. This wasn’t the only notable scene from Alicia though, as she also helped defend the ranch in her first real battle with a horde. Sure there have been small groups of infected every now and then, but this was her first true horde. She survived well, even doing a few courtesies like putting down a few bitten ranchers, include the giant Coop, who could not take their own lives the way they were restrained by the horde.

I will say that the attempt to redirect the horde was a good idea, but the ranch should have used a few people to distract and guide the dead so they didn’t keep running into the wall of trailers. Season 6 of the original show did such an attempt and mostly succeeded, but the characters in that show at that time were far more experienced and willing to take risks. We’re only in season 3 of Fear, so there’s a bit to learn from this experience if there are some living characters still able to escape the horde. This battle though finally set the differences of the original ranchers and the new members of the Nation aside in order to defeat the dead, with characters like Coop and Crazy Dog defending both parties in the final run to the last safe place left on the ranch. But I know this is far from over, with everyone now locked in a small bunker and only two people around to save them.

Overall analysis:

Brother’s Keeper is almost able to bring Fear the Walking Dead up to the level of excitement and development of The Walking Dead. People are uniting together to face a common foe, we got some great antagonists and protagonists showing what they got, and the situation is becoming even more grim than before. I am now worried and excited for the next episode, with me now counting down the days to when we see the story continue.