In sunday Fear the living deadStrand did what Virginia believed was impossible, earning herself an award that looked a lot like punishment. Read on and I’ll tell you why.
“YOU AND I WILL NEVER GONNA CLEAN ANOTHER LATRINE AGAIN” | At the start of “Welcome to the Club,” a group of prisoners wearing numbered horsemen were led to a sugar processing factory and instructed by Ginny’s Rangers – at gunpoint, natch – to send the horde to walkers trapped behind a door. All – the survivors, that is, not the walkers – had disobeyed Virginia and therefore deserved to be buried; this, the chief villain explained, was their chance to widen. But the door stuck, molasses oozed out, and one by one the Rangers and prisoners were all dragged to their sweet death, all except Prisoner # 41, Sanjay. After the opening credits, Strand and Alicia, apparently on latrine duty outside Lawton (Fear‘s response to Woodbury?), got to the heart of the matter with Ranger Marcus – to the point that Virginia’s teenage sister Dakota (new actress Zoe Colletti) was moved to step in on their behalf.
Of course, Strand and Alicia always landed in hot water, so they were ushered into Virginia’s office, where they interrupted the haircut she was getting from Daniel, who … whaaat? I didn’t recognize his friends at all. “His memory is like a catalog of cards,” Ginny explained, “but the cards are all mixed up” because he tried too hard to keep Skidmark with him, and things got ugly. (Not my Skidmark! Ginny, you bastard!) As for the duo’s punishment, Virginia was going to send them “somewhere that better suited your natural talents” – in other words, the sugar factory. Before they were driven there, Strand expressed his pity for Daniel. “You told me to remember who I was here,” Victor said. “You can’t even do the same. In response, the barber gave Strand his St. Kitts Medal to ease the heavy burden he appeared to be carrying.
‘I hope you are still breathing when I come back’ | At the factory, Alicia and Strand track down Charlie, who was being punished for trying to escape, and Janice. What had she done? The best question, she said, was “what are they capture me do? In no time, Strand decided they were going to take over. But it was going to be hard to do when the Walkers were smeared with syrup like Homer’s Sweetest Dream and Worst Nightmare, the Rangers had guns, and although there were more prisoners than Rangers, they did. only had spears and shit. Additionally, one of the prisoners was Sanjay, who admitted that when the massacre took place, “I was just the asshole watching.” Certainly Team B material. As Strand and Alicia discussed their plan and whether to have an abortion, they discovered that they had not only received a delivery of sharps, but also a stowaway – Dakota, who not only revealed her connection to Virginia, but that she was most certainly not a fan of her brother.
L’adolescent was, however, a Strand and Alicia fan. She had seen their old tapes; that was why she was sure they would help her escape Lawton. And at Virginia, she had heard everything, about the factory weapon that the leader of the Pioneers wanted so badly, the deal Victor had made with Ginny – everything. Treat? Alicia asked. The one in which Victor gave their enemy the SWAT van in exchange for not being separated from Madison’s daughter. “Daniel told me to remember who I was,” he repeated to Alicia. Well, being with her helped him do that, be somebody he could look in his eyes. It’s hard to be mad at such a reason. Sooo, it was agreed that they would take out the walkers, retrieve the weapon and use it against Ginny. Easy peasy. Only it turned out that there was a full-fledged horde behind that door, and before you could say “change of plans,” things had started to move south.
“THEY WILL CHOOSE FRESH MEAT EVERY TIME” | Sanjay, as he used to do, froze, Charlie was pulled back by his ponytail and nearly got bitten – Dakota jumped into the fray to save her, thank goodness – and soon the Rangers were on. all torn from one limb to another. (No big loss, that.) When Strand ran outside to honk and lure the walkers, he found Sanjay hiding in the van. Since the zombies wanted nibbles, not noise, Strand reverted to his old ways and – whoa – stabbed Sanjay, using him as live bait to distract the walkers long enough for Janice and Alicia to get the Ranger weapons. . “You said you wished you had the courage to resist [the Rangers]Strand told his victim before anyone was there. Well, “today is your day to be a hero.” And also dinner. “I tried to stop him,” Victor lied to his friends, “but that’s what he wanted. He did this for us.
In any case, the group now had access to the mysterious weapon, which… didn’t really exist! Dakota hadn’t made it up, she just didn’t know there was no real weapon. “The thing I’m looking for isn’t here,” Virginia told Strand upon arrival. “You are a real leader. You are the key. With that, she presented him with a Pioneer Key – he was now an official Scout – and informed him that he had just formed an army. He could do whatever he wanted with it, but when the time came for “the big show … you better be ready.” Whatever the “big show”. As the episode neared its end, Charlie tried to refresh Daniel’s memory with the traveling Wilburys – to no avail. Alicia later learned that Strand was keeping Janice where she was, on laundry duty, while sending to a way. He didn’t want to remember who he was anymore. He could not. “To do everything I need now, for all of us, I have to forget about this person,” he said to Alicia, “and I can’t do it with you by my side. With that, he awarded him the Saint-Christophe medal which will clearly be the hot potato of the season.
“YOU CAN USE A HAIR CUT” | In the dying moments of the hour, Daniel waited for Ranger Hill to lead him outside Lawton’s gates (en route to Paradise Ridge) to “remember” that he had left his best scissors. When the Ranger returned to retrieve them, the barber whistled… and someone whistled back – and killed an approaching walker. “I have to, my friend, if in fact you are a friend,” said Daniel. Oh, it was a friend okay, it was Morgan! Not only that, but Daniel recognized it. “I thought it was you she was looking for,” said the barber, sharp as his razor. So what did you think of “Welcome to the Club”? Strand’s return to the dark side? Charlie almost missed? So far, I like this season much better than the last. You? Hit the comments.
