Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 2 Review: The Hurt That Will Happen
Paul Dailly
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Am I the only one freaking the eff out after watching Chernobyl? I can't be the only one who researched everything about the disaster thanks to HBO's harrowing miniseries.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 2 shone the light on a brand new character played by the wonderful Karen David, and also gave us some answers about this mysterious new locale.
Yup, the radiation sign Alicia stumbled upon on Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 1 was no scare tactic.
In Grace, David delivered a stunning performance as a woman who feels somewhat responsible for the batch of radiation-filled zombies doing the rounds in this new location.
Grace was driven by her decision to make up for the sins of the past, and her arc was actually very similar to Morgan's. That probably explains why they hit it off straight off the bat, despite their tension-filled first encounter.
Related: Chernobyl Is a Harrowing and Worthy Look at One of the World's Worst Man-Made Disasters
Morgan has gone off on his own in the past with the aim of finding meaning. That's why he was absent from several early seasons of The Walking Dead, but he's now at a place in which he can co-exist with others.
All I'm saying is, if the producers want to give Morgan a love interest in Grace, I would not be mad. They just have so much in common and seem intrigued by each other.
The good news is that Karen is signed on as a series regular, so her parting of ways with the gang at the close of "The Hurt That Will Happen" will lead to something much more.
That being said, Grace does have radiation poisoning, so she is slowly but surely dying. It remains to be seen just how sick she is.
There's more to Grace's story than she's letting on, and that's what makes the mystery surrounding her so engrossing.
John: Well, whatever it was she came to check out, it's gone.
Alicia: What do you mean gone? You said she pinned it to the ground.
John: Rain turned the ground to mush. Must have slipped free. I don't know. Maybe she followed it. Maybe she's just chasing the story like she does, you know.
Alicia: You really believe that? I mean, with everything we've seen since the crash.
John: I guess I want to. If I'm being honest, no.
I especially liked how against Grace Alicia was at the top of the hour. If you watch Fear the Walking Dead online, you know that Alicia's arc of late has focused on her offing every single walker she comes in contact with.
She has so much rage built up that she's allowing herself to be put into positions that could result in her death. There's no hard and fast rule to get over the loss of loved ones, but the brush with the Resident Evil villain-like walker helped her see the light.
This The Walking Dead spinoff has suffered in the past from inconsistent storytelling, but it appears that the show is continuing to go from strength to strength, and it's still way more enjoyable to watch than the parent series.
The only thing that really irked me was that Luciana was left on her own. She had just come out of grueling surgery and was as high as a kite thanks to the pain medication.
That was a recipe for disaster, and it almost resulted in her death. I have to praise the visuals because I was biting my nails throughout those tense final scenes.
It's obvious the others are going to think Luciana imagined some of what went down while she was alone, and that's going to be more than a little frustrating.
Related: Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 1 Review: Here to Help
There was a desire to find out what was going on from all parties, and that's why Luciana was left. She wouldn't have been able to fight any walkers because she was so out of it.
It would have made more sense to send just one group out into the great unknown and leave someone like Alicia, who is hanging by a thread behind with her.
One thing we can probably say for certain is that walkers were not the ones to destroy the radio mast. It's whoever is hanging zombie heads and intestines like decorations wherever the characters seem to go.
It's a good thing we got to watch the tense standoff between Strand and Daniel play out because it would have been fair to assume that Luciana's conversations with Strand were a figment of her imagination.
It was the meeting we've been waiting a long time, and boy, it paid off big time. The world is enormous, but in Fear the Walking Dead, it seems tiny because these characters keep crossing paths again, even if they parted ways thousands of miles away from where they meet up.
Daniel resents Strand because he thinks he is part of the reason why the likes of Madison and Nick are dead. Strand has been selfish in the past, doing things that will benefit himself.
That's sort of what happens when the world ends. The rules change, but Daniel is a man of honor and he was burned too many times by Strand in the past to be able to believe he was genuinely wanting to save his friends.
It's fascinating to have these two as adversaries because there was a time they worked very well together. Daniel has a suitable living situation, so there's nothing Strand can really offer to get his hands on the plane.
It makes me think Strand is going to rally the troops and break down the walls of Daniel's sanctuary and take the plane with after causing death and destruction.
It's possible that Daniel will go on the mission on the mission himself if Alicia finds herself on the radio chatting with him, but it's hard to imagine him giving up his safe haven.
That's all I got, Fear the Walking Dead Fanatics.
Hit the comments with your take on the episode!
Fear the Walking Dead continues Sundays on AMC.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
