Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 13 Review: Leave What You Don't
Paul Dailly
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Maybe there's life in this old dog yet.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 13 said goodbye to Logan and introduced a brand new band of villains who can only be described as the Saviors on wheels.
Even though Logan was a horrible villain, there was a total of zero character development for him aside from this installment, and that's a little frustrating.
It makes it seem like the showrunners are planning the show as they go as opposed to having an arc mapped out ahead of time.
If we got insight into Logan's past ahead of this installment then maybe it would have all felt worthwhile.
His last-minute epiphany didn't feel organic. It felt like a plot device to get viewers to feel for him before wiping him from existence.
The truth is, Logan has been the worst since he arrived on the scene. There were never really any stakes, which made episodes predictable because everyone survived under the most ridiculous of circumstances.
The introduction of Virginia and her people was weak, and that's partly because there were no breadcrumbs to let viewers know that there was something more out there.
June: We're here Alicia.
Alicia: Just got off with someone at one of our stops. They need help. What's your 20?
June: We're on our way to the oil fields. We think Logan might have found them.
Alicia: What? How?
June: We got it covered. Don't worry. We sent Charlie and David back to the convoy, but no one has heard from Grace and Daniel. We can't reach Morgan and Al.
Alicia: Yeah, they are out of range. We can't reach them either.
June: Help that person in the truck stop. We got this.
Expanding the world has kept the original series thriving, so it was about time Fear branched out a little more to introduce someone of this caliber.
Virginia has proven to be untrustworthy during her first episode, so it doesn't bode well for the future. She should have killed one of the beloved characters to prove that she was willing to get blood on her hands if the going gets tough.
Luciana deciding to stay behind was not surprising. The actress has not been given much to work with, and it's becoming apparent the writers simply don't know what to do with the character.
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For the first time in a long time, she felt like the Luciana we were introduced to all those years -- not merely a person who was molded to whatever was going on.
Man: We hit a roadblock.
Sarah: Some fellas will do anything to avoid asking for directions.
Sacrificing her own freedom for the greater good certainly feels like something Luciana would do to keep everyone safe, but I dare say Virginia will dispatch of her when her people figure out how to sort the oil themselves.
Speaking of the oil, it was completely and utterly ridiculous that there was no defense above to prevent walkers from spilling into the place everyone was working.
They were truly risking their safety working there, so it's hard to believe that nobody thought to put up a fence around the top of the quarry.
Still, the scenes with the walkers invading were intriguing enough to watch.
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It's just a shame that whenever it seems this series is finding its way out of the doldrums, the creative forces behind the show would like us to believe some of the characters are dumb to make good TV.
Sarah trying to help Logan was one of the most organic moments on the series in quite some time. There was pain behind those eyes when she realized that she had to save him.
It would have been easy to kill her off at that moment, but the character has been growing on me over the last batch of episodes.
Her one-liners make me laugh to the point that I look forward to her scenes. With three episodes left, it does seem like a mass cull of the characters is coming.
This is survival ... but not of the fittest.
Logan
There are simply too many, and the characters need to be pushed to breaking point to set up conflict for Fear the Walking Dead Season 6.
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The moment Alicia told the girl Wes saved that she's with them now and that she will be safe made it seem like the woman had been tasked with infiltrating the group to gather information.
Everyone has radios nowadays on the show to the point that they're all communicating with each other, so this new character is going to be trouble.
Even if she's not there for information, there has to be a reason why she fled the other group. Maybe she didn't agree with the way they strongarm everyone to get their point across.
Time will tell.
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Alicia was ecstatic that Wes emerged from the shadows. But this plot would have benefited from some more breathing room.
Alicia wants to make sure the world thrives and that she and her people make their mark and try to fight for something new that will keep people safe in the future.
She'll have a lot to say about Virginia and what her people are doing.
It's a shame that some parts of the plot are being rushed as we approach the conclusion of Fear the Walking Dead Season 5.
The first half of the season was slow-paced and could have benefited from stronger storytelling, but much of the plots this half are over mere scenes after they get underway.
What are your thoughts on the way things played out?
Are you on board with these new villains?
Remember you can watch Fear the Walking Dead online right here via TV Fanatic.
FTWD airs Sundays on AMC.
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
