Fear The Walking Dead: Will The Pirates Return?

When we last left Fear The Walking Dead, Strand’s plan after Thomas’ compound fell was to return to the boat, but…is it any safer back on the water?

I think it’s a fair question. While things aren’t looking too good in Mexico for The Group at the moment —  Daniel’s whereabouts/safety are completely unknown, Travis and Chris (Who’s going through his own problems) are lost so far as everyone except Nick knows, and Nick himself has chosen to “go native”, as it were, and live amongst the infected — there’s no guarantee that they’ll find things any more safe back out on the Pacific!

I mean, to say nothing of the Mexican Navy (Whose last encounter with The Group didn’t go so well…), The Group’s time on the ocean was far from tranquil.

Now, I can imagine what you’re thinking: “Connor’s dead, Reed’s turned, four other pirates are dead, they’re not a threat!“

…And, you might be right, but, as we learned when Connor and Madison were making the exchange, there were more pirates than what we saw, and we have no idea whether any of them are more like Connor…or more like Reed.

It’s entirely possible the pirates have a new leader who may want to go out and find The Group to get revenge for what happened to their crew mates.

Jack

Part of me figures that, if there’s anyone amongst the remaining pirates we know who might try to fill Connor’s shoes, it would be Jack.

Jack was the pirates lovable, reluctant scout, who didn’t really approve of his group’s tactics, but found himself left with little option but to accept them and maybe, through his gentle nature and ability to find ships to commandeer, might be the person the remaining pirates look to (In fact, there’s even a Radio Waves episode which suggests he’s gone back to trying to reach out to people via the radio, which, if nothing else, implies someone has taken over).

Maybe he’s even set out to try to reconnect with Alicia, who he clearly became infatuated with during their correspondence, and even offered to strike out alone with her. Remember, it’s only been a few days (At most) since they parted, and it’s not a stretch to assume Jack wants to find Alicia again.

…Of course, there is the possibility that any quest Jack may set out on to find Alicia may not be an especially positive one.

While there’s a chance Jack is trying to catch up with Alicia to reunite with her (So I ship Jalicia/Aliciack, sue me), remember, Alicia left Jack to stay with The Group, despite Jack’s profession of his feelings for her.

You see that look up there? That might be the look of a guy who feels burned.

If Jack is looking for Alicia, it’s entirely possible he’s looking for revenge against the woman who scorned him.

We’ve already seen something similar (By all appearances, anyway) from Adams in the Season One finale, when he chose to shoot Ofelia rather than Daniel, so, seeing Jack do something similar is not out of the realm of possibility (Though I’d thoroughly hate it).

But, Jack isn’t the only person who could take over the pirates or want to hunt down The Group (Or, at least, members of it) for their own reasons.

The person I’m referring to is, of course, Alex.

Alex

Alex was the lone survivor of Flight 462 and had originally been rescued by The Group before being literally cut loose by Strand en route to San Diego.

We learn in “Captive” that Alex was discovered by the pirates and offered them The Abigail in exchange for a place among them, feeling especially resentful toward Travis for not speaking up to let her and Jake aboard when Strand originally wanted to abandon them.

Now, while you might think that it would be unlikely that the remaining pirates would follow the lead of their newest recruit, in the absence of other leaders, Alex’s obvious take-charge attitude, determination, and strange familiarity with the present situation might be the sort of thing that the other pirates might gravitate to.

And, if Alex became the person the other pirates looked to, it’s certainly not impossible to imagine that, perhaps seeking vengeance for Jake, she might go out trying to look for either Travis or Strand.

Someone else?

There is, of course, a third possibility when it comes to the pirates: A third person, whom we haven’t seen before, may rise up to replace Connor.

As I mentioned before, we discovered there were more pirates around then we knew about, so it’s entirely possible that someone else can swoop in and fill that role.

Furthermore, it’s entirely possible that this unknown pirate may not be quite as genteel as Connor was, and may take much more cues from Reed’s playbook, making the pirates much more bloodthirsty than they had previously been.

What The Group may discover when they try to reenter the ocean is a band of increasingly hostile and violent pirates, itching to get revenge for their fallen brethren, and perhaps with armaments or even men from the Mexican Navy, backing them up.

If this is what awaits The Group, they’ll soon learn the sea is no safer than the land.

Next: The Walking Dead: The Walking Dilemma

But, what do you guys think? Will The Group have another run-in with the pirates? Will it be friendly? Will it be hostile? Let me know in the comments! And, if you like this and want to read more of my writings, specifically about how to survive a zombie apocalypse, why not pick up a copy of my book, The Rules: A Guide To Surviving The Zombie Apocalypse! You can get it on Kindle here and on iTunes here!