Fear The Walking Dead: Who died in Grotesque?

The mid-season opener of Fear The Walking Dead is a Nick-centric episode where the former addict looks death in the face multiple times over a 100 mile journey. Does he make it out alive?

Season 2 epsiode 8 of Fear The Walking Dead opens with Nick talking to Sofia, one of the managers at Celia’s compound, about where he can go to find like-minded survivors, ones who are not afraid of the dead.  She explains that he may find solace further north but the journey is not safe alone.  Nick insists on heading north and Sofia gives him a pack of provisions including a large jug of water.

Nick indeed faces many obstacles on his journey toward Tijuana.  Are any of those obstacles insurmountable? Or does he continue to defy death as in episodes past.  Let’s take a look.

Goodbye water

Nick finds a seemingly abandoned house in which to take shelter after his first day of travel.  He falls to sleep but is awakened by an extremely fearful, bat-wielding woman with a young girl in tow.  The woman has no patience for Nick’s explanations and swings at him multiple times.  He escapes but without his pack and water jug.

No water means no survival.  Man can survive only a limited time without hydration.  Nick tries to no avail to get some liquid from a cactus. Not only is there no water in the cactus, the contents make Nick vomit leading to even faster dehydration.

Nick urinates in his hand and cups the liquid to his mouth.  This gives him a little more time.  He then encounters a pile up of cars on the road and maneuvers around one of the infected to retrieve her water bottle.  This buys him a little more time.

Outlaws and other “Ruff” guys

Here at the car pileup, Nick first encounters a group of Outlaws (as they are called on Talking Dead).  Here we see the first death of the episode, an innocent man in one of the cars begging for water. The outlaws swiftly kill the older gentleman and then set their sights on Nick. The men chase Nick but he is able to outrun them for now.

He continues on his journey and finds an old bus to lean against for a bit of rest.  He is soon attacked by a group of wild dogs who take a chunk from his leg.  Nick scrambles to the top of the bus as the dogs continue to leap towards him.

A herd of infected head towards the bus distracting the dogs.  The dogs begin to attack the walkers instead, only to find themselves being food for the infected.  A horn honks in the distance attracting the infected away from Nick. Struggling with fatigue, an open wound, hunger, and dehydration, Nick stoops to another level of survival when he feasts upon one of the dogs’ carcass.

Nick lathers himself in more blood from the infected, retrieves a belt from said infected to create a tourniquet for his leg wound, and continues on his journey in the middle of a pack of the dead. He faces the Outlaws again on the road.  The Outlaws begin firing on the horde.  When one of the Outlaws realizes Nick is among the horde, he becomes unsettled and distracted long enough to be attacked by one of the infected.  One of his colleagues faces the same fate, while the third guy drives off in a hurry.

Once again, Nick escapes almost certain death.  But he is struggling, big time. He collapses in the middle of the road.  Three mystery figures spy him from a distance, two men and a woman we will come to know as Luciana.  The men consider helping Nick but Luciana refuses.

And the rain came down

As Nick lies in the street on death’s door, a heavy rain awakens him. He drinks the water and his life is salvaged once more.  He hobbles along, finally reaching Tijuana.  He scavenges a pharmacy but finds nothing.  He does find supplies which he uses to try to bandage his leg.

He is interrupted suddenly by Luciana and her scouts (as the actress, Danay Garcia, referred to them on Talking Dead).  This time she helps him, taking him home to her community where he is treated by a man named Alejandro. The doors of the clinic are opened and after cheating death multiple times throughout his journey, Nick sees a vibrant community before him.

A father not forgotten

Another death is revealed in this episode of Fear The Walking Dead, one from Nick’s past.  We have heard Nick speak of his father before, telling Strand that his dad had called him “Nicholas”.  In a series of flashbacks in the episode, we learn that Nick’s father was killed in a head-on collision while Nick was in a stint at rehab.

Revere not Fear The Walking Dead

While Nick faced many close calls in the mid-season opener of Fear The Walking Dead, he defied the odds and escaped death.  It is quite analogous to his preoccupation with walking among the infected, coming physically very close to death, but living all the same.  He does not look down upon the infected but embraces them much like Celia did.

Totals

The losses in 208 ‘Grotesque’ stacked up as follows:

A jug of water, a thirsty old man, a pack of wild dogs, 2 Outlaws, and a flashback to Nick learning of his father’s death. But only the thirsty gentleman and the two Outlaws count as humans who died in the timeline of the episode itself.

Total: 3

Next: Fear The Walking Dead 208: Review of Grotesque

We know Nick beat the odds tonight (as he has a history of doing). But when did you think Nick was actually the closest to death? See you back her next week to review losses in Fear The Walking Dead season 2 episode 9.