Fear the Walking Dead season 3 episode 2 recap: ‘The New Frontier’

Fear the Walking Dead is back with a two hour season premiere. Here’s your complete recap of part 2, “The New Frontier.”

Jake and the helicopter crew are 20 minutes from the base. As they fly they start taking fire. Travis gets shot in the neck. It’s a bloody flesh wound. “Help me,” he says. He opens the door of the helicopter and starts to jump out as they beg him to stay in his seat. Alicia unbuckles herself and holds on to him, but she knows he’s gone. He gives her a long look before falling from the helicopter.

Travis is dead. After all of that, Travis is dead. (Cliff Curtis, of course, has signed on to Avatar movies so we’ll see him again)

Back at the resort in Rosarito, people storm the gates trying to get in. Elena talks to them and says they don’t have a doctor or room for them. She and her brother are attacked at the gate when Strand walks up and speaks to the crowd, saying he’s a doctor. Elena glares at him and shows them his wound. He tells her to open the gates and let them into the resort. Her brother says he’ll talk to Strand later, but he reminds him that he saved his life. “De nada, asshole.”

The chopper landed and they will have to hurry back. Jake talks to Alicia and says Luciana is as stable as possible. He tells her that she did the right thing. She wonders if he is still alive and Jake assures her that she did the right thing.

The caravan is having a better time. Madison and Nick ride behind Troy. Madison shuts of his loud music and he seems amused by her actions. They arrive at the compound. There are cows and fences, and gates and guards. The guards tell Troy that Jake isn’t back yet. Troy orders Madison and Nick out of the truck and they leave them outside the gates so that they can go inside. Madison and Nick take stock of their surroundings. Nick wants to leave, but Madison points out that there is nowhere to go. He wants to know their play. She tells him to hug her, and it’s so that the guards see them. It’s also so Nick knows she has a gun in her waistband. She’s ready to stop anyone that gets in her way.

Strand plays doctor with a young boy while Elena watches. She finds him the next day and brings him to the woman who is pregnant. She’s in labor. Elena tells him to do something. Her husband has a knife and is willing to kill for her care. He sends everyone out and then jumps into action. He asks Elena to stay and help.

Madison and Nick take stock of what’s going on at the ranch. Madison says they need to help Luciana when they get there. Nick doesn’t want to stay with the people who tried to kill him. He warns her that she doesn’t want him there any more than necessary. Jeremiah Otto approaches and offers her some coffee. He wonders if there was a reason that Travis might have diverted the chopper. He was also up all night because his son and goddaughter were on the chopper. He welcomes them to Brokejaw Ranch. Nick insists that it isn’t safe, but she tells him to trust her if he doesn’t trust them.

Jeremiah says that they had been getting ready since before things fell apart, but they didn’t count on the dead rising from their graves. He focused on self-defense. He knows what Troy was doing at the base but he doesn’t know the other side. He’ll learn from Jake when he gets back. This is the safest place, he says, and he expects that they’d be grateful. Jeremiah gives them a room and doesn’t lock them in. Nick gets angry when Madison thanks him, and he yells that his son is a murderer. Nick says that it’s all his fault. Luciana’s people followed him to the border, and Madison came looking for him. She doesn’t blame him, and she says they need to bide their time and he needs to be on her side.

Jake builds a fire while Charlene goes out on watch. Alicia sits at the fire. She asks about their fate. Jake says they watch him back home. They keep an eye on him because he has always been a problem. She says she understands that because she did the same with Nick. Jake says the difference is that her brother will be happy to see her. Charlene does the secret whistle and Jake puts the fire out and gives her a gun. He goes off in search of the problem, leaving Luciana and Alicia. Jake is up on a ridge and he falls off into a ravine. There is are Infected there, and Jake struggles to fight it off. Fortunately, Alicia is there and she shoots them all in the head with precision, saving his life. Jake asks for the gun and she gives it to him. He tells her to go back, quickly, so he can take care of things, but really it looks like he’s hiding the fact that he wasn’t able to save himself. He peers into the darkness and finds Charlene there, dead. He shoots her before she turns.

Stand has delivered the baby and they want to name it after him. Elena admits he was right about calming people, but the lie will destroy them. She says he needs to leave. He wants more time, but she says no. She can’t offer him a car, either. Hector wants Strand’s help with a woman who has decided to stop eating. He tells him to go inside to make her eat. The room is a mess and is full of flies and wedding gifts. Food from the wedding is all around, a woman is there in a wedding dress, but it’s a mannequin. The woman who stabbed him is there and he tries to tell her that he can help her. She apologizes for stabbing him. She says she was hopeless. He goes to open the door but it’s jammed. Once it’s open, she thanks him and breathes in the fresh air. Eileen calls him an angel. He tells her how he delivered a baby and it represents a new generation, and that might give them new hope. She asks where he will go if he leaves, and he has a place in mind. She offers him a small box with a wedding gift in it to help him, to make up for what she did to him. Eileen thanks him for freeing her little girl, but she says there are no more generations. And she jumps.

Alicia approaches Jake the next morning and says she’s sorry for his loss. He’s devastated. She says Luciana is unconscious and won’t wake up. He offers to carry her. They will arrive at the ranch soon. “Terrible world, isn’t it?” he asks. She offers to help carry Luciana.

One of the guards spots the trio moving to the ranch. He orders them to open the gate. Medics arrive, and Madison hugs Alicia. She asks about Travis, and Alicia breaks down in tears. She can’t say the words. Madison collapses as Troy walks up. Nick runs to Luciana. Jake says they were shot down. Luciana isn’t responding and Troy says they need to kill her. Jake and Jeremiah look on as Troy does what he says he has to do. Nick offers to do it, and Troy eventually agrees. Luciana stirs as Nick holds the gun. Of course Nick decides to hold the gun toward Troy and says they need to let her in. Madison begs him hold off, but he says not this time. Nick says Troy is the one who shot her in the first place. Jeremiah agrees to let her in if she has a pulse, but he has to give him the gun.

Jeremiah hands the gun back to Troy and tells them to take Luciana to the infirmary. Madison tells Alicia to go with Nick, and then she wipes a tear away and heads back inside the gates. Madison finds a quiet place and throws up, then she allows the grief to overcome her. Jeremiah approaches and she wipes her tears. She warns him to watch where he steps. He shares that he lived on Jack and Coke after his wife left. Madison says this is all a cosmic joke. He says he came to offer her some help. Killing herself would present another challenge. He says his job is to be sure she isn’t a danger to anyone. He came to see her because a gun is missing from the truck and wanted to see if she’d sign for it. He says it was a lady’s model anyway. He doesn’t want to take it, just wants to know she has it, which is kind of cool. He says he’s sorry for her loss. Madison tells him Travis was a good man, and he agrees if he was with a woman like her.

Luciana is handcuffed at the infirmary. Alicia finds Nick and he sees that his sister isn’t ok. He hugs her and she breaks down crying.

Strand leaves the resort, using a set of keys (from Eileen) to drive away with the wedding present: A brand new luxury car. It’s perfect for him.

Madison smokes and looks out the window when Alicia comes in with Nick. She tells them to close the door. She assures them that she’s ok, Madison says Nick asked about her plan, and he says that was before this happened. She says they’re going to make this place their home, even if they have to take it over. They suffered and lost Travis just to get there. That means she has to get stronger. She wants to hear how Travis died.

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Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC