Fear the Walking Dead 306 recap: ‘Red Dirt’

Fear the Walking Dead continues with season 3 episode 6 “Red Dirt.” The way of life at Broke Jaw Ranch is being threatened. Here’s your recap.

Jeremiah is trying to teach Nick how to shoot. Nick’s distracted by Madison’s absence, but Jeremiah tells him not to worry.

Alicia wakes up in bed beside Jake. She’s worried about her mom, too. Jake tells her that Troy promised to protect Madison, and since he made the promise to Jake it’s worth more.

Nick improves his target practice as he spots the group in the distance. They’re limping and beat up and the town comes running to greet them. Everyone but Troy falls to the ground. He tells his dad that they should speak privately, but the group wants to know what happened. They all deserve to know. One of the men blurts out that the Indians slaughtered the outpost. He tells the others that they’re all dead if they stay. “If we stay, we die.” Troy tries to quiet him, but he won’t stop. Madison knows this is trouble.

Madison and Troy speak to Jake and Jeremiah, and Troy tells them that they couldn’t have avoided the situation. Jeremiah is adamant that they won’t leave the ranch. Troy says there is no negotiation here, either they stole the land or they didn’t. Otto says that this land was purchased before he was born. Jake explains that Walker is a tribal lawyer who has fought the Ottos for years and he has always beaten them. Otto says that their land is nothing more than a truck stop and he unleashes a racist tirade against them. Otto wants Jake to talk to the group, and Jake wants Troy to talk to them with him. Otto isn’t having it.

Nick and Alicia take Madison home and treat her feet. They’re in bad shape. Madison notices Luciana’s absence and Nick explains that she went South to find her friends. He says she’s strong, and Madison says he is, too.

Alicia finds Jake doing target practice. She says she’s sorry for the people he lost. He asks about Madison, and Alicia asks about Otto. He’s the last of the Founders and his father is feeling it. Jake tries to sound brave but it doesn’t come through well. Alicia asks him to show her how to shoot. She asks who will take over after he’s gone, but the people at the ranch don’t like taking orders. She believes that people will look to Jake.

Gretchen comes to the room to look for Alicia. Madison asks about Mike and she says he’s freaked out, but they’re thankful that Madison was there. Her father doesn’t think they’re safe there, and he’s never been afraid until now. He says that he wants to leave the ranch and she is scared. Gretchen’s father wants to go to Colorado, and he’s telling everyone who will listen that they will be safer there.

Otto pulls a bottle of liquor out of his desk and stares at the bottle. He goes outside to see a fire lit in the distance. He looks around and sees fires all around the ranch. Nick leaves his cabin and hears people calling out “fire.” Madison limps outside and sees that they’re surrounded by fire. “Son of a bitch,” she mutters.

Otto pokes at the fire pit. He says they’re 50 yards out, and if Walker was going to come he would have, but he can’t. Madison says the people are scared. Maybe that was the point.

Indeed, people are loading up trucks to leave the ranch. They’re taking supplies. Troy stops Nick as he comes in looking for building supplies. Troy taunts Nick about Luciana, but he ends by saying he’s glad Nick stayed. Nick then watches as Mrs. Daly and her son try to grab supplies for their trip away from the camp. They’ve already talked to Otto. They’re leaving.

Madison finds Otto, who has a migraine, and says that Vernon is talking to people. Vernon approaches and says he has been friends with Otto for 30 years and he needs to protect his family. They need to leave. Otto says he’s running at the first sign of trouble. Troy listens from a distance. Madison says that Vernon has no idea what’s out there. Troy asks if Mike is leaving too. They’re all leaving. He walks away, and Madison says that Otto needs to give the people a reason to fight and stay.

Troy can’t take the conversation anymore and he jumps up and chases Vernon’s RV at the gate. Jake and Madison chase him down as Troy demands an inventory of what they’re taking with them. Jake stops his brother, who tells Jake that he needs to either stay or surrender. Troy says Madison gets their mission more than Jake does. They get into a scuffle and Otto breaks them up. Vernon drives away with his family as everyone watches.

Madison finds Troy in the weapons storage area. She asks if he’s looking for something to take out Otto, but he’s there to protect it because that’s the first place people will go if there’s a run. Troy says that he grew up at the ranch and this is all he knows. Now it’s falling apart. Mike was his friend and he quit on him, but Madison reminds him that he was sticking by his family. She tells him to save them from the same mistake, and she vows to help him. The door opens and the militia files in. Troy calls for attention, and he says that Mike is gone. From this point forward they are an example of what the ranch is about. If they don’t make the ranch safe, people will leave. The ranch is all they have and it’s falling apart, so they have to save it. THey’re all on board.

Nick finds Otto in his cabin, drunk. He’s moving furniture, and he demands to know where Nick has been because he has been drinking all night alone. Nick passes on a drink, saying he’s “high on life.” He watches Otto drinking and sees that he hurt his hand. He hurt his hand to distract himself from the headaches. Nick offers him a place to crash. Otto explains that he and the founders gathered on that spot to build a movement. Two of the founders are dead, and one is dead to him. Otto grabs his gun and shoots the ground. He shoots three times into the ground. He apologizes, saying it’s Nick’s home and gun. He lies down on the bed.

Madison is in bed when Alicia comes in. Madison asks if she was at Bible study, and Alicia admits she was at Jake’s. “It’s nothing serious,” Alicia says. Madison asks if she ever said the “rhythm method” was BS, which Alicia groans at. There is birth control in the supply room, Alicia says. Alicia isn’t in love, but Jake is important to them. She likes him.

Nick is outside when Otto wakes up. Nick has supplies for him, because “it’s for Otto” gets you everything you need. Otto starts to apologize but Nick says he wasn’t at the cabin. In the distance they see a horse. They go outside the fence to the horse and Otto says it belonged to Vernon. He tells Nick to get Madison.

There’s a truck on the road. Madison drives with Otto in the cabin with her. Nick’s in the back. They wouldn’t have let the horse go, so either it escaped or they’re dead. Be ready for it, he says.

Alicia finds Jake getting ready to leave. He wants to go talk to Walker and negotiate. He’s going to go the long way to avoid his father. She says he shouldn’t go on a suicide mission. There are no courts or rules anyway. Jake says Walker is just fighting for his people. She asks him not to go. He takes the map and walks out.

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Madison pulls up to the RV. The windows have been shot out. Otto warns about the dead wandering around out there. The RV door is open, and inside he sees that Vernon’s family has become Infected. Vernon and Kathy are dead, and Mike is dead around back. In the trailer, Nick sees Gretchen and the rest of the family eating a horse. The horse is still alive. They kill everyone as Gretchen sits up and looks at them. Madison points her gun, but she hesitates. Nick kills her. They load the bodies into the truck. Nick asks Madison if Troy is behind it. Madison thinks it’s Walker, even though Nick points out that the RV is still fully loaded. Madison walks over to Otto, who says his boys have never done anything like this before. This was Troy’s work.

Troy is waiting at the gate when the truck and RV return. Madison gets out and shows everyone the bodies of Vernon’s family. The crowd gasps. Madison says they were good people and they didn’t deserve this. She says they weren’t prepared, but they welcomed her. She says they were killed by the same people who killed the people at the outpost and the helicopter. Madison says if they leave the ranch, they will die. Walker wants everyone to leave slowly, family by family, so they can be picked off. If they stay together, they will live. Nick watches as his mom lies for Troy and Otto. But it worked. Everyone nods in agreement.

Alicia searches Jake’s room for papers/ Looks like she wants to go after Jake. Nick finds Madison and says that she was wrong to lie, but he wishes that she would have told him first. He warns her not to forget what Troy is.

Madison finds Troy outside. He swears he didn’t go there to kill Vernon’s family. He only wanted Mike to say it to his face, but he wouldn’t. Things escalated and things went south quickly. Madison says he could run the ranch. He has command of his militia. Troy is the survivor, so Madison doesn’t want to hear that he lost control. She only cares that he can control it. They need to fight, and they need Troy to save them. “Yes, ma’am,” he says.

Madison walks away, knowing that her hands are full.

The Fear the Walking Dead two-hour midseason finale is coming up next week.