Fear The Walking Dead 410: Were there any deaths in Close Your Eyes?

The hurricane put all the survivors at risk on Fear The Walking Dead but it wasn’t just the storm that was a threat for Alicia and Charlie.

The only major death this week was my heart, caused by the amazing performances given by Alycia Debnam-Carey and Alexa Nisenson in Fear The Walking Dead 410 “Close Your Eyes”. This taut and dark bottle episode pitted these two against each other and against themselves as much as against the walkers and the storm.

When Alicia takes refuge from the storm in a nearby house she is joined by Charlie and each of them has to face their own demons and make peace with each other, or kill each other. And for the first part of the episode it’s not really clear which path they will choose. Charlie is traumatized, alone, and struggling with the guilt of killing Nick and indirectly causing Madison’s death.

But considering that she shot Nick in cold blood it’s entirely possible that she would kill Alicia also. There is a lot of tension any time the two face each other because neither knows if their grief should bond them or if their rage should cause them to kill each other. Charlie wants to die but can’t seem to let go of living. She puts herself directly in the path of a walker, again, but ultimately is saved by Alicia.

Alicia is also struggling. She wants to kill Charlie in revenge for Charlie’s murder of Nick and the death of Madison. Alicia’s entire family has been wiped out and Charlie caused that. But Alicia is struggling because she is still her mother’s daughter, and Madison’s influence is strong even in death.

Alicia feels compelled to take care of Charlie because that’s what Madison would have done. It’s what Madison did. Even after Charlie’s betrayal was discovered Madison tried to protect her and get her to come back to the group in the stadium.

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Trauma Bonds

Alycia Debnam-Carey gives a thrilling performance in Fear The Walking Dead 410 “Close Your Eyes”, and Alexa Nisenson gives an equally amazing performance considering her age. Through the course of the episode these two face death, and grief, and rage, and the separate traumas that keep them on parallel but similar paths.

Ultimately they come together because of the bonds of the trauma they’ve been through and the losses they have suffered. Alicia faced down her own rage and fear and darkness and ultimately showed the same strength that Madison had when she decided she would protect Charlie the way that her mother would have.

Charlie faced down her guilt and her shame and her desire to die and came out the other side sure that she wants to live, at least for now. And now the two are bonded by trauma and grief and the knowledge that both faced their own mortality and chose life, and hope, and community. The way that Madison would have wanted.

So in a metaphysical sense both Alicia and Charlie went through a death like transformation in this episode even though there were no major physical deaths. It will be very interesting to see how these two move forward together and what happens when Charlie has to face Luciana and Strand in upcoming episodes of Fear The Walking Dead.