Fear the Walking Dead 411 recap: The Code

This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead follows Morgan’s journey after he finds himself alone in the storm. Here’s your recap of “The Code.”

After being separated from Alicia in the mid-season premiere, Morgan is on his own. The storm is hitting hard and Morgan comes upon a truck in the road. A walker gets taken out by debris, giving Morgan time to get into the truck. Inside the cab he sees empty cans and a dog bed. He gets into the back of the truck and closes the doors to the storm. It’s nice and dry and a great place to stay out of the elements. There’s a light inside, and he quickly discovers that the boxes are the “take what you need” boxes from the side of the road. He finds weapons and toys and food and supplies, as well as some peanut butter protein bars. Wrapped in a blanket while eating his snacks, Morgan is ready to wait for the storm to pass.

The next day Morgan wakes up. The rain has stopped and there’s a walker at the door. He kills it, and then he opens the door to see that the storm left a lot of damage behind. He’s at a truck stop, though – in MISSISSIPPI. How far has that man walked!? (Answer: He slept while the truck drove along to the truck stop)

He goes into the Mini-Mart and finds that it’s completely stocked and clean. There is food on the shelves, and supplies all over. It’s very well maintained, clearly, and not ransacked like everything else at this point. He discovers that there is power, and when the power is on someone starts talking on the radio. She’s asking for Polar Bear, and she asks who she’s talking to. He explains that he was in the truck and she offers him the use of the facilities and supplies. She goes quiet, leaving him in the story

Cue the credits: The truck rolls across the road as we see the damage from the storm in the foreground.

Morgan walks the aisles, grabbing what he needs. He takes a walkie talkie, too, and then he consults a map to see how to get from where he is to Alexandria. Then he makes some coffee. And he loves the coffee.

There’s a bathroom at the truck stop and it has been a while since Morgan had access to running water, so he makes use of the sink. And then he uses the toilet. There’s a copy of “Toy Dog” magazine. Remember the dog bed in the truck?

Someone comes into the bathroom and tells him to get out, but Morgan asks for a minute as he finishes. Outside there’s a man – Wendell – in a wheelchair. He wants to know why Morgan was using the big bathroom stall meant for wheelchairs. Morgan admits he uses it because it feels like a small apartment. Wendell wants to know what’s in the bag.

Back in the store, Morgan says he talked to someone on the radio. Wendell doesn’t believe him, but Sarah walks in and asks Morgan to excuse her brother. They’re twins.

Outside the store Sarah says that they pack the boxes and put the supplies on the road. They just keep on trucking. Wendell says their shop has solar power, water, the whole nine yards. It could have TV if someone was still broadcasting. They were always living on the fringe and now it has paid off. Morgan says he was going to Virginia and Sarah says the hurricane knocked out roads and power with the flooding. Morgan says he has people there, and Wendell says he lost his prized bichon frise in the storm.

Sarah and Wendell give Morgan a car full of supplies, along with directions. They live by a code of helping people when they can, and to keep on trucking. (Though Wendell keeps forgetting the phrase)

Morgan makes it as long as he can before coming across some felled trees. He goes off on foot for a while and finds walkers trapped in mud. He also finds another box on the 154 mile marker. This one has a toy truck in it.

Morgan walks along the road. When he reaches a bridge, he stops. He could go forward to Alexandria, or back to his friends in Texas. He hears voices. He spins in a circle, then starts running across the bridge. He’s indecisive. He calls Sarah on the radio and Wendell answers. He asks if they know which roads are clear, and then lies about the bridge being out. He asks if they could take him to Alexandria despite Wendell asking about his friends in Texas, but Morgan’s mind if made up. He wants to go to Virginia.

Sarah hits a walker with her truck. Wendell gives her half a point for almost clipping the bird that had been picking at the smashed up body. They get a call from Morgan and arrange to meet him. Sarah notes that Morgan is currently at the last outpost, and she offers an apology that he won’t be able to save his friends.

Morgan drives along and stops when he spots a man running across a field. He has a bag over his head and is being chased by walkers. Morgan goes to help him but the man is quickly surrounded. He manages to kick at the walkers to stay safe until Morgan arrives. The dead walkers fall on him and he struggles until Morgan takes the bag off. Morgan tells him he has supplies in the car. The man – Jim – smells like beer. He says the kidnappers threw him into his IPA. He says he brews beer, the “staff of life.”

They drive along together and Morgan asks if there are people around. He’s alone in his brewery, Auggie’s Ale. They won awards. Jim grows hops on the roof, noting that his calling is making beer. It’s the future. People will come back someday, and everything will be rebuilt, so they will need beer. And he makes beer. Morgan reveals he’s going somewhere that people are trying to rebuild, in Virginia, and he could have a place there.

When they come upon the truck in the road, they get out of the car. Morgan radios them, and Jim runs away. Wendell aims his gun and Sarah thanks Morgan for finding Jim for them.

Wendell asks Morgan if the place in Virginia is near DC. Sarah explains that they took the truck from the guy who was really placing the boxes. They’d found him putting them at mile markers ending in 4s. Morgan argues that they could be doing good for people, but Sarah doesn’t see it that way. He couldn’t protect his stuff so they took it. And they took Jim because Sarah likes beer. They decide to take them to Virginia, hoping that Morgan reveals the location to them along the way.

Jim and Morgan are in the back of the truck, which is now filled with beer making supplies. Jim says he could make this work with what they have, and he likes that Sarah is a fan of his work. She went to the brewery to find beer and found him instead. Jim urges Morgan to reveal the location to them because he can set up shop anywhere. They’re all grifters and they can barter with beer. Morgan doesn’t want them near Alexandria. Jim tells him a story about how he sold his beer to a multinational conglomerate and become rich when the world collapsed, so this is all he has. He just wants to make beer for people. Hydration and nutrition is needed, and that’s why beer is the staff of life. Throughout history people have sought beer, and so they need beer now.

The truck gets stuck in some dirt on the road, so Sarah tells them to unload the truck so they can get out. Wendell says they got off easy because they could have crashed. Jim watches Sarah unload his supplies and he tells her that he wants to make a deal instead of giving her the recipe. Sarah asks “Momo” Morgan if he wants to be tied up but Morgan refuses to share. There’s a herd of walkers coming so they start to leave, but Jim goes to grab one of his supplies and he trips, knocking Morgan into the ravine below. Morgan’s hands are still behind his back but he manages to get on top of a car. Sarah radioes to him and Morgan gives her the location of the road they should take, promising the rest when he’s safe. He gives her the rest of the directions, but no one wants to help Morgan. Wendell can’t do it and Jim hasn’t been outside his brewery. Morgan says they can’t just leave him, but Sarah says she knew the bridge wasn’t out. They’re not the only ones pretending to be something they’re not. Looks like Morgan’s lie caught up with him.

Night has fallen and Morgan is alone with the walkers. He’s still on the roof of the car and he’s thinking about life. He calls Sarah and says they don’t have to do this. He explains that he could have crossed the bridge to go back to Texas but he’s not. After thinking about it, he knows he’s a coward. He thought he’d made a difference back in Texas but he still has work to do but at the time he wasn’t ready to give it to them, afraid of making things worse. So he tells them not to come back for him. It’s not right. But maybe they will come back so he can do the right thing and help his friends after all.

There’s no answer.

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After a while Morgan gets up and sees the Walkers surrounding the truck. He starts kicking them, and then he takes a flying leap onto the hill. The ground makes him slide but he spots some of the supplies – he was at a mile marker ending in a 4 – so he grabs a knife from the box and then starts using the mile marker sign as a new staff. When he makes it back to the road, he talks to Sarah and tells her that the boxes do indeed do some good.

Armed with his new weapon, Morgan sets out along the road. He gets back to the bridge himself, and the truck is there waiting for him. Wendell radioes him to say his directions are wrong. Morgan approaches Sarah and Wendell on the bridge. Jim is sleeping in the truck. Wendell asks if Morgan really thinks going to Texas again will make a difference. Morgan thinks the guy leaving the boxes made a difference. Sarah asks if he’s still going on to Virginia eventually. Morgan wants them to go pick up some people, and then they will go to Virginia but they’ll be making some stops along the way.

At each mile marker ending with a 4 they leave the boxes. Jim leaves a bottle of his beer. Morgan talks to the person who had the truck and says he is with the people who had the truck. Morgan says they’re going back to Texas and they will see the person later on.

Now we see the woman on the radio. She’s excited to be back on the road again. She writes “take what you need, leave what you don’t” on a walker’s face and says she’s going to Texas.

And that’s it for this week’s episode! What did you think? Do you like Sarah, Wendell and Jim?

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