Fear the Walking Dead 413 recap: Blackjack

This week’s episode of Fear the Walking Dead checks in with the rest of the group after the devastating hurricane. Here’s your recap of “Blackjack.”

“Blackjack” begins at mile 21. The truck stops and June and Morgan get out. She radios to Quinn, but he doesn’t answer. Morgan says they should go back to the truck, but Al agrees that they should look because he has her van. Sarah calls him and asks if they found anyone, and she tells MoMo to be safe. He doesn’t like the name.

Jim wants to know how many people their “airport shuttle” is going to pick up and she points out that they picked him up. He insists that he’s essential, though, because he makes the beer. When they hear walkers coming for them, Sarah goes off to fight them. Jim freaks out, but Wendell is totally calm. He releases some spikes from his wheelchair and offers the kill, and the point, to Jim. But Sarah comes and kills it, then she calls Morgan.

The walker has writing on his face. They all agree that this is weird. June calls for Quinn but all she gets is walker noise. It’s the Filthy Woman who has the radio up to Quinn’s mouth. She says he isn’t weak anymore and she’s made him into who he is supposed to be. Morgan recognizes her and she says she knows all about Morgan. Al reminds him that she has her van, and her tapes. FW says that they shouldn’t leave the boxes because they make people weak. If they stop trying to help people then she won’t have to keep trying to stop them. She claims to know what he’s all about.

Credits: The whole area is flooded, and there’s a truck in the water with an alligator approaching it. A bird chirps in the background and the sun is peeking out from behind the clouds.

The crow chirps and wakes up Strand, who is sleeping in a bed in a messy room. It’s not his mansion, but he does have supplies that look like they might have been from a box. There are books. It’s a ranger station, and he goes outside to take a look. The surrounding area is flooded, with the water level higher than a street sign.

John Dorie is already up, chopping wood. He’s lining up the logs. He stops for a moment to kiss a piece of candy, and then he gets back to work. A soggy walker emerges from the lake. “I hate the wet ones,” he groans, standing up to kill it. Strand walks up after the deed is done. John notes that the bird is by itself, which is a rare sight. He asks if Strand will help him work but Strand says that the waters aren’t friendly. John doens’t think the waters will receed any time soon. Strand admits this was a “fool’s errand” and he had paradise before being lured out with John. John isn’t surprised that Strand won’t go with him, but he insists that he will come back for him.

Luciana has a copy of The Little Prince from the Nolan Library. She goes inside the library but Charlie isn’t there. Outside, a walker tries to get inside a car so she kills it. Inside the car is a man. He’s alive, but barely. He has been hurt after crashing in the storm. His name is Clayton, and he wants to know why she wants to help a total stranger. She says she’s making up for the past, which he understands. “Don’t we all,” he says.

John launches his raft and asks Strand one more time if he wants to go. Strand will watch. John gets into the water and the raft sinks. Strand calls him out of the water as an alligator approaches. John manages to shoot it, but he doesn’t stop it. Strand laughs and says that they’re still roomies.

Jim watches Morgan bury Purvis. Al asks how many journals Polar Bear had and Sarah and Wendell have two of them, but he probably had more. Morgan wants to find him. He’s still alive out there and Morgan wants to find everyone before the Filthy Woman finds them. Jim asks what she meant about knowing what Morgan is capable of. That’s something they all deserve to know. Morgan says that he needs to make up for some stuff. Sarah asks what Morgan will do if they say no, and he’s going to take the truck. Al can drive it. And Al really wants to meet Polar Bear. When Sarah starts to raise her weapon, Morgan knocks it from her hand. She and Wendell agree that they are sticking with him.

The gator keeps eating walkers. Strand asks how John is going to find June, and he says it’s meant to be because he found a piece of her favorite candy in his shirt. If they don’t fight for the future then there’s no reason to keep going.

John returns to work chopping wood. His side hurts. He spots a truck on the side of the road with walkers inside.

Luciana works to free Clayton but the pain is too great for him. He says the car is the only thing keeping him alive. She asks if he wants her to find anyone for him. There’s one person, he says. All of his people are gone, save for one, and he doesn’t want to see that person. He laughs. He’d love to have one last beer, he says, and this is something she can do for him. There are walkies in the car so she gives him one and goes out to find a beer.

John shows the truck to Strand and says the camper shell will work as a boat. John says he would do it but Strand’s friends shot him. Strand notices this.

The group leave another box where Polar Bear left his truck. Sarah says they can’t help that he left his keys inside. Jim wonders if they should keep leaving the boxes, and Morgan says they should. June writes the message on the box and then Morgan adds one of his own: “If you need help, VHF channel 4.” That way people can communicate. June smiles at him and asks if John will see one of the boxes. Morgan is convinced they will find everyone.

John watches Strand try to release the camper. There’s a bottle of wine inside the cab and Strand wants it. He ends up falling inside the cab with the walker and then the truck rolled down the hill. The walker died and Strand ends up with his wine.

Strand walks away as John chases after him. John’s upset that he almost killed himself for a drink. Strand bids him good luck and walks away, leaving John to build his raft. The bird keeps chirping as John gets to work.

Luciana searches for a beer.There’s a beer truck, but no beer.

John keeps working on the truck.

Luciana keeps looking. Clayton radios and asks how it’s going. She says she’s confident she’s close to finding a beer. She knows it.

John drags the shell across the land. He uses the gas tank as a float, so that when he’s done he has a working boat.

Luciana continues her search. She finds root beer.

Strand holds his bottle and takes a big drink. John comes up and asks if he always drank, but now Strand drinks to forget. He’s gone pro. He doesn’t have anyone to drink with anymore. Strand points out that John has things to look forward to and he doesn’t. John says he’ll share a drink with him when they get to the other side. John shows him the boat and the car horn that will serve as a distraction for the gator. Strand never believed that John would survive being shot, so now he has to believe John’s boat will work.

Clayton calls Luciana again and she apologizes that she hasn’t found one yet. He says she tried and he appreciates that. He tells her a story. There was a time when he didn’t want to be around anyone so he took a job that sent him away from everyone so that when the world fell apart he was alone. So he found a way to help other people. He tells her that just because she can’t help him doesn’t mean she can’t help someone else.

John turns on the horn and then runs back to Strand. They get the boat into the water as the walkers come for the horn. They get in and paddle away.

Luciana walks along the road and finds a box. It’s the one Morgan left with the message about the channel. She also finds Jim’s beer.

The horn blares as walkers head into the water. They’re taken one by one as the battery dies. The walkers stop heading into the water. They’re in the middle of the lake and the gator swims around them. John shoots as they find themselves surrounded. The boat starts to sink so Strand tells him to fire the gun to get the walkers back into the water. Strand jumps out because he’s not going to die. He leaves John, who jumps in and swims after him.

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Clayton sees Luciana returning to him and he smiles and says she doesn’t give up. She tells him that she couldn’t help Nick when he was dying, so she vowed to never go through that again. She opens the beer and gives it to him. He’s amazed that it’s cold – she used an ice pack from the first aid kit. He takes a drink and thanks her. She’s emotional. He wants to give her something. Some notebooks are in the back and they have locations with supplies in them. She asks about his job. He says he was a trucker.

She takes the empty bottle and calls out on the radio. She says that what they left helped more than they’ll ever know. Morgan calls back.

John and Strand are on the land. They’re safe. John takes out the candy and eats it.

Luciana is reunited with Morgan and her friends. She reveals the notebooks and says she didn’t have a chance to tell him where she found the beer. Suddenly they get a call from Charlie. Alicia grabs the walkie, thinking it’s a trap, but Morgan calls her. They are at mile marker 84. Filthy Woman radios in and tells Morgan he had a chance to be strong. He tells her that they aren’t weak for helping people. It makes them strong. He says he knows what she’s doing and what she’s doing isn’t the only way to do things. They’re going to keep finding their friends, and then they’re going to help her. Sarah tells them the SWAT van is behind them. Al tells her to hit the gas but the van keeps up. Filthy Woman opens the weapons and tells them that they lose people and they lose themselves. She opens fire.

Alicia and Charlie call Morgan, but there’s no answer.

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