Fear The Walking Dead ‘Skidmark’ theme: Cruelty

Cruelty is ever present in the Fear the Walking Dead post-walker world. Who sets traps for no reason? A cruel person, no doubt.

There were some very obvious themes playing through “Skidmark”: Dishonesty/honesty, redemption, sacrifice, people’s ability to change, perseverance, trust, self-reliance, ingenuity. But I want to focus on the quietest one: Cruelty.

Honesty and dishonesty were criticized by Strand and Salazar’s conversations regarding Strand’s past lies. Strand then redeemed himself by telling the truth, and furthermore, then sacrificed the plane to save Salazar. That also showed that perhaps Strand can change.

Meanwhile, Luci was a model of perseverance, fighting through her injuries to fix the antenna. And Dylan decided he could trust Luci’s group, before he suggested that Luci could fix the plane and get it airborne.

The traps that Salazar was clearing got lost amidst all this. Why would someone setup traps to kill scavenging survivors if he (or she) wasn’t defending the supplies for his or her own use? Salazar might know – he inherited the warehouse from the trap-setter – so we may yet find out. But for now, it’s a mystery.

Until a better reason is revealed (perhaps one that involves Abraham and Eugene in a flash back), it seems like straight-up cruelty. There’s no need to setup traps with the intent of killing other survivors, unless you’re defending your own stash. Indeed, my first thought was the obvious one – someone simply set the traps to protect their stuff. But Salazar’s reveal that he inherited the warehouse from the trap-setter, and his discussions with Charlie, seem to indicate that the person setting the traps wasn’t worried about keeping their own supplies stocked.

As an aside, besides cruelty, there’s also arrogance there – how can you assume you won’t need those supplies? Again, I can understand the intent behind the traps if it’s self-defense, but just to mow down others? When you might not even be around to see it happen?

Pure cruelty.