Fear the Walking Dead: Nuclear City is the season 5A villain

In a twist, the big villain of Fear the Walking Dead season 5 so far proves not to be a “he” or a “she” but a location: Nuclear City.

The final moments of Fear the Walking Dead “Still Standing” were at once tragic and shocking. The season 5 premiere made it look like the season’s big villain might be Logan, who commandeered the denim factory. However, as time passed, it’s obvious that the big villain this season isn’t a person, it’s Nuclear City itself.

As soon as the plane crashed and Alicia discovered the radiation warning signs, it was obvious that there was something very wrong with this strange new land. Soon enough Morgan and Alicia met Grace, a former manager of the power plant who was trying to track down her former coworkers who had been exposed to the radiation from the melted down core.

Unfortunately, those nuclear workers had already caused a ton of damage. They killed the kids’ parents and they are a threat to anyone who gets too close.

Like Alicia.

Though she has been exposed to radiation the effects can be stopped if she takes potassium iodide sooner rather than later, the fact is that the threat of radiation is a bigger problem than the walkers could ever pose.

So far in the world of The Walking Dead we have seen how people turn on each other, and we’ve seen people fight the undead to stay alive. We have seen the scarcity of food and the collapse of safe havens. We have even seen hurricanes, flooding and winter storms. Some of these things are easier to overcome than others, but in the end our two groups of survivors across both shows have found a way to make it through.

The problem with radiation is that it’s not a visible threat. All it takes is a sudden wind change and you’re done. There is no barrier that can be built, and no way to tell if an area is impacted unless you have a dosimeter handy.

Between the effects of the radiation and the scope of the threat that it poses, Nuclear City and its radiation is the biggest villain we have seen in some time. It might even be the biggest threat of all because it is an environmental threat that can’t be stopped.

Hopefully the group of survivors will be able to escape Nuclear City and that it won’t leave too many people behind in the fallout zone. Season 5 has been playing it safe in terms of character deaths, so it stands to reason that there will be deaths coming soon.

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9pm on AMC.