Fear the Walking Dead 510 review: The heart of the apocalypse

Fear the Walking Dead episode 510 followed Grace, Morgan and Dwight on a very powerful journey full of healing, redemption and a lot of heart.

The zombie apocalypse is a dark and dreary place but Fear the Walking Dead chooses to focus on the human aspect of surviving in a world where death lurks behind every corner. In “210 Words Per Minute” Morgan and Grace faced their pasts – and futures – while Dwight chose to embrace his past as a Savior in order to truly become a changed man.

Morgan, Grace and Dwight arrived at the mall on a mission to help a dying man. In return for their help, the dying man – Chuck – was paying it forward by revealing that the mall was full of supplies. After Dwight left to circle back to the caravan, Grace decided that the mall’s urgent care would reveal whether or not the radiation was starting to take its toll. In the end, though, she helped Morgan talk through the loss of his family and she decided that it didn’t matter if she was indeed dying. It’s more important to live in the now.

Dwight was captured by one of Logan’s men, but instead of being a victim he challenged his captor into asking whether he was just going to continue living as an “a-hole” or be a better man. Dwight knows what it’s like to be on the other side of the equation, and in the end his captor seems to have a change of heart as well.

“210 Words Per Minute” was written by showrunners Andrew Chambliss and Ian Goldberg and like so many of the episodes they have written, this episode packs a powerful emotional punch. Every character on the show has done things in their respective pasts that require atonement, and as Morgan tells Grace they are all making the most of the time they’ve got left.

Morgan lost his wife and son early in the apocalypse and went through a very personal journey to overcome the pain. He sees that pain in Grace, knowing that her days are limited. By the end of the episode she realizes that it’s not about knowing when death might arrive, rather it’s about seizing every moment like it’s the last moment.

Dwight’s journey from Alexandria is one that gave him time to reflect and grow, and meeting this group of people has given him the chance to start over. In “210 Words Per Minute” he has an opportunity to choose between the violence he knew in the past and the redemption he knows in the present. He chooses redemption, and the seeds he planted might pay off in the end.

So much of life in the apocalypse centers around violence, and with good reason. Zombies are no joke, to be sure, but sometimes the people are even worse. Fans have seen it with the Governor, Negan and the not-so-lovely flesh-eating folks at Terminus. “210 Words Per Minute” focuses the story on the human side of the apocalypse, and it’s a beautiful thing.

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