Fear TWD: Travis was a good dad with very bad luck

Travis was a great dad on Fear TWD, but he was not cut out for the apocalypse

Of all the fathers in The Walking Dead Universe, Fear the Walking Dead’s Travis is near the top. Like Hershel, he wanted to do right by people but eventually saw that the world was changing too fast. Though Travis left Fear TWD in season 3, he left a lasting impression on fans and he serves as a reminder that trying to look for the good in the apocalypse often has unfortunate consequences.

As soon as Travis Manawa started being labeled as the moral compass on Fear the Walking Dead, he was as good as doomed.

When the apocalypse started, Travis tried to be the voice of reason amid the panic. He was already used to being the one to calm things down in the Manawa-Clark household because of the tension created by Nick and his drug-induced exploits. (Remember, in the beginning there was no outward tension between Chris and Alicia, though they weren’t necessarily close either)

Travis was the one who tried to broker peace with the military. He tried to keep situations from becoming violent. He tried to stop Daniel Salazar from resorting to his torture skills to get information.

He also loved his son, and he cared deeply for Madison and her kids. When his ex-wife died, it hurt him a great deal and he grieved at what the loss would do to Chris.

When Chris started struggling with his mental health, Travis didn’t think twice about leaving Madison to be with his son. It was a controversial decision, of course, because he abandoned her in favor of his son, but in the end it didn’t help because Chris ended up dead anyway. When he learned how Chris died, though, it broke him. Travis killed Chris’ killers, and the innocent bystander Oscar as well, and it changed him more than anyone could have known.

In a way, for the brief amount of time that we see Travis after this watershed moment, it’s easy to see how this version of the character was finally capable of dealing with the apocalypse. There was no way to be optimistic anymore. His son and ex-wife were dead, he’d killed an innocent man in an attempt to exact revenge and – sadly – as much as he tried to avoid it he sees now that this is what it takes to survive in this world. Old Travis was gone.

As soon as he came to this realization, though, he was captured by Troy Otto and his sadistic soldiers. New Travis knew that he might have to kill in order to get back to Madison and Alicia, and he didn’t hesitate when he needed to take action.

Travis never got to see what life was like at Brokejaw Ranch because he died before they arrived, but there’s no question that New Travis would have been able to navigate the complexities of Jeremiah Otto’s community knowing that he might have to do some bad things to stay alive. As it happens, Madison ends up doing most of the dirty work there because she’s now alone and trying to keep her kids safe.

His final act was to unbuckle his seatbelt after being shot, knowing he was going to die, so that he didn’t turn in the helicopter. That would have put Alicia at risk, so he knew that he had to get out of there. He couldn’t save his son, but he could save Madison’s daughter.

Travis always had good intentions, but in practice his good intentions didn’t always work in the apocalypse. But what counts is that he wanted what was best for his son and his family. He put his son’s needs above everything else, thinking that it was the right thing to do, and in the end it might have cost him everything.

But he tried. He tried to be a good dad until his final moments.

And, in the end, that’s all you can do in the apocalypse.

Do you think Travis was a good father? What are some of your favorite Travis moments from his time on Fear TWD? Let us know in the comments!