Review: Fear the Walking Dead season 6 episode 6

June makes some tough choices in Fear the Walking Dead season 6 episode 6

Fear the Walking Dead delivers another fantastic episode with “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg”. The show has been on fire thus far in season six, delighting fans with episodes that keep building upon each other. In 606, though, fans start to see that Virginia is worried about the people leaving graffiti and if she’s worried then there’s cause for concern.

When you stop to think of it, no one knew that episode 606 would serve as the set-up for the mid-season finale. Work on season 6 was interrupted by COVID-19 production shutdowns, and now episode 607 will serve as the mid-season finale instead of 608.

“Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg” feels like a mid-season finale by itself, which suggests that 607 will be even bigger. (Which also says a lot about what’s planned for 608…) For our purposes, though, 606 fits right in with the rest of the fast paced, action packed episodes of season 6. The episode is relentless, and even the quiet moments between June and John are filled with tension.

Jenna Elfman talked a lot in previous seasons about how she spoke with trauma nurses at UT Austin to prepare for her role, and you can really see how those conversations help to inform how she brings June to life in the episode. June’s exhaustion is written all over her face, but she’s also determined to help everyone in need.

Colby Minifie also had a dynamic performance as Virginia was stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to ferret out the culprits behind the graffiti. She knows much more about this as-yet unknown group but every time she gets close to answers her attempts are thwarted. Her desperation when she was bit and her concern for her sister show that at the end of the day she’s as human as anyone else, and she’s only trying to help build a better world. But she also knows some secrets and now June has a way to pry those secrets from her.

The moments between June and Virginia were electric. The decision not to kill Virginia was a tough one, but in the end it gives June a ton of bargaining power. Not only has she demonstrated her own brand of loyalty to Virginia, but Virginia promised to give her answers and that means that we should finally expect to see some answers about the mysterious graffiti group soon. The look of exhaustion on Virginia’s face at the end of the episode was so much more than pain. She knows something is happening and I’m dying to know what it all means.

Though it was a dark episode, having Sarah’s one-liners brought some much needed comic relief into some really tough situations. And according to Mo Collins’ social media, she was actually driving the mack truck in the episode after learning to handle the behemoth vehicle. (Very impressive, Ms. Collins!) Sarah’s reunion with Wendell at the end of the episode is a reminder that every now and then good deeds are rewarded, and it’s nice to think that June asked for Wendell’s return as part of her arrangement with Virginia.

One downfall to the episode is that we didn’t see enough of Danay Garcia’s Luciana, one of the remaining original members of the cast. Luciana has been stuck in Tank Town for a while and it’s obvious that she has many grievances with Virginia, but there was too much going on to really understand what’s happening. Hopefully we’ll see more of Luciana soon.

Fear the Walking Dead is really good right now. I know some people struggled with previous seasons, but we really couldn’t be here now without those stories and that’s important to remember.

The stage is now set for a huge mid-season finale, and though it will be tough to say goodbye to the show for a few months it’s exciting to think of what’s to come.

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