Fear the Walking Dead: Is John and June’s relationship on the rocks?

John Dorie has disappeared on Fear the Walking Dead, but does June know his whereabouts?

There’s no question that John Dorie’s love story with June is one of the most compelling in the entirety of The Walking Dead Universe. After fate brought them together and circumstance tore them apart, they came back together and were even married at the end of season 5. After yet another separation, they were reunited thanks to Virginia’s master plan in Fear the Walking Dead season 6, but now John has gone MIA. Is his relationship with June in jeopardy?

It pays to pay attention while watching Fear TWD season 6 episodes. Lots of little bits of information were thrown out like breadcrumbs throughout the first half of the season, forcing viewers to listen for them and make the connections outside of the story being told.

One such breadcrumb came from Dakota while she and Strand were driving in their convoy during the mid-season finale. Dakota mentioned that Dorie had been missing for a week.

This is huge.

At the end of episode 606, “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg,” John was trying to get June to run away with him. He was going to use the plan that Janis had in place to escape from Virginia. For a moment, before they arrived at Tank Town, June considered it. She could leave everything behind and run away with John.

By the end of the episode, though, June’s dedication to saving lives – including Virginia’s – earned her a brand new hospital and just about everything she needed. She was even able to negotiate for Wendell’s transfer so that he could be with Sarah.

John tried to change her mind, but June was resolute that they needed the hospital. If you watch the shadow that falls across Garret Dillahunt’s eyes, it’s clear in that moment that his escape plan hit a major roadblock.

Now it seems like John might have left without June, and the question that remains is whether this was part of their plan, or if he’s leaving everything behind because he can’t handle living in Lawton anymore.

Like his festering tooth, John’s conscience had been eating away at him since Janis died. He knew she was innocent but she was killed anyway, with “support” from a seemingly complicit Strand. When June arrived as a “reward” he knew it was just a thinly-veiled threat from Virginia to stay in line or lose the one person he cares about the most, but knowing that June is the only medical professional around makes her safe.

It’s possible that John left so that pressure was removed from June’s shoulders. As Virginia’s new shining star, June would likely receive praise for not leaving with her husband. She could have left, but she didn’t and that says a lot to Virginia because trust is something very important to her, especially right now in the presence of an unknown threat.

There is a possibility that June knows where John is. She knew he’d been talking about leaving (as did Virginia) so his departure isn’t exactly a surprise.

However, if he left and didn’t tell her it could put a big strain on their relationship. Everyone is dealing with incredible stress and for him to leave her could drive a wedge between them.

(Of course, her decision to stay invalidates his need to leave, which is also highly problematic from his standpoint. He begs her to go with him because he can’t stay there anymore, so by not leaving it signals a message to him, too)

Until we learn more about John Dorie’s fate and his whereabouts, it’s fair to say that there is a very big elephant in John and June’s marriage and it could drive them apart even more before it brings them together.

Fear the Walking Dead returns in 2021.