Fear The Walking Dead, Season Six: Who ISN’T The Worst?

4) Cole

Cole’s story is a fairly tragic one when you think about it.

As he recalls to Alicia in “Mother,” he, Doug, Viv, and the remaining survivors of the Vultures’ attack on The Diamond had spent a long time searching for her, Nick, Luciana, and Strand. They only ended up finding bandits instead. This encounter set them all down the path of emulating the bandits in turn, a path they would not turn back from.

But, despite Cole suggesting that he always had this capability in him, I’m not quite so willing to condemn him.

Think about it: What if, just before or just after they found Morgan, John, and Althea, Alicia, Nick, Luciana, and Strand had found Cole, Doug, Viv, and the other survivors? What do you think would have happened then?

I think I can tell you what: I think they would have become incorporated into Morgan’s group, and been with them throughout their conflicts with Martha, Logan, and Virginia, and the formation of The Convoy. More importantly, I think they wouldn’t have become a bunch of murdering bandits, killing any poor soul that didn’t happen to join them.

My point is: I don’t think Cole was as bad as he let himself believe he was. I think that he merely became so because of circumstance. Had things gone just a little bit differently, the Cole we saw would never have come into existence.

It’s scary what one bad turn can do to a person.

5) Strand

Oooh…this guy.

I gotta say: Strand is really good at trying to do good in the worst ways imaginable.

Firstly, he was able to successfully rally the “Suicide Squad” and Alicia to coordinate their victory over the molasses plant walkers. He literally threw Sanjay to the proverbial wolves in order to do it.

Yes, he tried to help John help Janis, but once he was convinced there was nothing they could do (And that John would throw away his position to help her, and possibly never see his wife again), he convinced Virginia to push Janis’s execution forward to stop John. He was acting in John’s best interest, but he also threw one of their friends under the bus to do it.

Yes, he wanted to get justice against Virginia for everything she did but was going to condemn Grace to death in order to do it.

Then, there’s the incident on the Pennsylvania.

Seeing Morgan needlessly risking his life in a solo mission he didn’t need to take, Strand forces himself into Morgan’s plans. Strand convinces him not to take a stupid sacrifice by walking into a room that was not only irradiated but filled with irradiated walkers. This is all great!

And then, without even thinking about how he was going to get into the weapons room and stop Teddy, he throws Morgan into a herd of walkers, steals his axe head, and runs off to grab the glory!

As stupid, shortsighted, and selfish as that was, Strand was trying to do the right thing: Stop Teddy and Riley from launching the nuclear missiles. He was doing the right thing, but in the worst way he could.

Honestly, this isn’t the first time he’s done such a thing. He did it back at the Gonzalez Dam in season three while trying to get Alicia, Nick, and Madison away from the dam before the Proctors took it over. Once again, however, doing the right thing, in a bad way.

The thing is: This is, probably, the best we’ve seen Strand be, thus far. He’s always been selfish, that’s his nature, but at least this season, he’s acknowledging that, and still trying to do the best he can, despite his…moral limitations, and, when a thoroughly selfish man is making even that much of an effort, I’d call that a win.