Fear the Walking Dead Review: Another Day in the Diamond (Season 4 Episode 2)

Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 2 “Another Day in the Diamond” is another fantastic episode. The time jump(s) are handled well and scenes are both surprisingly light but also tinged with an uneasiness that something isn’t quite right.

We don’t know exactly how much time has passed since we saw Nick blow up the dam, but we know that it’s been a year since the Clarks, Luciana, and Strand have been surviving in a baseball field.

There are forty-seven survivors inside t/he walls of the stadium, crops are growing, there are hot showers—and Madison Clark is in charge.

But this seems to be a good place.

The episode opens with everyone waking up and well, it almost seems like life is back to normal.

With the exception of the dead at the gates, of course.

We’re introduced to Charlie, a quiet preteen girl who Madison is lightly questioning. Charlie points in the general direction of where her family was last seen. There is a crew heading out anyway, so they may as well look for Charlie’s family.

Strand, Luciana, Alicia, and Madison hit the road as Nick tends to the turnips. Nick doesn’t go “outside” anymore. When Luciana shows slight annoyance at Nick’s unwillingness to leave the stadium, Madison mentions that Luciana didn’t see the condition Nick was in when Madison found him.

I hope we see this later.

It’s a damn shame that Nick doesn’t go outside the stadium gates because he was always so good at dealing with the dead. The scene of Nick freaking out as he attempts to leave is such a contrast to the Nick who would walk among zombies fearlessly on previous seasons.

There are rules in this new place which include not going outside a certain radius and always keeping in touch when they split up. They also have codes when they’re in danger, which comes in handy when Madison is held at gunpoint by a woman.

Madison tries to get her to come back to the settlement with her but before the woman can make a decision, she falls into a silo full of sludge—and zombies.

There is a particularly cool moment when Alicia leaps into the silo looking for her mother and we see Madison from behind looking very much like the undead.

The woman’s name is Naomi and she heads back to the stadium with the gang. She’s also a nurse, which is a very handy occupation in the apocalypse.

We know from Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 Episode 1 “What’s Your Story?” that things go south for the Clarks. But how does it happen?

Well, it probably has something to do with The Vultures, a group camping outside the stadium. The leader of the Vultures, Mel, tells Madison that he’ll just wait for them to die to get all their belongings.

He knows a lot about the settlement because he had a mole on the inside—Charlie. She is also a saboteur by destroying the crops with boll weevils.

The Vultures are also the ones who have been putting up the strange, white numbered flags we see on this episode and the previous one.

What I like about Mel is that he’s threatening in a subtle way. He doesn’t need a barbed bat or an eyepatch to tell us that he’s a baddie. He comfortable in the new world and he outsmarts the Clarks (or preys on their willingness to help others) with Charlie.

“Another Day in the Diamond” then cuts back to “Now” and we see where the premiere left off. Alicia accuses Morgan, John, and Althea of being Vultures because they are carrying a white flag, but they say that they found the flag.

Alicia, Nick, Strand, and Luciana force the trio into the truck to show them where exactly they found it.

So, what has happened to the stadium? And where is Madison?

“Another Day in the Diamond” poses more questions than it gives answers, but I have faith that all will be revealed in due course.

With two great episodes so far on Season 4 of Fear the Walking Dead, I can’t wait to see what’s next.

Walker Nibbles:

• It’s nice to see Nick with clean hair.
• Looks like Strand might get a boyfriend!
• How did Nick and Luciana hook back up?
• The announcement over the stadium was cool but I thought it would be awfully loud and we know that loud noises attract zombies.
• I’m obsessed with Althea’s haircut.
• How hurt does Nick look at Charlie’s betrayal?
• Old Madison from the ranch seems to be gone and school counselor Madison seems to be back—I wonder how long that will last.

What did you think of this episode of Fear the Walking Dead? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

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