Fear the Walking Dead Review: The Hurt That Will Happen (Season 5 Episode 2)
Fear the Walking Dead has wasted absolutely no time getting down to business at the onset of Season 5.
Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Episode 2, “The Hurt That Will Happen,” unfortunately throws a lot of that business at you immediately, to its own detriment.
Primarily, this is an issue of over-exposing the plot and not giving enough great character moments. Fear the Walking Dead spent so much of last season selling us these new characters and the new life they’ve built with Luciana, Alicia, and Strand, that now not continuing to explore that is hurting their cause.
“The Hurt That Will Happen” is nearly all expository in nature. On it, Morgan and Alicia meet Grace (Karen David) who warns of a small group of the dead swimming in radiation, John and June search for the missing kids to no avail, and Strand encounters his old pal Daniel Salazar.
The radioactive walkers certainly sound scary, and Grace’s inclination to protect Morgan by forcing his clothes to change and taking his stick seems genuine. However, on “The Hurt That Will Happen,” this breed of walkers doesn’t feel like a true threat.
Sure, Grace admits to being a ticking time-bomb, and there’s some evidence at Camp Cackleberry that corroborates her story, but ultimately it just doesn’t resonate. Something that might’ve been more effective in this scenario is a flashback of someone’s journey through exposure to the radioactive dead. Their journey from exposure like Morgan and Alicia to death and reanimation might present a more compelling case.
The radioactive walkers also feel like a secondary plot device to whatever they’re cooking up with Althea and the connection to Rick Grimes and the larger Walking Dead universe. Which is fine, but the proportions of clues and crossover hints are disproportionate to the character work and plot in the present.
The best story on “The Hurt That Will Happen” is easily the reunion between Strand and Daniel Salazar. Both of these characters are original Fear the Walking Dead cast members, though both outside of the Clark/Manawa clan. Their history makes their interaction feel rich and storied, and it’s the best interaction between any two characters in the entire episode.
Ultimately, the Strand/Daniel scenes and the other, expository scenes are two sides of the same coin. Fear the Walking Dead is a much better show when digging in with characters it has developed, rather than trying overdo the plot.
A few stray thoughts:
- I love the name “Skidmark” for a pet and will probably use it in the future.
- As frustrating as this episode was, Luciana’s obsession with learning the accordion was pretty hilarious.
- Did anyone else feel like Morgan is actively trying not to mention Rick Grimes by name when having his heart-to-heart with Alicia?
- Speaking of Rick Grimes, this episode spent a lot of time hinting that Al’s disappearance and Rick’s are connected. Think we see him?
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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Nick Hogan
Nick Hogan is an experienced podcaster and writer (particularly on media topics), who loves discussion and analysis of TV and is always looking for new shows to watch. He is also a parent who loves buffalo wings, blowing raspberries, and his beloved Cincinnati Reds.