Fear the Walking Dead – S1E5 – Cobalt

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Previously on Fear the Walking Dead, ‘Not Fade Away’

I’ve come to realize that I like the idea of Fear the Walking Dead, but not so impressed by the execution thus far. What I was most interested in: How much the government knew, how did we get to a place where the military was bombing major cities, etc., has been rushed through in less than five episodes. Hell, it all happened off camera when last week’s episode began with a nine-day time jump. Now, it feels like the Clarke, Manawa, and Salazar families are just a day away from being where we first met the characters in The Walking Dead.  I hope I’m wrong.

Silver-Tongued Brother

Our first look into the mysterious facility Nick and Griselda were transported to is not a good one. Doug is there, so it appears Moyers (not Meyers as I called him last week) wasn’t lying to Travis. But Doug is in real bad shape. He’s rocking and whimpering, and a black man in a suit talks to him in a soothing voice, but his words are anything but. He shames Doug for being weak and leaving his family to fend for themselves. He straight up asks Doug if his wife is fat, and when Doug replies no, he says that will help her snag a real man who can get her through the trying times ahead.

Doug is reduced to a puddle of tears and emasculation.

After the guards haul Doug out of their fenced cell, the man in the suit, Strand, turns his attention to Nick.

The Natives Are Restless

Ofelia screams at the guards from her side of the fence. She demands to see her mother, throws bottles at the fence, and taunts the residents hiding in their homes. She insists that the military isn’t there to protect them because “you’ve seen what they do.”

Uh, that’s part of the problem. We haven’t really seen what it is they’re doing there. I’m not even sure how long it’s been since Griselda and Nick were taken.

Under Moyer’s watchful gaze, a sergeant prepares to enter the subdivision to deal with Ofelia, but Corporal Adams arrives and convinces him he’ll handle her. As he tries to calm Ofelia and escort her home, a guard on the other side of the fence has decided he’s had enough. Moyers warns the sergeant to handle his business.

At the house, Chris accuses Travis of not doing enough to get his mother back, and he’s low-key shitty with her for leaving voluntarily. He also politely asks Madison to stay out of Manawa business.

After finding Susan’s suicide note in Alicia’s bed, Madison looks for her daughter next door, but finds the remaining Salazars have taken Adams prisoner. They plan on trading him for their family. Alicia doesn’t like it, and when Salazar insists on questioning Adams alone, she asks that he not be hurt.

“Do you want your son back?” 

Liza learns Griselda had her foot removed in surgery, but any questions she has about Nick are brushed aside by Dr. Exner.

When wounded soldiers are brought in, Liza discovers one has been bitten. They hustle his ass to be put down.

Later, Griselda awakens but rambles in Spanish before dying. Exner shows Liza how they ensure the dead don’t come back – some kind of dart gun used on animals right to the head. Liza insists on doing it.

Travis the Diplomat

Travis seeks answers about what’s going on with the people who were taken, but Moyers is more concerned with keeping up the morale of his men who’ve been up for more than fifty hours. When Travis launches a not-so-veiled threat about the natives REALLY getting restless if their family members aren’t returned, Moyers concedes and says he’ll take him to see Exner.

On the way, they stop for a little target practice on a “skin bag” waitress. For some reason – perhaps because Travis hasn’t been punked enough this season – Moyers insists that Travis take the shot. He can’t and appears visibly shaken when the walker is finally put down.

Another detour: soldiers are pinned down inside a library by some squatters who failed to evacuate and turned. The guardsmen go in to help their comrades, and instruct Travis to stay in the truck. Of course, he gets out the truck when he hears the carnage going on inside. Two soldiers make it out and tell Travis they’ve had just about enough of this shit. They’re dropping him off at the curb and going home.

RIP, Moyers

Smells Like Teen Angst 

This entire part of the episode was such a waste of time. Chris and Alicia play dress up in an abandoned house. Then they trash the place. *yawn*

Temperature Check

Nick has spiked a fever, which means he needs to go, but Strand trades a pair of diamond cufflinks with a guard if he’ll let Nick stay.

I’m really not here for Nick becoming a prison bitch. 

Neither is Nick. He wants to know why he was saved, but Strand insists he didn’t save him, he obligated him. The soldiers are leaving and he’ll need Nick to help him make his move. He shows Nick a key and Nick is like, “Aight.”

Salazar’s Bout That Life

Salazar tortures Adams, demanding to know what “cobalt” is as it’s being said many times over the military radio. Ofelia rushes out of the house after seeing what her father has done. Salazar breaks down in front of Madison, admitting that he was one of the monsters back in El Salavador during the war. Madison is all, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Did Adams tell us what we need to know?” Cold as ice, that one.

Once Travis arrives he confronts Madison and Salazar about torturing Adams. They suggest Travis calm down and listens to the fruits of Salazar’s labor. Adams reveals that Cobalt is code for a protocol in which the military abandons the civilians and humanely puts down the people at the facility. This is set to go down at 9am in the morning.

The episode ends with Salazar standing outside the sports stadium where Adams says they left 2,000 people to die. Those 2,000 are now walkers and they’re banging on the doors.

Hope those chains hold.