For whatever reason, I always want to give Fear the Walking Dead the benefit of the doubt. I know, I know, you think I’d know better by now, and the last time I said the show was moving in the right direction was after “Los Muertos,” and then it seriously backslid into Nick Clark fan fiction. But “Pillar of Salt,” while not a perfect or even unpredictable episode, had some real merit to it in places. Things actually happened, and once or twice the show even proved it could surprise me.
The cold open, for instance, is pretty strong. A family of three, led by a man named Francisco, escapes from the colonia, only to be captured by men from the supermarket. This in and of itself is unremarkable – I’m sure they’ll get killed, or more likely, rescued by Nick when he comes in dressed and acting like Rambo – but it’s a subtle way to comment on life in the colonia. Why did they feel the need to sneak away? Would Alejandro not have let them go willingly? It’s not a lot to go on, but it raises some potentially interesting questions about Alejandro’s leadership. In the wake of Francisco’s disappearance, even he starts to question himself.
That doesn’t really excuse how short-sighted he is, though. I hate saying this, but Nick is right: they need to get that Oxy to the market. Sure, maybe they can’t find the colonia (they totally can), but what’s going to happen to the next delivery people? They’ll get beaten or killed, just to send a message. “I never asked to be the one to make these decisions,” he laments to Nick, meaning the countdown has officially begun to Nick running the colonia.
Also potentially interesting: Ofelia’s journey. She’s heading back to America, for unspecified reasons, but I like the ambiguity with which we now have to view her. Fear isn’t explicit about this, of course, but she did abscond with her group’s truck and most if not all of their supplies – are we really supposed to be rooting for her? Regardless, I find myself wondering where she’s going, and why. She seems to be following her map pretty rigorously, and if Fear actually keeps her by herself, instead of resisting the urge to reunite everyone, it could be a bold storytelling move.
Speaking of reuniting, it seems to be imminent. The events at the hotel were probably the strongest part of “Pillar of Salt”; it’s definitely the most interesting Alicia has been in a while, which we’ll get to (although, like every other character, she can’t stop herself from talking about how great Nick is – in “Pillar” we learn that he’s great at jumping, because why the hell wouldn’t he be).
I was never overly concerned about Strand, because FTWD isn’t going to kill one of its best characters at the hands of a throwaway character whose name I couldn’t even remember at first (it’s Eileen, by the way). His stabbing genuinely caught me off guard, which is not a feeling I typically associate with this show, so good job, Fear the Walking Dead. Maddie and Elena go to the market to get him antibiotics, but not before announcing that Eileen has to stay locked in her room, which spells the beginning of the end for the group at the hotel.
“Speaking of broad racial generalization, I’m pretty sure Fear thinks that all Hispanic male names end in O (Francisco, Marco, Fernando, Antonio, Alejandro) and all Hispanic female names end in A (Ofelia, Griselda, Catrina, Elena, Talia, Monica, Luciana).”
What I liked about this is learning how close the hotel is to the market, and therefore to the colonia. I don’t care so much about the inevitable reunion with Nick, but with Marco and his minions at the market being Fear‘s ostensible bad guys, proximity certainly creates more tension, now that walkers have been rendered all but harmless (seriously, someone uses the walker blood trick in every single episode).
But on to Alicia: I’ve never been more interested in her than when she’s confronting Maddie about Nick. “I’m here; why isn’t that enough?” It’s a valid question, especially because Alicia doesn’t watch Fear the Walking Dead and doesn’t know how much everyone worships Nick. It also dovetails nicely with the mention of Elena “choosing” Hector over his brother Antonio.
So, all in all, not a bad episode. There were the usual frustrations that I’ve come to expect from Fear – meaning Nick – but it showed that even if the car is seldom steered, at least someone is putting their foot on the gas.
A Few Thoughts
- There were some potentially very ugly racial politics at play here. The men at the market were so quick to kidnap people (“You want to go missing too?” one asks Maddie) that it brought to mind a nasty stereotype about Mexico.
- Speaking of broad racial generalization, I’m pretty sure Fear thinks that all Hispanic male names end in O (Francisco, Marco, Fernando, Antonio, Alejandro) and all Hispanic female names end in A (Ofelia, Griselda, Catrina, Elena, Talia, Monica, Luciana).
- The flashback to Ofelia’s proposal made for a nice juxtaposition between then and now. Present-day Ofelia looks like she’ll never be happy again.
3/5
“Good”
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