Fear The Walking Dead season 4, episode 3 recap: Good Out Here

Fear the Walking Dead gives us an emotional, heart-breaking episode as we mourn the loss of a beloved character.

Why Fear the Walking Dead? WHY? This week’s episode left us so heartbroken as we lost a member of the family–Nick. It was unexpected and baffling and even as the moment played out, I couldn’t believe what was happening. And this is why Fear is slowly paving its way to becoming a show to watch out for.

Nick’s journey has been a difficult, complex one and seeing it all come to an end so abruptly was a shocker many of us did not see coming. This week’s episode focused back and forth between the past and present. In the present, Morgan, and co. are with Luciana, Alicia, and Nick while in the past Nick finally makes his way out of the compound.

As we saw last week, the crops Nick has been working on have become useless after an infestation of weevils destroyed them. Although he is hesitant to step into the outside world because of how it changes a person, he goes out with Madison anyway.

In the present, Al is insisting on recording everyone’s story as Nick and co. take over her van and hold the others hostage. They want to know where the flag came from–something only Al can help them with. When Al manages to wrangle free of her constraints and hold a knife to Nick, Luciana loses control of the van and they end up in a ditch.

Nick has fleeting memories of the past and present as he lays there trying to gain consciousness from the crash. When he comes to, he sees Luciana, Victor, and Alicia tied up while John, Morgan, and Al are trying to get the van out of the ditch. Luciana heads off with Victor and Alicia to obtain a new truck while Morgan stays back with Nick.

Nick and Morgan form a bond in this episode, which makes perfect sense given that they are both addicts in their unique ways. When a familiar car passes by, Morgan runs into the van but Nick spots the car and immediately tries to get out. In struggling to do so, the van’s horn starts to go off, pulling in walkers from all directions towards them.

Meanwhile, the others stumble across some gas and cables to help get the van out of the ditch. Victor questions Al about her project and why she is so curious to record a story that no one will ever see. I’m sure there’s a reason for this later–and we will appreciate it immensely when the reason unfolds.

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Nick continues to reflect on the past with him and Madison leaving the compound. They stumble across a field of bluebonnets which is an interesting throwback to the “Lizzie, just look at the flowers” moment from The Walking Dead.  During their time outside, they also stumble across the frightening Vultures.

They are taking crates of food out of the house and learn that Charlie stole a walkie from them and has been keeping tabs on all their conversations. Nick gets confrontational when one of the men makes a comment about Nick not being able to provide for his family.

In the present, Nick continues to be shaken up by the presence of the car that passed by earlier. This leaves us to wonder what happened in the past and is this linked to the fact that we haven’t seen Madison at all in the present?

The others return to find the van abandoned but realize Nick and Morgan have left signs to follow where they are walking towards. Al refuses to leave the van behind unattended, so Alicia and Victor help pull the van away from the walkers as Luciana and John go to find the other two.

Things take a violent turn when Nick and Morgan come face-to-face with the Vulture and Nick, in his blind rage, murders him in cold blood. This is a very complicated moment as Morgan shows up immediately after Nick kills the man and shares the knowledge he has learned from Rick.

And in Nick’s final moments, he puts the book that Morgan has handed him to read in his back pocket and pulls out the bluebonnets he hung onto. And it is at this moment that we hear a gunshot and simultaneously realize that Nick has been shot by … Charlie!

Next: Why Fear the Walking Dead killed a major character on this week’s episode

Alicia, Luciana, and Victor show up as Nick falls to the ground into a pool of his own blood, and an image of him lying in the field of bluebonnets is seen. Sigh, Nick, you will be missed. And as always remember to just look at the flowers.

Fear The Walking Dead returns next Sunday night at 9 PM on AMC!