Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 11 recap: The Holding

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6 brings the group face-to-face with The End is the Beginning group in the hopes of infiltrating it. It’s easier said than done given the group is rather cult-ish and gives off incredibly creepy vibes. It’s obvious from the get-go that there is something unsettling about the group’s dynamic, and it stays that way throughout the entire episode.

There was this looming hope in the air of this episode, however, regarding a character that we lost a long time ago, but whose body we never actually saw. And in the world of zombies, there is a “no body, no death” rule that many folks abide by.

I’m talking about none other than Kim Dickens’ character Madison, who has been accepted and presumed as dead since the season 4 midseason finale. We never saw her body, and we never actually saw what happened to her, but no one ever questioned if she was alive or not.

Unfortunately, we still don’t know if there is ever a possibility of her return, but this episode seemed like the opportune moment for it to happen. Instead, we got the return of another character–Wes’ (Colby Hollman) brother, Derek (Chinaza Uche) who he spoke of back during his very first episode on the series.

He never saw his brother Derek die which brings us back to the whole “no body, no death” rule, so perhaps there is hope for Madison yet. Or at least I’m going to cling to that notion for as long as I can.

There’s quite a bit to break down from this week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, so let’s get right to it!

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 11: Is this a cult?

Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Althea (Maggie Grace), Wes, and Luciana (Danay Garcia) make a decision to infiltrate the End is the Beginning group. Considering Virginia (Colby Minifie) was petrified of them, their curiosity is peaked and they must learn what exactly this group is all about.

Upon arriving, it’s clear there is something very strange about this group. They have a cult-like vibe to them, live underground, and use the walkers as fertilizer for their plants. The only time they re-emerge to the surface is to do random, odd things, but their entire lifestyle is something we haven’t really seen before.

In the background, there is a man named Teddy (John Glover) who continually talks over a speakerphone about the world and how his followers should view it. The one clue that gives away that Wes’s brother Derek may still be alive is the paintings all around the bunker. Wes learned to paint from him, and upon seeing the paintings, he’s alerted to the fact that his brother may still be around.

Lo and behold, this ends up being the case after Derek returns from a trip and the brothers reunite once again. While this is a celebratory moment between the brothers, it all goes downhill from there, and fast. Derek doesn’t seem as excited as one should be after reuniting with his brother, and the way he speaks throughout the episode is very strange.

The rest of the group realizes something is off and decides the next best thing to do would be to go through Derek’s things. Because that always turns out well, right?

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 11: A “new” way of life

One thing is very clear about the End is the Beginning group–they have their own way of doing things, and they only plan to live by those set of rules. Instead of running away from the undead, they would rather embrace them into a new way of life.

In doing so, they are ready to sacrifice all other settlements with a nuclear warhead they apparently have. This would allow them to start with a clean slate and live life the way Teddy has ordained it to be lived.

As it turns out, they were responsible for what happened in Tank Town, and their next target is Morgan’s (Lennie James) new settlement. Not to mention, they’ve run into the CRM before (this is a nod to what’s been going on in The Walking Dead: World Beyond), based on the maps Al found in Derek’s things. Al thinks that they should alert Isabella (Sydney Lemmon) about this frightening group, and perhaps see if the CRM will help them out. Yeah, that certainly isn’t going to pan out based on what we know.

While everyone else is ready to leave the settlement behind, Wes wants to help save his brother and feels like he can get through to him. Upon trying to escape, the group realizes Derek set them all up and they end up trapped them in an embalming room. Even worse, there is some sort of weird device in there that sucks the blood out of people.

In all this chaos, Wes follows Derek, and during an altercation between the two, winds up killing him. Derek may be dead, but Wes now has his gun which he can use to save the rest of the group. But one problem leads to another, and soon they find themselves in a room that’s even creepier than the one they were just in–a bunch of embalmed walkers that have their mouths sewn shut.

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 11: Danger, danger everywhere

I will admit that this scene is terrifying and there’s this claustrophobic element to it that makes you want to run outside into the comfort of fresh, open air. As the group moves their way through the walkers, one of the walkers works its way through the stitches and the End is the Beginning folks are closing in from behind the door.

Alicia decides she will stay back and create a distraction while everyone else makes it out to safety. She sets the room on fire taking advantage of the flammable embalming fluid while the rest of the group heads back to Morgan’s settlement.

Plans to save Alicia are immediately underway, while she fights to stay alive and safe back at the underground bunker. Teddy shows up and seems all too pleased with how hard Alicia is fighting to get away. Instead of killing her, however, he offers her a place in the highest ranks of their strange settlement. She rejects it multiple times, but why do I have this feeling that this isn’t the end of this conversation?

And did anyone else catch him mentioned Madison very casually? They have to bring her back at this point–right?

Who knew embalmed walkers could be so frightening?!

What did you think of this episode of Fear The Walking Dead Season 6? Tell us in the comments below!