Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 14 recap: Mother

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6 is filled with unexpected reunions, not-so-welcome encounters, and an Alicia-centric episode this week–and it is marvelous! So far this season, we haven’t seen a whole lot of Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), but this week’s episode, “Mother”, more than makes up for her absence.

Along with an entire episode dedicated to her, there is more insight into Alicia’s past, namely what it’s been like to be Madison Clark’s (Kim Dickens) daughter. More so than seasons past, we’ve been hearing Madison’s name a lot, and the hopeful optimist in me hopes that there is more to that than meets the eye.

Alicia isn’t spearheading this week’s episode alone, however. Teddy (John Glover) manipulates circumstances to have her be an unwilling participant in one of his odd experiments. Over the years we’ve seen some interesting villains grace The Walking Dead universe, but there is something about Teddy that feels oddly different–and frightening.

Perhaps it’s the fact that we have to fight the urge to trust him simply based on his Colonel Sanders grandpa look. He’s an unhinged guy who runs a cult and essentially wants to destroy the entire world so humankind can “start over again”. And during this week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, we see the inner workings of Teddy’s, past and present, and it’s not a fun place to be.

It’s Alicia’s turn to grace our television screens this week, so let’s break down what she got up to with Teddy by her side (and not by choice!).

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 14: Mommy dearest

If we hadn’t already thought Teddy to be completely off his rocker, then this week’s episode will certainly change that. Getting roped in to run a “special errand” for Teddy, Alicia finds herself caught in the middle of his strange antics. Of course, he has a grand plan for it, and helping him execute it is Dakota (Zoe Margaret Colletti). Yes, that Dakota.

But pay no mind to Dakota, because the chemistry between Debnam-Carey and Glover is amazing. And watching these two be pitted against one another while essentially being cut from the same cloth is everything we could have wanted from this episode. It’s hard not to think of Alicia and Teddy as two completely different people, but this episode proves, they’re not all that different.

In fact, Teddy hopes his grand experiment helps Alicia understand the world’s state and how all humans are incredibly flawed and untrustworthy. But in order to that, Teddy needs Alicia to revisit the demons of her past, which means looking back at the legacy Madison left behind.

And for Teddy? Well, that means pulling his mother’s corpse out of the mausoleum and setting it free. Yes, he really does do that–and with no hesitation either!

We’ve spent years at this point seeing all kinds of messed-up walkers, that look as grotesque and frightening as the next. However, there is something incredibly unsettling about seeing Teddy’s mother’s corpse. And I believe that has a lot to do with him and his deranged state of mind.

And we’d be right to be weirded out by the whole thing because as we learn later, it wasn’t even his mother’s corpse! It was all to prove a point that makes me all the warier of him and his state of mind. What adds to the creepiness of it all is Dakota warming up to Teddy as if he is a completely sane guy. They exchange stories on killing people, and how it’s just so normal to do so now. Kill a few people a day? No problem.

Call me crazy, but I think Virginia (Colby Minifie) wasn’t trying to protect her daughter from the world, but vice versa!

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 14: A blast from the past

In this world, blasts from the past aren’t always a great thing. And that proves to be true this week when Alicia, Teddy, and Dakota run into some folks from Alicia’s past. Namely, the past in which Madison sacrificed her life to save the rest of the group.

One would think that such a reunion for Alicia may be bittersweet, but it turns into more of a nightmare when Cole (Sebastian Sozzi), Viv (Rhoda Griffis), and Doug (Kenneth Wayne Bradley) prove Teddy right about the intentions of most humans. It’s heartbreaking to see what has come of the group that Madison gave up her life for. And it’s something that haunts Alicia through the entire episode. Perhaps Teddy has a point? It’s nerve-wracking to even think that, but given the state of these three, he’s not really that far off.

Does the world need to be rid of such humans? That’s up for debate, but whether or not Alicia is on the same wavelength as Teddy and Dakota is the bigger question. Personally, I don’t think so because Alicia is haunted by the memories of those she kills. And killing Cole by the end of the episode will definitely have a mental effect on her, unlike people like Teddy and Dakota who just treat it like any other day.

For Teddy, Alicia killing Cole only means he’s been right about her all along. She is the beacon of hope he believes he needs for the world he’s trying to create, and he’ll go to any lengths to protect that idea. Even if it means locking her up in a bunker while he wreaks havoc on the world around her.

Fear The Walking Dead Season 6 is giving me so much life with these insane storylines, and I’m loving every single second of it. Debnam-Carey carries this week’s episode all the way through and leaves us with a grand appreciation for the actress we’ve always known her to be. I’m so happy the show is properly utilizing her again, and I hope that this continues as we get to the conclusion of this season.

Is anyone else hanging onto hope for a Kim Dickens cameo at some point?

What did you think of this week’s episode of Fear The Walking Dead Season 6? Let us know in the comments below!