From fear. Don’t read if you don’t want to to be spoiled
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

FTWD S06E07 Mid-season Finale
Robb Black wakes up early on Sunday morning to watch FTWD on AMC Premier and answer your questions.

Q+A

When does the episode take place?
According to Alicia it has been six weeks since Strand assigned her and Charlie to the lookout post. It has been one week since John Dorie has gone missing.

Where is Victor going with Dakota?
He is escorting her to a safe house. They need the extra security because of weird walkers that have been showing up in the area.

What is that guy doing with the antlers and the walker?
Ed is a taxidermist and he has been creating weird walker monsters as a way to try to scare people (e.g. Virginia's rangers) away from where he lives.

Who attacks Dakota's convoy?
It turns out Morgan attacks the convey because he was wanting to use Dakota as leverage to free the remainder of the group.

Whose side is Victor on?
Virginia's side (of course)

Which members of our group do we see this episode?
Strand
Alicia
Charlie
Morgan
Grace

Wait...did you just say Grace?
Yep. Ginny has been holding her in secret to use as leverage against Morgan. And at this point Grace is very pregnant.

Are there any clues about Madison in this episode?
Alicia tells Charlie that her long term plan has been to find a way to escape Virginia and head back to the stadium. Alicia says it isn't as far away as it might seem and with the loss of tank town, it will be difficult for the Rangers to track them that far.

Robb Black's Review

This week's episode is another taut, slow burn that is beautifully directed. Victor is responsible for transporting Dakota to a safe house, when things go sideways and he loses Dakota. He turns to Alicia for help, who reluctantly agrees to go search for Dakota. Alicia still hasn't forgiven Victor for assigning her and Charlie to a remote outpost.

While following Dakota's trail, Alicia and Charlie run across inexplicably modified walkers. Eventually the trail leads them to an old hunting lodge. Alicia goes in alone and discovers the person who has been modifying the walkers. Ed has been living in this hunting lodge and modifying the walkers as a way to scare people away from the area. He is able to sneak around and get behind Alicia, and before she realizes it he has drugged her.

Alicia wakes up and escapes from the table where she has been tied down. Dakota enters the room followed by Ed. Alicia doesn't trust Ed but Dakota sticks up for him saying he saved her after she escaped from the convoy ambush. Ed diffuses the situation by asking if either of them play chess. Back in the main room Ed talks about his backstory with the lodge while playing chess with Dakota. When Alicia goes to find a blanket she stumbles across Charlie who has managed to sneak into the house. Charlie tells her that Ed has boarded up the lodge and essentially locked them all in. Alicia wants Charlie to stay hidden and then goes to search for a weapon in Ed's workshop. Ed and Dakota find her in there and Alicia confronts Ed about being locked inside the lodge. Ed just wants to protect them, but eventually relents and agrees to let them go in the morning.

Ed and Dakota walk off while Alicia stays back and finds a radio. She uses Ginny's specific frequency and informs her that she has found Dakota and in exchange for Dakota's return, Alicia wants Ginny to allow Alicia and Charlie to leave without being tracked down. Ginny agrees.
Unfortunately, Ed has other plans for Dakota and Alicia. He is determined to protect them from Ginny and her Rangers. Ed has used an outdoor sound system to lure his walker creations back to the lodge. He then leads them upstairs at gunpoint.

Dakota and Alicia are in a room biding their time when Charlie comes in. She has drugged Ed and grabbed Alicia's gear. They turn off the music and get ready to leave the lodge, but it is too late. Ed has come to and is now holding a gun on them. He isn't going to let them leave. Alicia lunges at the gun, and in the struggle Ed is impaled on an antler. The commotion has caused the walkers to return back to the lodge and the doors start to buckle. The mortally wounded Ed offers to sacrifice himself so the others can have time to go upstairs and try to break out of the lodge. The walkers break in and pile on Ed only to be lured back outdoors. Morgan has arrived.

Morgan catches up Alicia with what he has been up to and that he was the one who attacked the convoy. As they decide what to do next, Alicia and Morgan come to an impasse. Alicia has changed her mind about Dakota wants to bring her back to Morgan's hidden community. Morgan wants to use Dakota as a bargaining chip to free the other members of their group -- he is especially concerned about Grace. Alicia refuses and tells Charlie that the three of them are going to leave Morgan and head to the stadium. Morgan backs down and agrees to take in Dakota.

But the group isn't free yet. After scavenging for supplies in the lodge, they run into Strand as they are walking out the door. Morgan updates Strand but Strand refuses to go along with the plan. Strand wants to take Dakota back to Ginny. Weapons are drawn as Morgan and Alicia stand up to Strand. Strand let's them go but reports back to Ginny in person about what happened with Dakota. Ginny is furious and demands to know what side Victor is on. He tells her he is on her side and she then leads him to a secret room where she has been holding a very pregnant Grace.

This is a dense, dark, and spooky psychological thriller of an episode. Jalaludin Trautmann was the director of photography on this episode and he has to be one of my favorite cinematographers to work on FTWD. He manages to bring out all of the chills and spookiness that you would expect from a hunting lodge filled hunting trophies mounted on walls everywhere you look. The episode is layered with intrigue from who attacked the convoy to what Ed's true motives are, to Alicia willing to betray Dakota to save herself and Charlie, only to turn around and protect Dakota from Morgan wanting to do the same thing. Then there is Strand who has his own plans. The creepy modified walkers that Ed is creating via taxidermy is a new twist that I'm pretty sure has never been done before. And I would me remiss if I didn't point out the call back to Ennis being impaled on the antler while fighting Nick and how Ed died a similar way fighting Alicia.

Finally, let's talk about the Madison rumors. The reviewers who all received screeners really played up what they claim was a reference to Madison in this episode. However, the only reference that is even remotely close to Madison is that Alicia wanted to head back to the stadium with Charlie because she thought they would be safe there from Virginia. Unless I am missing something, that is the only reference I saw that ties back to Madison. Of course there is also the speculation that the mysterious stranger that saved Morgan was Madison. So I have to admit that I feel like Madison fans are being played by these reviewers, unless they are getting some sort of insider knowledge that we are not aware of.

But back to the episode at hand, this is was a great showcase for Alicia and to a lesser part Charlie. Alycia Debnam-Carey really got to show off her acting abilities in this episode. She drives the intrigue from start to finish and her change of heart regarding Dakota feels genuine. Charlie plays a good side kick to Alicia in this episode and I love how they remembered that Charlie is good at sneaking into closed up places without having to tell us that Charlie is good at sneaking into difficult locations. The Alicia versus Morgan really starts to show the pain and desperation that Morgan is in right now. He let's down his tough guy facade for just that one moment and I think it is only appropriate that it was Alicia that prompts him to do it. This is also the second episode where one of the group members stands up to Morgan and tells him that they are not going to just blindly follow his lead. Our group finally has their resolve back.

I give this episode a 9/10.


The truth is out there