the weird thing is that it seemed pills were a last resort if all the zombies from the boardwalk were to attack the ranger station and all hope was lost.

 

I think the pills were for a last resort if they were overrun and all hope was lost.

 

I missed something -- how Willa got her hands on "her" suicide pill? While snooping around for his desired pharmaceuticals, Nick found them inside a globe, put them back in and then put the globe high up on book shelf, behind some things. Now, kids can climb but Willa wasn't in the room when he did that. The little boy said Willa took "her" suicide pill. But, it doesn't seem like parents would give small children their own suicide pill to hang to ahead of time, even if they didn't know everybody turns regardless of how they die. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention -- but missing this rather critical detail spoiled, a little, an otherwise tragically sad sub-plot of the episode for me.

 

It was odd for sure?
But now we know that even if you go out like 007 you will return to eat your mothers face off still!
All in the name of science!

 

Hey all, newbie here but have been lurking for a while. Anyway, if I remember correctly, I believe the little girl walked in on Nick when he found the pills, so I'm thinking she noticed the hiding spot and went back later and got into them. I don't think the father had purposely given it to her (yet) even though that was likely his intention when things got really bad...

 

I remember it that way too.
I guess she learned her lesson there!

 

'Suicidal' is not an accurate description, I think, in the sense that the ranger dad wants to kill himself and his family 'prematurely'.

It is more like Nicholas, who is not 'suicidal' but when he was finally cornered into a hopeless situation, he would rather kill himself than being eaten alive.
As, as others have said above, say, if the family is overrun, then the ranger dad will kill himself and his family, as a last resort so that they will die on the island.

 

I think most "survivalists" aren't all there anyway, the pills are a sign of quitters.

 

Using survivalist in the description of the episode was misleading...as evidenced by the discussion on this (and other) thread.

 

Nah.

Remember the mom's conversation with Madison? She told Madison that she has a brain aneurysm: the mom doesn't know how long she's got but she knows she's living on borrowed time. When you think about what the little boy said about how they'll all die together, it is implied that whenever the mom is taking her last breath, everyone will be taking their pill.

That way, the family will never be separated and never leave the island. It has little to nothing to do with being overrun with walkers.

 

No. The Mother said she had MS, which you can live quite long time with.

 

Exactly she had M.S. not an aneurism?
Many with MS have good days and bad days and often many more good for a long,long time.
MS is not a Death Sentence like an aneurism which can just pop at anytime.
Many are also on experimental programs for improvement all of which are "suspended" by the Apocalypse for now!

It was for sure as a last resort in case death was imminent by face eating that they would take the pills and die on their own terms.

 

This. It's a measure of control over chaotic circumstances. Kinda like people who keep suicide as an option. I worked with a girl who struggled with mental illness and addiction. She once told me she keeps suicide as an option, not because she really wanted to die, but because keeping that option open gave her an "out". Meaning no matter how badly things were going, she knew there always a definite option to 'end it all" and having power over that decision gave her a sense of control.
That was my take on the survivalist guy. He chose to live on his own terms and if he's going down, it will be on his own terms. Control.

 

I vote with the "pills are a sign of quitters, not survivalist" camp. Catalina has a great tidal sweep and, with a boat, draw zombies out into the tide, let them wash down to San Diego or Oceanside (Camp Pendleton). The islands lack much water but a family of 4-5 - if they're not joined but by a few dozen others - should be able to use the long grow season. They really need to get seeds, though. I hope Dear Ol' Survivalist Dad had been stocking up on seeds.