Fear the Walking Dead has been an absolute snoozer since the midseason premiere. “You’re Still Here” continues to the pattern of hideously boring filler episodes. Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) finally discovers who’s been painting the trees. Morgan (Lennie James) and Al (Maggie Grace) preserve the group’s legacy. Wes (Colby Hollman) questions the group’s message. Logan (Matt Frewer) tries a new tactic to find the oil fields.
“You’re Still Here” opens with Alicia at a tree looking at the painted inspirational message. She wonders aloud who wrote this. A walker breaks from the tree and comes at her. Others follow, she screams for Strand (Colman Domingo). He comes to her rescue and dispatches the walkers. The message is now covered in walker blood.
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On a bridge, Alicia looks at a map. Strand tells her they’re running out of fuel. He doesn’t think they’ll find the tree painter, or what that person can do for her. Wes contacts them on the radio. They respond, he recognizes their voices from the tapes. They meet him on the road and load up his motorcycle. Wes explains that Logan thought he was with them. He asks for their help to get back home to his brother.
Morgan and Al clear the walkers from a bank. Al knows the combination for the safe. Morgan kills a walker inside the vault. Al puts the recordings into safe deposit boxes. Their message will be preserved for the future and from Logan. Al wonders why Morgan came with her on the run.
In their truck, Wes asks why Alicia is searching for the tree painter, “Don’t you have bigger fish to fry?” She apologizes for Logan. They drive to a police station surrounded by walkers. Alicia tells Wes to keep the radio. They hear gunshots inside. A man runs out bleeding with Wes chasing after. The man jumps into their truck and drives away, knocking down the fence. Wes continues to shoot. He runs out of bullets. Strand’s response, “I take it that wasn’t your brother.”
Walkers pour into the yard. Wes grabs a bag of shotguns from a car. He throws one to Strand who shoots a walker with the gun. It lodges tear a gas canister that billows out smoke. Strand orders everyone inside and kills the walker. But is blinded by the gas. Alicia pours water on his face, but he still can’t see. Alicia demands to know what just happened. Wes admits the man had robbed him of something valuable. He hasn’t had a brother for a while. Strand wants to find the man and save him. Wes doesn’t understand why. Walkers have gathered at the door. Alicia asks Wes, “How many people have you killed?”
At the bank, Al responds to Alicia’s radio call for help. They’re trapped at the bank. Al and Morgan will have to find the wounded man. At the police station, Strand still can’t see. Morgan and Al hit the road to search. They come to Logan and his armed group blocking the road with a truck. Logan heard the radio conversation. He knows about the man. Logan wants to know where the oil fields are.
The standoff on the road continues. Al and Morgan look at a map, but they can’t get around the roadblock in time. Morgan approaches Logan, “Why does he need the gas? Maybe we can help you.” Logan doesn’t want to hear his “horse sh*t.” He’s tired of waiting for Morgan to “grow up or die.” When he mentions Morgan’s wife and son from the tape, Morgan snaps and attacks him. He has the staff at Logan’s throat. The group have their guns pointed. Morgan and Al back off.
At the police station, Alicia wonders what the man took from Wes. It was important. Wes can’t find it. The wounded man took it. Was waits for Alicia to start preaching. He doesn’t need her to “heal his soul.” Alicia replies if he doesn’t get it back, then Wes shot the man for nothing. It would be the first person Wes has killed. Wes explains that his brother died when everything first began. He knows what Alicia is trying to do, but doesn’t want any part.
Alicia gathers the remaining guns and ammo. She and Strand approach the walkers at the door. His vision is still gone. She grabs her old weapon. She hasn’t killed since the plane, but someone needs their help. Just as she’s ready to open the door, Wes joins them. He takes the guns.
Wes goes out behind the station. He starts shooting the walkers bunched together in the front. They turn towards him as he goes through several pistols. Inside, Alicia finds keys to a patrol car. The walkers break through the front door. Alicia grabs a baton. Strand kills the walker before her, but Wes comes to their rescue.
On the road, Al and Morgan have driven away from the roadblock. Al apologizes for putting Morgan’s family story on the documentary. Morgan doesn’t blame her. They get a call from Alicia. They’ve found the wounded man. Alicia stands by their truck with the motorcycle in the back. The man walks ahead on the road. Wes stares at him.
Wes walks towards the bleeding man. The man turns around, throws the bag at Wes, and then attacks him. He chokes Wes on the ground. Wes stabs him in the side. Wes asks for his manuscript. They dying man is stunned Wes wrote it. Wes rummages through the bag and finds his book. The man’s dying words, “It’s good stuff…it’s really good stuff.” Wes drops his manuscript and stabs the man through the head. Alicia is stupefied Wes killed over a book.
Wes responds, “I should have never radioed you.” He knows Alicia is “right”, but doesn’t need that now. Wes walks away from them. Alicia holds up his book. “He died for it. You can keep it,” Wes says as he leaves on his own.
Morgan and Al bury the man. Strand asks Alicia about the book. Wes wrote it for his brother. She makes a startling discovery. On the last page, it ends with “if you’re still reading this, it means you’re still here.” Wes painted the trees. Alicia opens the motorcycle sidecar and see its filled with painting supplies. Alicia paints a tree. Wes is walking down the road. He comes to the tree and sees the painted message. He begins to weep.
Alicia has painted another tree with a bird symbol. A walker approaches, but she kills it instead of Strand. She’s “good” now. She paints “no one is gone until they’re gone.” Morgan looks at her message and smiles. At the bank that night, Logan uses a truck to tear down the vault door. He takes the tapes from the boxes.
“You’re Still Here” wraps up Alicia’s personal quest with a yawn. Her character arc after the death of her mother and brother has been melodramatic sludge. The same goes for Morgan’s mental baggage. You wouldn’t find worse writing on a soap opera. Fear the Walking Dead is in danger of losing its fan base. The show has become awful. The remaining season five episodes have to be better on AMC.
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Julian Roman
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