Fear the Walking Dead Ep. 204 Blood in the Streets
If the pre-credits scene didn’t elicit enough questions, then the remainder of Blood in the Streets raised several more before partially answering some of them. The clever use of flashbacks filled in some of Strand’s backstory and the appearance of some, until now, unseen characters helped to make Sunday’s episode one of the series’ best.
Tensions on the Abigail threaten to break apart the already fragile bonds that exist between the crew. Travis and Madison debate the events of last episode particularly Strand’s decision to cut their newest crew members loose. While Strand’s stance may seem a bit militant so far this season, Blood in the Streets proves that he may have been justified.
Alicia’s naivete doesn’t take long to sting the crew of the Abigail. When a trio come upon the yacht in a dingy, it’s soon apparent that they aren’t quite as they seem. They quickly commandeer the Abagail and all hell breaks loose. With things in disarray, Alicia is the calm before the storm. She, like the rest of the teenagers on board, have been forced to mature quickly this season. Her newfound strength and resolve is on full display as some of the mystery voices on the other end of the CB radio finally show their faces. The drama on the boat and on the water is a further indication that the true monsters on the show aren’t the walkers, but the uninfected.
Getting back to Strand, he’s a curious figure and the episode gives viewers snippets of his past via flashbacks. These fragments in time, are dotted throughout the episode and reveal a complicated man who lives by a curious code of ethics. A resourceful man to say the least, Strand’s checkered past is filled with unexpected alliances and changes in fortune. The introduction of a new crew member adds another layer of mystery to Strand’s past as well as the crew of the Abigail’s future.
Blood in the Streets deals with trust and the power it wields. The ways in which alliances shift and how the strength of those bonds ebb and flow as trust is gained and lost is evident on many levels. Strand, Alicia, Nick and the characters introduced in the episode all jockey for power or acceptance depending on the situation before them. The introduction of a new villain, and the promise of salvation in Mexico add to the intrigue as Fear the Walking Dead begins to find its footing and sails into mid-season. Let’s hope that we haven’t seen the last of these flashbacks and that the waters on the way to Mexico are anything but calm.
