Fear the Walking Dead 402 – Another Day in the Diamond
After the interesting conclusion to last week’s season premiere, A Day in the Diamond fills in some of the gaps connecting the events of the Season 3 finale to where the Clarks, Strand and Luciana ended up at the conclusion of What’s Your Story?
Starting over in Texas, Madison and her crew seem to have found some peace forging a new life in a community comfortably holed up in a minor league baseball stadium. Another Day in the Diamond begins in the past, and the tone is brimming with hope. This being the apocalypse though means trouble isn’t far away and unrest is hinted at when Madison tries to get some information out of a young girl named Charlie who has just come across their community.
Nick and Luciana’s relationship appears to be on solid ground and Madison and Strand have assumed leadership roles in the new community. While things seem impossibly idyllic, there’s a layer of darkness underneath all of the sun soaked turnips and free range sheep. Nick is reticent to venture outside of the community’s walls and Madison’s revelation that he was lost to them for some time adds more mystery to what we’ve missed out on since we last saw the Clark family pulling themselves out of the water after the dam had burst.
A search for Charlie’s family presents a problem as her family exists outside of the safe zone. Undaunted by this unfortunate wrinkle Madison, Alicia, Luciana and Strand head out through the gates in a bid to reunite Charlie with her family. Their search leads them to an abandoned town absent of people, walkers or supplies. Things get a little tense at an oil refinery when Madison happens upon a stranger named Naomi and they both get trapped in a tank filled with oil and walkers.
There is more to Charlie than she initially lets on and her connection to the group that is shaping up to be this season’s big bad, while not unexpected, is an interesting one. Mel, the leader of The Vultures is a charming menace, not unlike some of the other antagonists Madison has run across before. How he develops will go a long way to determining the effectiveness of the season.
The shifting timelines, which The Walking Dead has employed for many seasons, now is now a part of Fear’s narrative. When things move back to the present there’s a stark difference between where the Clarks started as Another Day in the Diamond opens to their encounter with Morgan, Althea and John. What happened in the interim to make them come across as villains, as well as Madison’s whereabouts will be interesting territory to explore.
