Season 2, Episode 4: Blood in the Streets
PLOT: The details of Victor Strand's history begin to be revealed as armed outsiders invade the Abigail.
REVIEW: I would be so dead in the zombie apocalypse. Even though Romero's DEAD films and The Walking Dead have drilled it into my head that other people are a greater threat than the zombies, when other survivors show up on these shows I'm always willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. When characters have moral arguments over what they should do about certain people, I'm always on the side of those who say "We can't allow ourselves to lose our humanity." So when Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) and Ofelia (Mercedes Mason) spotted a trio of people, including a bleeding pregnant woman, rowing up to the yacht called Abigail and Chris started asking "Should I shoot them?", I was thinking, "No, Chris, you little burgeoning psycho, you should not shoot these people!"
Within moments this trio of people were holding our lead characters hostage at gunpoint and Chris's question was rubbed in his face by the worst of the bunch (Jesse McCartney as Reed): "If you have to ask the question, somebody should already be dead." This episode is largely about the Manawas, Clarks, Salazars, and captain Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) paying for making the same mistake I would have made.
Yes, these three people are from the boat that has been chasing the Abigail for the last couple episodes, and even though they manage to get the upper hand for a while, they're not really a very impressive bunch. Their leader Connor may have a .50 caliber machine gun at his disposal, but the first batch of his followers we get to meet sort of turn out to be The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. These are not the badass villains I was expecting.
The one interesting member of Connor's group is Jack, the guy Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) was talking to on the radio a few episodes back. When we finally see his face, it turns out to be Daniel Zovatto from IT FOLLOWS. This is supposed to be a recurring role for him, and I'm interested in seeing how the character of Jack will progress and what will happen between him and Alicia.
As we're learning more about the people who have been pursuing the Abigail, the man who is gradually becoming the hero of the series, Frank Dillane as Nick Clark, is off on his own side mission, and so we'll understand what's happening in his storyline we also need to learn more about Victor Strand. This information is delivered in a way that had me reminiscing about Lost – we get flashbacks to Strand's pre-zombie apocalypse life interspersed with the present day action.
With Strand's back story, this episode doubles down on disappointing reveals. Connor's group isn't looking promising, and Strand isn't nearly as interesting as viewers have been theorizing. His secrets aren't as dark as imagined. He's just a credit card thief who struck up a relationship with land developer Thomas Abigail (Dougray Scott, who I'll always know as The Man Who Would've Been Wolverine). A character this intriguing and that's the story they gave him? Is it me, am I expecting too much, or does this show have a habit of making the most bland choices possible?
Maybe there's more going on than meets the eye. I hope so, and Thomas's pal Luis (Arturo del Puerto) sure can cap people in the head like it's nothing, which I wouldn't expect from someone who was just in real estate.
I'm looking forward to seeing more of Connor's group and set-up, I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for Strand and the others on the Abigail once they catch up with Thomas Abigail in Mexico, but I didn't find the steps taken in those directions in this episode to be very satisfying.
BEST ZOMBIE MOMENT: There aren't many to choose from here, so it would have to be the cold open, with Nick luring a walker to its (second and final) death in the village of abandoned tents, taking a moment to be face-to-face with it through the thin material of a tent flap before killing it.
GORY GLORY: The best gore moment comes directly after that walker kill, as Nick digs into the zombie's guts and smears them all over himself to hide his living human scent. It worked last episode, and it works again here.
FAVORITE SCENE: Madison (Kim Dickens) and Ofelia playing mind games with the pregnant invader, trying to get her to drop her guard by putting the idea of giving birth to a zombie into her head.
FINAL VERDICT: