Last Updated on August 2, 2021
Season 5, Episode 15: Channel 5
PLOT: Morgan and his convoy of survivors have philosophical disagreements with Ginny and her group while searching for a safe place to settle down in.
REVIEW: Earlier in this season of Fear the Walking Dead, the Channel 4 episode was largely shot in "found footage" style because we were seeing the action through cameras the characters were using to film a documentary, the purpose of that documentary being to advertise their helpful endeavors. Now The Walking Dead crossover character Morgan (Lennie James) and his group of do-gooders have run into another group of survivors that claims they can help others, a group headed up by Ginny (Colby Minifie), whose occasionally murderous, always cold methods Morgan and company don't agree with. Channel 5 starts off with the revelation that the rivalry between these two "helpful" groups has gotten to a point where Ginny has made her own documentary to advertise the services she can provide. Morgan and his pals can't have that, so a good chunk of Channel 5 is shot "found footage" documentary style as the show's lead characters shoot a second documentary in response to Ginny's documentary.
Yes, now we have dueling documentaries in the zombie apocalypse, an idea so ridiculous that I'm hoping everyone's cameras are going to get smashed so we can move on from this nonsense for good.
Morgan and his pals are shooting this second documentary while desperately seeking a home where their convoy of survivors – a group that consists of over 30 people – can settle down. Since Ginny's people have taken over the oil field they were using to get gasoline from, the convoy is running out of time. Their vehicles are going to be sputtering out very soon, and the episode as a whole feels like it's running on fumes. There is very little that feels worthwhile going on in Channel 5.
The convoy has a destination in mind and they do their best to get there, on wheels or by foot, all the while making sure to demonstrate to the camera that they are better and more kindhearted than Ginny and her people. So caring that they're even willing to make a slight detour to try to get supplies for their member Grace (Karen David), who may be succumbing to radiation poisoning. In addition to being a sort of "ticking time bomb" character, since it's possible she could die at any moment, Grace is also something of a love interest for Morgan. Everyone knows a relationship between them would be short and sad, though, so there's nothing really happening in that department. That storyline, along with Grace's general demeanor, has gotten me to care for this character who probably won't be around for long. I will be disappointed with Grace's story finally reaches its tragic conclusion.
Channel 5 isn't all walking and talking. There's also a zombie attack sequence along the way that once again proves that the folks at Fear the Walking Dead are capable of brainstorming interesting and entertaining zombie sequences even when the stories between the characters aren't so great.
This episode successfully gets us one step closer to the season finale and has a notable zombie sequence, but it was underwhelming overall. I find the documentary stuff to be really dopey, and the whole Ginny situation stirs up absolutely nothing within me. I don't find her group interesting or threatening, they're just an excuse for Fear to cover the same ground the Walking Dead shows can't seem to get away from, the tired "community vs. community" scenario.
With one episode left in season 5, I hope Grace survives the season and Ginny doesn't.
BEST ZOMBIE MOMENT: A herd of zombies try to feast on our convoy of heroes as they cross a crumbling wooden bridge. The zombies don't have any success, but there's so many of them moving together that they're able to push parked cars out of their way, which was a cool sight.
GORY GLORY: There really wasn't any glorious gore to speak of in this episode. The best we got was the standard bashing and stabbing of zombie heads. No matter how many zombies fall from these blows, they still don't amount to much.
FAVORITE SCENE: The zombies on the crumbling wooden bridge was the highlight of this episode. It was a fun set-up that came to a great conclusion… and even though the zombies didn't get to eat anybody, the situation still managed to remove a dull new character from the show.
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