[RECAP] Season 4, Episode 9 of Fear The Walking Dead, "People Like Us"

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By Carolina Gallardo (@carolgallardo)

The mid-season premiere of Fear the Walking Dead "People Like Us" comes after the dust has settled regarding the aftermath of the death of Madison, the series protagonist since the first episode.  As we watch it, we can definitely get a sense that this episode is a "reset" of some sort for our characters, as they recenter themselves for...well, whatever is meant to happen next.

We start off the episode with a quick glimpse into the future: We see Althea's tank stationary in the middle of what appears to be an intense, rainy storm that we can assume is a hurricane.  The tank is stationary but the rain and wind is so strong that various walkers are picked up and flung through the air with the greatest of ease.

Which leads me to wonder....what are the aerodynamics behind all this?  How hollow are these walkers that the hurricane winds can just fling them around?  Or should we assume this was like a category 4 storm?  Just some food for thought...

In any case, we soon revert back to present day where we see Morgan assessing his items in the back of a truck.  Among some of the items he's reviewing, they include (wait for it), peanut butter protein bars.  God, I love those little callbacks to old Walking Dead episodes.  But the true surprise comes with the news that Morgan delivers to Althea: That he will be returning to his friends and would like her to drive him there.  When Althea protests he convinces her by telling her that this will provide her with the opportunity to see for herself everything that he has been telling her about Alexandria and then some.  Althea agrees.

Morgan then goes to another vehicle, a school bus, where John Dorie, June and Charlie have been stationed as their temporary outpost.  Charlie seems to spend much of her time reading, while June seems to be tending to John as he recovers from his wounds.  Morgan explains to John his intention to return east to Alexandria and how they should all come with him.  John expresses his reservation with that idea since his plan is to return to his cabin and live there comfortably with June and Charlie (his new family, clearly).  Morgan questions whether the cabin is even still standing but John has his mind set and his only request for Morgan to say a final goodbye before he goes on his way.  Morgan understands.

We then see Morgan approach, quite frankly, a mansion of an estate which considering we're in the state of Texas, is not all THAT shocking (anybody watch Fixer Upper on HGTV?).  As a walker begins to approach Morgan, a shot comes from an upper window and we see that the shot came from a HEAVILY inebriated Strand.  When the massively ornate door finally opens, we see that Strand, Luciana and Alicia have set up camp in this mansion and while Alicia spends most of her time outside, Strand spends most of his time indoors drinking and Luciana with headphones plugged in, losing herself to the record collection she immerse herself in.  All of them have found their own form of escape and their own way of dealing with their grief that they are comfortable with.  

Personally, I can't really fault Strand or Luciana for their approach because if it were me and I hit the jackpot of a mansion with a wine cellar, an extensive record collection and potentially (*gasp*) running water??  Yeah, I'd be staying put too.  I would definitely be Luciana with my headphones plugged in and swaying to some vintage records.  Hell I WAS Luciana through most of high school...wait, I'm doing that right now!  

Also, side note: Strand's take down of a random walker that stumbled into the mansion before it could attack a clueless Luciana as she's deep in a musical zone is a big reason why it's never a good idea to blare that music too loud.  Just saying.

In any case, Morgan's suggestion falls on deaf ears (Ha! See what I did there?) and he attempts to approach Alicia, as a last resort.  She is by a fence killing all the walkers that approach, in an effort to get closer or more information regarding someone who potentially needs help.  Morgan tries to tell her that this a futile attempt but eventually they notice the notes pinned to the walkers with the use of some sort of mechanical equipment.  Morgan eventually obliges Alicia and they approach an abandoned lumber yard where she believes the notes are coming from.  After a very efficient group walker kill (smart thinking Morgan), they eventually enter the room where they believe someone is hiding...only to find that the person that had been sending the notes has already died and has turned.  This devastates Alicia who feels that she will never compare to all her mother was able to accomplish.  She then runs off, shrugging off Morgan's calls to her, particularly as he starts to notice the weather starting to seriously deteriorate.  Regardless, Alicia rebuffs Morgan's aid and leaves him to fend for himself in this inclement weather.

Meanwhile, back at the school bus, Charlie is almost attacked by a river walker had it not been for some quick moves by Althea (she's quickly becoming a favorite of mine among this crew, that's for sure).  After this altercation, they begin to notice how more and more walkers are turning up in the river and therefore Althea and June decide that they will take the tank drive up some to investigate.  John is concerned about June going off but June assures him that she'll be fine and she'll be back.  With that assurance, he lets her go.  However reluctantly.

In her absence, he tries to engage with Charlie with a makeshift Scrabble game but to no avail.  Instead, Charlie packs up her belongings and runs off.  We end up seeing that her destination was the mansion and before she can get a word in with anyone, Luciana sees her and chases her angrily out of the house into the storm.  She then notices that Charlie had delivered to her "The Little Prince" book that Luciana had originally given to her and had been rejected.  At this realization, Luciana runs into the storm herself, in an attempt to catch up to Charlie.  John himself realizing that Charlie has run off has convinced Strand to join him in joining the search for her.

Meanwhile, June and Alicia have their own heart to heart in the tank on their way to investigating the river.  June expresses to Alicia her concerns about John loving "Laura" and maybe not necessarily "June".  Althea very succinctly explains that John loves the woman that has been taking care of his wounds for the past how many days (or weeks).  Good point Althea.  Eventually, June realizes that the walkers coming down the stream are coming because of a serious storm pushing them their way.  June tells Althea that they need to get back immediately to hunker down and prepare.

This brings us back to the scene at the beginning of the episode with June and Althea stuck in the tank, amidst the hurricane storm winds and rain, with walkers flying all about.

So there you have it, you have all our characters fractured and split apart in the midst of a hurricane.  Talk about gimme shelter.

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