After a quiet season thus far, Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) takes centre stage in Fear The Walking Dead‘s patchy new episode ‘Handle With Care’. With big bad Virginia (Colby Minifie) now out of the picture, the survivors grow increasingly paranoid about each other’s motivations, while a mysterious threat lingers on the periphery of their camp – but is it all in their heads? We’ve rounded up the key moments from Fear The Walking Dead season six, episode 10 below.
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Unexpected twist: Daniel’s fake memory loss comes back to haunt him
Daniel managed to outwit Virginia earlier in the season by faking the loss of his memory, but this appears to have come back to bite him. In several direct-to-camera segments, Daniel explains his backstory – a paranoid tale involving accidental dynamite explosions, missing guns and bizarre misdirections.
We’re led to believe that there’s a mole in the camp, but that theory is soon debunked when it’s revealed that Daniel is actually suffering from psychologically-induced amnesia. He’s putting pregnant Grace (Karen David) in danger by misremembering safe locations, stealing weapons for himself without recalling why, and blaming others like Victor Strand (Colman Domingo) for things he himself has done. Realising he’s a danger to everyone, he makes the decision to leave, only to be invited to join Victor and the remnants of Virginia’s army.
The episode’s execution felt awkward and inelegant at times, but it’s promising that Daniel’s memory loss storyline hasn’t been brushed off as the convenient plot device it initially appeared to be. There’s some smart references to season two as well, when he hallucinated and “set a whole place on fire” at the Abigail Family Vineyard. Hopefully, the show commits to tackling mental health with the sensitivity required in future episodes too.
Is there really a mole in the camp?
Daniel’s mental health struggles quickly become a blanket reason for unexplained events in this episode, which throws everything into doubt. But Daniel wasn’t around when the Tank Town fire happened earlier this season – and who’s responsible for all those spray-painted messages (“The End is the Beginning”)?
Everyone’s rightly worried about an approaching threat – though the overriding atmosphere of paranoia might be making it worse. Fear The Walking Dead has, in recent episodes, branched out from the set-up established by its sister show – could they go one step further and create a brand new enemy for the final part of the season?
Discussion point: Daniel and Victor’s complex history
When Daniel locked Victor behind bars on the assumption he’d stolen some weapons, the show tapped into the pair’s turbulent history for the first time in ages. These two characters (and actors) have one of the best dynamics in the show, forged in deceit and dictated by guilt over past actions.
For Victor, it’s for the death of Daniel’s daughter Ofelia which he feels culpable. Victor lied to Daniel about Ofelia’s whereabouts back in season three, unknowingly costing him the chance to see his daughter before she died from a walker bite. He also once shot Daniel through the cheek – which can’t have helped their relationship. On the other hand, Daniel left Victor for to be eaten by zombies previously, so he’s no angel either.
Their relationship is definitely complicated – but with Victor taking Daniel under his wing in these new episodes, could they bury the hatchet once and for all?
This week’s biggest question: what awaits the survivors in Dallas?
After Dakota (Zoe Colletti) recalled Virginia’s past exploits tracking an unknown enemy in Dallas, the survivors are on course to return to the area, which is also the same place where Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Althea (Maggie Grace) previously searched for clues. Their last visit involved a plague-infested tower – surely the situation can’t have worsened since?
Most ominous quote: “Just because Daniel is wrong about this, doesn’t mean we don’t have to worry about whoever’s out there” – Rollie (Cory Hart)
‘Fear The Walking Dead’ airs Sunday nights on AMC
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