Good things never last. What should have been a safe haven literally went up in smoke in Fear the Walking Dead's mid-season finale.
"Shiva" starts out with a flashback involving Salazar as a young boy facing the sins of his past. This vision quickly goes away as he wakes up, disrupted by the chaos brought about by Strand shooting Thomas. Ofelia woke up with him and runs away with him, but this scene too is revealed to be a dream within a dream as she starts peeling away flesh from her cheek.
It had been set up that Salazar is starting to unravel but it's evident now more than ever in the episode, especially considering he normally had a steely exterior. He tried to leave with Ofelia when he discovered Celia's walker pen but was unfortunately subdued.
Celia wants everyone out of her house, giving them until sundown the following day to leave, which Madison is more than willing to oblige to. Unfortunately, her children aren't as keen on leaving as she is.
Nick and Celia have been enjoying understanding each other and he gets on her good side even more when he returned with Luis, Celia's transformed son. Luis is put in the pen with the other walkers in the basement as Nick reassures Celia he will be responsible for his family so they can stay. Celia gives in, allowing Alicia and Madison to stay, but she's not making concessions for Strand, who has spent most of his time digging up a grave for Thomas.
Madison confronts Nick with his affinity for covering himself up in walker blood. She says she's trying to understand him so as not to agitate her son.
"I move among them, Mom. Invisible," Nick said, clearly convinced that zombie blood can protect him from the undead, which is also fueled by his belief in Celia's ideologies.
Madison goes up to Celia, saying she wants to understand what the woman is about (Madison is really, really understanding, you guys). This prompts Celia to bring Madison to the basement, unlocking the cage and stepping inside to get a closer look at the walkers she has. Madison isn't exactly excited to meet any of them, however, slowly backing out and locking Celia in the pen.
This makes you think the episode is the head of the household's last appearance, but Madison did leave the key in the pen's door. Still, that doesn't guarantee that Celia's safety.
Let's go back to Salazar, who just got a renewed burst of spirit after talking to his dead wife, Griselda. Empowered, Salazar knocks out a guard sent to give him food and finds his way out. He ends up in the walker pen, except he doesn't see the walkers as an undead horde but a living group, with his wife one of them.
Desperate to be with his wife again, Salazar lights up the entire room, which quickly leads to the rest of the estate burning.
Everyone runs for their lives, with Strand picking up Madison and the others. Madison wants to wait for Nick and Travis, but they've got a now-free group of walkers to deal with. Fortunately, Nick comes back after making an effort to find Travis, who was running after his son, Chris. Unfortunately for Madison, he's not coming with them to return to the boat.
Chris can't come back because of what he did to Madison and Alicia, and Travis doesn't want him to be alone so he told Nick to lie and say he wasn't able to find them. Chris also isn't too interested in rejoining the others as he somewhat feels betrayed after seeing the estate on fire. To him, the fire confirmed that his friends and family are different from him.
This puts Strand, Madison, Alicia and Ofelia en route to the boat, Nick on his own, and Chris and Travis together as Fear the Walking Dead goes on break. What does the next half of the season have in store?
Fear the Walking Dead's second season is set to return on Aug. 21.
