The Walking Deadis a grim TV show. Typical episode summary: Beloved Character Loses Beloved Organs. (Better title:Airline Food is People.) Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC Flight 462was an offshoot of an offshoot. The companion dramaFear the Walking Deadlaunched in 2015. It began with the very beginning of the apocalypse, and shifted the action to the West Coast. The fourth season features a new setting, new showrunners, new characters. Its a near-reboot thats fun and deflating: Inevitably,Fear the Walking Deadhas just becomeThe Walking Dead....

Whats the story of Madison and the Stadium? But now we also know what became of Madison. The prime protagonist since the very beginning of theWalking Deadspinoffsacrificed herselfso that her children could live. Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC Mel, meanwhile, took a car to save Charlie and they were able to flee the scene. Alicia, Nick, Luciana, and Victor presumed her dead, and Naomi presumed them dead. She planned to escape through the tunnels and backtrack outside but found herself blocked by more walkers....

I realize the clickbait-y nature of that headline, but now your here so lets discuss. Maybe its a red herring, maybe its not. Assuming for a second that theory is true, which other characters fromFear the Walking Deadmight go with him? Credit: Ryan Green/AMC Its a zombienado… walkornado… a zomburicane… Whatever. Maybe by next week Ill have better material. Pretty much everyone is now struggling to find themselves again after the deaths of Nick and Madison....

Lennie James spins off to join ‘Fear the Walking Dead.’ The attendees overtook the conversation many times. In some ways,The Walking Deaddoesnt feel like it belongs to the creators anymore. Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC This is where we findFear the Walking Deadin an interesting position. It still belongs to the creators. In a lot of ways, its a spin-off that has surpassed the series that spawned it. We first meet John Dorie, a cowboy played by Garret Dillahunt....

Its a voice we havent heard before a boys voice speaking through a blacked-out frame. Slowly, the image blends into a blurry shot of a gun barrel. The face behind his square-framed glasses, which are held together by wire, is coated with dirt. Credit: Ryan Green/AMC Im not scared, he whispers. Is it going to be loud? Who are these boys? Is one about to mercy kill the other?Whereare they?...

Once on stable ground, Madison is back in survival mode. They dont have a home or resources, so she must rely on the kindness of strangers. Its important to put this to bed. Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC Troy asks) and the real reason why he stayed at the ranch. You and me, were more alike than you think, Troy says. A walker toddler with pigtails grabs her legs from behind, and she loses her gun in the scuffle....

Revenge leads to another loss. Nick Clark entered this world as an addict. When the outbreak hit and his crutch of choice wasnt readily available, he found a new addiction. Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC People became his crutch, then killing. He traded addiction for addiction, never really coming to terms with the why of it all. But thats the tragedy of Nick Clark. After all this time, after slipping back toward the edge so many times, he finally fell over....

With Close Your Eyes, we find Alicia seeking refuge in a remote house from the violent storm. They remind Alicia of the family she once had who have already met the same fate. Also, its just super depressing all the time. Credit: Ryan Green/AMC Charlie similarly sneaks into the house through a door Alicia broke when she first busted in. Plus, she needs help securing the rest of the windows against the storm....

First things first, theres some business to go over. I see it, I hear it, I own it, Im adjusting. Sarah and Wendell have been guilt-tripped to do the same. Credit: Ryan Green/AMC We hear Walker Quinns gargling snarl, and she informs the group that she made him strong again. Morgan recognizes the womans voice. According to Filthy Woman, the boxes Morgan has been leaving along the road make people weak....

Alicia: I need something to be good. Charlie: Yeah, I do too. Make that three of us. Credit: Ryan Green/AMC Whether the episode answers this debate that the show has been framing all season long is another question. The Broadway star deserves better. Now, she has a name that triggers a bro-down bonding session between Batmen and Supermen… Martha! She was piloting the drivers seat when her car crashed into a railing and fatally injured her husband....

Thats not necessarily a good thing. One such twist begins with John and Morgans search for Laura, whom they now know to be Naomi. They find a Vulture scavenging a gas station and hold him up at gunpoint. Credit: Van Redin/AMC Morgan steps in when things get too rough and gets John to let the man go. Shes maintains her course of documenting everything and intervening as little as possible....

Morgan was blown way, way off course by that hurricane. If hes awful and everyone around him is awful, then everything is just… awful. The first new character is really just a new voice over the radio inside the station. Credit: Ryan Green/AMC A woman is calling out for someone called Polar Bear. Morgan, being the only one around, answers and explains his situation. The woman tells him to sit tight and help himself to supplies, reiterating the familiar cardboard box motto....

Alicia, Victor, and Luciana tell Al their story. Buried marks the day that changed everything, but even that might be a little too dramatic to say. This is the day these three survivors made decisions to stay and fight for their way of life. Credit: Richard Foreman, Jr/AMC Now they sit in front of Als camera as John takes the wheel. She wants their story, as much of it as she can get....