In “A Good Man”, we all get the post-apocalypse we deserve, as Fear The Walking Dead draws to a close. All good things must come to an end. Fear The Walking Dead ended up being very good, despite a rocky start and some missteps. Most of these were corrected in FTWD’s conclusion.

First of all, let us address the rotting corpse in the room – the zombies (or “Walkers” or “biters” or “shambling bags of flesh”, choose your sobriquet.) The main criticism I saw leveled at the AMC mini-series was the lack of Walkers, which is a pretty serious allegation for a show with “The Walking Dead” making up ¾ of its title. “The Good Man” makes up for this drought in spades, with wave after wave of rotting flesh, as The Walking Dead‘s universe sees its very first herd.

Fear The Walking Dead was never just another zombie show, however. It was never really even just a prequel to Robert Kirkman’s gritty undead universe. The producers stated from the beginning that Fear The Walking Dead sought to be a family drama in a changing world. The large-cast ensemble shows normal inhabitants of this world, our world, dealing with the carnage of the new regime.

This transition made for most of the emotional weft and weight of the miniseries, providing a subtext that helps us to relate and empathize with the characters, even when they do stupid or even morally questionable actions. “The Good Man” tied up a lot of the loose threads and let us feel the weight of this dying world, while showing what the ensemble is truly made of, and what roles they will play in the new world.

Want to find out what happens in “The Good Man”? Read beyond the fold, but be warned: the following discussion will contain spoilers. If you haven’t watched yet and want to be surprised, go watch it now and come back to find out what we thought.

So what happened during FTWD‘s explosive culmination? If you’ve been watching, you’ll remember that the army has taken several of the town members to be detained, including post-apocalyptic heroin addict extraordinaire Nick (Frank Dillane) and Griselda (Patricia Reyes Spindola). Madison (Kim Dickens) and Daniel (Ruben Blades) are willing to do whatever it takes to get their loved ones, with Daniel abducting Andrew Adams (Shawn Hatosy) and torturing information out of him.

“The Good Man” finds our leading cast making preparations to break into the army’s compound, in light of the revelation that their protectors are abandoning them. Under extreme duress (i.e., being peeled alive with a straight razor), Adams revealed the local stadium is full of thousands upon thousands of Walkers. Daniel and Madison concoct a plan to use the Walkers as a diversion, break into the compound, steal back their loved ones, and make a break for it! It’s like they saved up all of the action for one spectacular, blood-and-gore soaked explosion. And it delivers.

Inside, once the chaos breaks, Nick and new friend (and amazing character) Strand (Colman Domingo) make a break for it, having worked out an elaborate escape strategy. As the pair slip out, through the sound of gunfire and mayhem, we see Nick and Strand adopting the ways of this new world, as they leave their fellow interred in cages, as sheep for the impending slaughter. It’s a dog-eat-undead-dog world now, and sometimes you just don’t have time to help. It’s already too late.

“The Good Man” is worth watching if only for the full-scale riotous carnage of the Walker invasion. For anybody’s that’s been frustrated with the army throughout this series, here’s your chance for some grim satisfaction.

Of course, it raises the question: Are the Army just ahead of the curve? Aren’t they just reserving their resources for the able-bodied, removing the weak and the infirm, as everyone will have to do, moving forward into the post-apocalypse? Fear The Walking Dead poses hard questions like “What makes civilization continue?” Is it brute force, or is it the kindness of strangers? Most post-apocalyptic fiction has a pretty dark worldview, in this regard, as survivors turn on each other in unbridled savagery and complete self-interest.

The survivors of Fear The Walking Dead have banded together, however, becoming a kind of extended family. They care about each other, almost to a fault. And while this caring endangers themselves, as we shall see, is a world without it even worth living in? Is just surviving really living?

We see another face of this new world as the ensemble tries to execute their exit strategy. Some soldiers absconded with their car, after Chris (Lorenzo James Henrie) and Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) put up a good struggle. As the ensemble tries to figure out what to do, Adams emerges from the shadows to take his revenge on his torturer. Ofelia (Mercedes Mason) gets shot in the melee and Travis (Cliff Curtis) acts with swift and vicious justice. He beats Adams nearly to death with his bare fists, leaving him as a gurgling, bubbling lump of flesh as the ensemble departs.

Travis has been acting as “The Good Man” the entire series, serving as the moral compass for what remains of the society. If he were an AD&D character, he’d be Lawful Good. His justice is immediate and without mercy, however, showing what exactly the laws of this new world are. Hurt the people I love, and I will destroy you without hesitation.

Not everyone escaped without a scratch, unfortunately, as would-be Nurse and Genuinely Helpful Person Liza (Elizabeth Rodriguez) got bit during the evacuation. She says a tearful goodbye to Chris, then asks Madison to put her out of her misery, so her son doesn’t have to see her come back as an undead thing, and she doesn’t want to put Travis through the pain of being her executioner.

He arrives as the two women are discussing and, in a gripping finale, Travis puts his ex-wife down. He’s the new Rick of this West Coast world, and he’s the one who makes the hard decisions. As gunfire rings out, breaking the stillness of the infinite expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Travis falls to knees, crushed by the weight of the world.

Fear The Walking Dead‘s first season is a requiem for a dying world. On the surface level, it’s an entertaining transition from this world into Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead universe. With Travis and Madison kneeling in the seafoam, wailing for loss, grieving what is never to return, we can’t help but think about the worlds we’ve lost and are left to grieve. “The American Dream” of 2.5 kids, white house, picket fence is dead or dying, and not nearly as animated as the corpses gnashing their way through The Walking Dead. Unemployment and student debt skyrocket while old industries decay and rust, never to return. It’s uncertain what will remain, what will be useful. We’re left flailing in the dust, squinting into an uncertain future.

As an emotional and thought-provoking denouement, Madison and Nick have a conversation, staring out to sea. Madison asks Nick how he feels, and he begins to talk about how strange it is, that he doesn’t feel all that different. While everyone else is scrabbling for survival, dealing with the wreckage, Nick is living in the same desperate world he’s always inhabited, as a junkie. He talks about the rest of the world catching up with him.

Here, in the twilight of the Old World, we all are hustling. The question remains: what will this new society be? Will it be savagery, the law of the jungle? Or a world of benevolence, of loving your neighbor and looking after one another? We’re not yet over-run with flesh-eating corpses. Perhaps it’s not too late.

It should be very interesting to see where they go with Fear The Walking Dead going forward.

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For previous Silver Screen Riot Fear the Walking Dead recap coverage, find archive reviews below:

Fear the Walking Dead Episode 1 “Pilot”
Fear the Walking Dead Episode 2 “So Close, Yet So Far
Fear the Walking Dead Episode 3 “The Dog”
Fear the Walking Dead Episode 4 “Not Fade Away”
Fear the Walking Dead Episode 5 “Cobalt”

For more horror-related news, reviews, rumblings and ramblings, as well as far too much and pop cultural references to be healthy for anyone, follow @for3stpunk.

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