Synopsis for 2×12: A few people gamble on the lives of the many in both the Colonia and the hotel. And something ties both communities together.

Rating:

Francisco, one of Alejandro’s scouts, makes the decision to abandon the Colonia with his family. What’s interesting about Fear The Walking Dead is how many people know the covered-in-blood camouflage trick that is underutilized in its predecessor, The Walking Dead. While they make it out of the wall with ease, Francisco and his family are unfortunately picked up by the Narcos who run the warehouse rather quickly.

Not that it was that much of a worry, but Ofelia is still alive. After the heart to heart with Alicia about family, it seems like she’s feeling a lot of regret about how she left her fiance, briefly mentioned. A flashback showcased Will’s proposal and her reluctance to leave her family for New Mexico and his new job. She promises to speak to her mother about it, but we already know how that turns out.

Once cleared of the infected, the hotel guests begin setting up a thriving community with crops and even a working generator that makes ice and helps them to boil water. While practicing her surfing on the beach, Alicia tells Hector about Nick and she insists he’s still alive out there somewhere. Hector tells her about his own brother, who chose the Narcos over him and his aunt.

Things are going well for the hotel, something Elena, Strand, and Madison note while meeting in one of the rooms. When Hector knocks, Strand gets up to let him in – and surprise! It’s not Hector, it’s Ilene, mother of the bride, who stabs him for taking her daughter away from her last episode. If Strand’s out, I’m out.

Kim Dickens as Madison Clark, Colman Domingo as Victor Strand, Raul Casso as Andres Diaz, Andres Londono as Oscar Diaz, Brenda Strong as Ilene - Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 2, Episode 12 - Photo Credit: Richard Foreman/AMC
Kim Dickens as Madison Clark, Colman Domingo as Victor Strand, Raul Casso as Andres Diaz, Andres Londono as Oscar Diaz, Brenda Strong as Ilene – Fear the Walking Dead _ Season 2, Episode 12 – Photo Credit: Richard Foreman/AMC

Strand collapses before they drag him back into the room to begin trying to care for him. They have a heated discussion about what to do now that Ilene has attacked Strand and Madison ultimately decides that she should be imprisoned indefinitely, which is the nicer option than exiling her.

Unfortunately, they don’t have the supplies to stitch Strand up or give him the blood transfusion he needs. Elena admits that she knows a place where they can get the supplies needed to get him fixed up and it’s decided that she, Madison, and Oscar will go get them.

Luciana and Nick are interrupted with the news of Francisco’s defection, something that surprises her greatly. Alejandro is told the news and immediately asks if Luciana knew. He also accuses her of wanting to follow him when she stresses that they should still go make a trade, something which upsets her. He makes the decision that no one is leaving the Colonia without his say, which Luciana agrees to, and then brings the people together to give them a hopeful speech.

Nick goes to Alejandro adamant that they need to take the medicine to the Narcos to trade or they’ll come after the Colonia anyway. Alejandro doesn’t think the Narcos can find them, and even if they do the terrain and the wall of infected will keep them safe. Nick thinks the danger is right now and Alejandro simply asks Nick to trust him.

Madison and Elena end up at the same warehouse that Nick and Luciana traded with earlier in the season. Elena’s other nephew, Antonio, Hector’s brother, is there and they bring fish in an ice-filled cooler in offering to the warehouse for the supplies they need. It’s noted that the fish are good, but the ice is better – Elena offers them more of it for the supplies they need.

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[AMC]
When they’re told to stand inside the warehouse and wait for Antonio to get the supplies for them, they overhear the interrogation of Francisco for the location of the Colonia. Madison has Elena translate and runs into the interrogation when she hears about an American with ratty hair. Elena tries to pull her away before they’re killed or they ruin the deal when Antonio gives them the box of supplies and tells them to leave.

Meanwhile, Nick asks Francisco’s scouting partner, Renaldo, to do the trade with him. He’s unsure, asking if Luciana knows about the plan to trade, and Nick tells him that she doesn’t. After a moment, he agrees that he’ll go with Nick, but they’ll have to wait until nightfall.

At the hotel, Strand is not doing well and Alicia is sitting with him. He jokes that her bedside manner is terrible and she reveals that she used to volunteer at the hospital in high school. She’s learned what to say and what not to say to patients, telling him that she won’t tell him he’s going to be alright, because he might not be. He laughs and says her bedside manner is actually abysmal. They discuss Madison briefly, and how she still doesn’t see Alicia, who raised herself. Strand tells her to make Madison see her.

Before nightfall, someone see’s Nick on the roof of a building. It’s one of the Narcos with a pair of binoculars – they know where the Colonia is.

In another flashback to Ofelia’s life, it’s revealed that her mother thought she was on a girls’ trip when she was getting engaged to her fiance. She asks her mom how she picked her father, Daniel, and her mother goes into a very bleak story about how they suffered together and fell in love. It’s sobering how intent she was to bring Ofelia away from that life and keep her safe. In the present, Ofelia is seen in the truck headed back to the United States.

 

Elena, Madison, and Oscar make it back to the hotel near nightfall and they run out to get the supplies to fix Strand. Meanwhile, Madison runs to the roof of the hotel and blindly turns on the lights so that everyone can see them.

Alicia runs upstairs to confront her and get her to turn the lights off, but she fights to keep them on. Madison tells Alicia that she doesn’t understand how it feels to have a child out there and maybe Nick has changed his mind about being away from them. Alicia is stunned and reminds Madison again that she’s there and wants to know why that isn’t enough.

In a mild plot twist to end the episode, Travis actually sees the lights in the hotel go out and he appears to be alone…

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