Wrath (Fear the Walking Dead)
"Wrath" is the fourteenth and penultimate episode of the second season, and the 20th episode overall of the post-apocalyptic horror television series Fear the Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on October 3, 2016 along with the season finale; North.[1]
"Wrath" | |
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Fear the Walking Dead episode | |
Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 14 |
Directed by | Stefan Schwartz |
Written by | Kate Barnow |
Original air date | October 2, 2016 |
Running time | 42 minutes |
Guest appearance(s) | |
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This episode marks the final appearance of Lorenzo James Henrie (Chris Manawa), whose fate was revealed in this episode. This episode also marks the first appearance of Dayton Callie (Jeremiah Otto), whose character would play a prominent role in the third season.
Plot
Ofelia manages to successfully reach the American border. In Tijuana, Nick attempts to convince the bandits not to attack the community, but their leader, Marco, explains to him that he knows how they get in and out of the Colonia, using the walkers as their army, and leaves him with an ultimatum: abandon the community or he and his men will slaughter everybody. To demonstrate his resolve, Marco shows Nick the executed corpses of Francisco and his family. Nick then returns and warns Luciana about the impending attack and asks her to leave with him. However, Luciana is still adamant in Alejandro's ability to protect them. Frustrated, Nick forces Alejandro to admit that he's not actually immune to the infection, and that he had been using his medical experience to merely suppress the symptoms. At the hotel, the tourists are let in, and Madison recognizes them based on Travis' description. The tourists anger the rest of the refugees and are about to be thrown out of the hotel when Travis stops them and asks what happened to Chris. The tourists explain that Chris accidentally crashed their truck and was killed by the impact. However, several inconsistencies in their stories lead Travis to conclude that Chris was only injured in the crash and was killed by the tourists. Enraged, Travis beats the tourists to death and severely injures Oscar who tries to stop him.
Reception
"Wrath", together with the season finale "North", received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, it garnered a 79% rating, with an average score of 7.25/10 based on 14 reviews. The site consensus currently reads, ""Wrath" and "North" effectively conclude a season that has gained resonance as it has progressed, culminating with dangerous but due violence, affecting reflections on human nature, and an intriguing ending teaser."[2]
In a joint-episode review along with the season finale, Matt Fowler of IGN gave "Wrath" and "North" an 8.5/10.0 rating together, the highest rating of the season, stating; "Fear the Walking Dead finishes its shaky second season on a satisfying note with some nice, sinister surprises and big, brutal moments. Travis' extended beatdown and murder of Derek and Brandon was excellently done, as were the consequences of those actions (which accidentally took an innocent life). Over on Nick's side of the story, we all knew Alejandro would be exposed as a fraud at some point, but everything was handled well and Nick got to save the day (well... until the very end) without having to rush in and physically protect people like an action hero."[3]
Ratings
"Wrath" was seen by 3.67 million viewers in the United States on its original air date, above the previous episodes rating of 3.49 million.[4][5]
References
- Bryant, Jacob (3 October 2016). "'Fear the Walking Dead' Season Finale Recap: 'Wrath' and 'North'".
- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/fear_the_walking_dead/s02/e15
- Fowler, Matt (2 October 2016). "Fear the Walking Dead: "Wrath / North" Review". IGN.
- Porter, Rick (October 4, 2016). "'Westworld' opens pretty well for HBO, 'Fear the Walking Dead' tops Sunday cable ratings". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 4, 2016. Retrieved October 4, 2016.
- Porter, Rick (September 27, 2016). "Sunday cable ratings: 'Fear the Walking Dead,' 'Power' finale lead originals". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 28, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2016.