SPOILER ALERT: Storyline and character spoilers ahead for the “Shiva” episode of Fear the Walking Dead.



We know from the mothership series, when groups of apocalypse survivors are forced apart, bad sh– happens. And that’s where we leave the Fear the Walking Dead crew in the midseason finale: Separated from each other because of individual breakdowns, a raging fire Daniel set to wipe out the compound, and Strand’s banishment after his mercy shooting of his bitten lover, Thomas.

FTWD showrunner Dave Erickson talked to Yahoo TV about Chris and Daniel’s breakdowns, why Daniel set the compound ablaze, and how Strand is going to be changed by losing his only love. And Erickson also drops a bombshell about which character will be MIA for the rest of Season 2…

One of the big takeaways from this episode, thanks to Travis’s bloodied feet, is that it might be a good idea to sleep with your shoes on in the zombie apocalypse.

Yes, you should sleep with your shoes on. It’s interesting, because I think the first thing Daniel says to Ofelia when he gets through his dream sequence is, “Find your shoes,” so Daniel knows what he’s doing. He knows how to survive. And I think Travis is so desperate to get to his son and not realizing that that’s going to turn into a longer trek. So yes, you should always keep a pair of shoes nearby.

All of the characters are in major upheaval when we leave them in this episode. Strand is a guy who always has a plan, and a backup plan, and a backup to that backup. That doesn’t seem to be true right now.

The thing about Strand that’s interesting is this relationship he’s developed with Madison. There’s a true friendship that’s starting to form, and there’s a certain level of respect between them. And it’s a shift, because if you look back to “Blood in the Streets,” when Reed and company took over the boat, Strand got off. Strand abandoned ship, because he was primarily concerned with following his plan and his main drive and goal was to get back to Thomas at all costs. Now you see a guy who, once he’s kicked out, he does come back, whether it’s because he saw the fire start from a distance or whether it was because he was fearful about what might happen to his friend Madison and her family — he doesn’t run. That’s a Strand we haven’t seen before. I think it’ll be interesting to see how that manifests in the first few episodes of the back half, and an interesting thing for Colman [Domingo] to play.

There’s a sense of loneliness with both Strand and Madison, and neither of them gives their trust to others easily. Is that why they’ve bonded?

They don’t give their trust easily, and I also think they’re kindred spirits in many ways because both of them are willing to do, ultimately, what needs to be done. [Madison] can be an incredibly compassionate and caring person, but I also think fundamentally there is a coldness and there is a darker quality to her that she’s able to tap into. I think that’s something Daniel recognizes in her. That’s also something Strand recognizes in her.

I think it started from a place of negotiation, in the early episodes of the season, where, “I need you Madison, because you have the ear of Travis and you have the ear of Salazar.” She’s this common denominator. Everyone seems to respect her in some way, shape, or form, if not love her, and I think that’s the reason why everyone gravitates towards her ultimately. It’s also the reason in the long trajectory of the show, I think she is somebody who will continue to rise as a leader, and she will take steps forward and she will fall back, because fundamentally the one weakness that she has is Nick. It’s the one element of her life [where] she sometimes makes very bad decisions and sometimes commits acts that seem reprehensible and are, but from her perspective, she’s willing to die for her son, and she’s also willing to kill.

There’s a really nice scene between Strand and Madison when he’s digging Thomas’s grave. He turns around and tells her he plans to go back to the yacht, and, without looking at her, says, “Do you care to go?” It’s such a rare moment of vulnerability for him, now that he’s alone.

I love that you watch these episodes so carefully. David Wiener wrote the script, and I thought did a beautiful job. And I love how Colman played it, because he doesn’t face her when he says it. He’s turned away, and you’re right, it is a vulnerability, it is him asking. It’s the only time we’ve really seen him ask her for help in that way, in the sense of, “I don’t want to be alone, and you and I, we’ve got something. We have a friendship, we have some kind of connection, and I don’t want to go back to that boat by myself. I just lost the man I love, I’m losing everything. I need to hold on to something.” All of that is encapsulated in that one moment, and I think it’s heartbreaking.

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