AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead
Season 5, Episode 7: “Still Standing”
Directed by Marta Cunningham
Written by Richard Naing

* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “The Little Prince” – click here
* For a recap & review of the mid-season finale, “Is Anybody Out There?” – click here
Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) is facing the tunnel of walkers left behind by the runaway kids, prepared to hack through and search for them. Elsewhere, in the irradiated area, Strand (Colman Domingo) and Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) are dealing with their own issues, including the fact they’ve got to try getting the propellers out of there. Morgan (Lennie James) warns about the radiation. He calls Grace (Karen David) to use her truck. She needs it, suggesting he head nearby where there’ll be another vehicle.

Strand and Charlie have used the deflated hot air balloon to create a barrier between them and the dead. In the woods, Alicia runs into little Dylan (Cooper Dodson), who leads her back to the kids’ hideout. They’ve got a fortified treehouse past a set of gates donning walkers with their guts hanging out, variations on the traps they’ve left. Alicia tries to explain to Annie (Bailey Gavulic) eventually things will get bad when the radiation kicks up on the wind, or when walkers manage to bust through. No matter what they do that place will be ruined. She can’t convince the girl.

She calls Morgan to check in, explaining the dire situation. He won’t accept it. He’s out looking through a house, where he finds an ad for a performance of Fiddler on the Roof and a torn out magazine page with a recipe for pad thai. He also finds keys. (This is Grace’s house.) In the irradiated area, Charlie and Strand have a talk about survival. They’re surprised by Morgan arriving with a vehicle to get them.

“I have to do something good
to make up
for what I did”

Things with the plane aren’t so great, on several fronts. They’ve got to patch the fuel tank, as well as find more aviation fuel. Al (Maggie Grace) has just the trick. She and June (Jenna Elfman) head to the mountain, where Al’s going to scale the wall again. June gets a brief crackly call over the walkie from John (Garret Dillahunt). She warns him about the plant’s reactor. He decides to head back to the truck stop. Dwight (Austin Amelio) can’t turn back quite yet. John’s still not able to give over the letter from Sherry.

The kids are in trouble after a few zombies slip free, creating a chain reaction. Alicia’s back at their main camp looking through Dylan’s drawings of the horrible, tangled knots of roadblock zombies. She again tries to push the kids to go with them. Not long and the walkers are pressing at the gates, which are barely able to hold the horde back.

Shittier still, Morgan calls Grace, and she lets him know a generator burnt out at the plant. The reactor will melt down in anywhere between 12 to 24 hours if she can’t fix the generator. It’s looking more like she won’t be able to get it done. So, Morgan’s going to go help her as much as possible, knowing she’ll sacrifice herself if not.

“People, places—
you don’t get to
hold onto to any of that.”

The zombies are at the gates of the kids’ treehouse. Annie continues to be reluctant to give Alicia back her weapon, in spite of her brothers pleading with her. So, she does, and Alicia faces the horde coming single file across the house’s bridge. WHAT A GODDAMN BAD ASS! Father Gore feels Alicia Clark can hold up to Rick Grimes any day of the week, and on this site there is MUCH love for the Sheriff. She’s just such a wonderful character who’s been around since the start and grown to be so, so important. She’s learned a lot about herself AND she can slay zombies.
In the process she gets blood all over her from one of the walkers wearing a necklace Grace was using to test for radiation. Fuck’s sake. Will she get sick? Is radiation going to take down the last of the Clarks?

Finally, John shows Dwight the letter from Sherry. The shattered husband reads what she wrote, discovering the truth for himself. The cowboy apologises for keeping it from him. It was only out of good intentions, not malice. Dwight has a choice to make. He doesn’t want to give up on Sherry. He also doesn’t want to go against her wishes. He’s got to find a reason to keep on going.
Either that, or lay down and die.

Alicia decides she’ll lead the horde away on her own. She gets a call from Morgan on the walkie. She neglects to tell him about what happened with the radiated blood. He tells her the kids are back with the others at the truck stop and Grace is with him, too. He’s full of confidence about the future, whereas she’s now wondering how much of the future she’ll see, how long until that radiated blood affects her.
And in the distance, the siren at the plant starts to go off. Oh, no.
A devastating second half to this episode. No telling what will happen with Alicia, given that the series isn’t afraid to let go of its main characters. It’d be really sad to see her die, so it’d be awesome if there’s a plot that’ll fixate on the group trying to save Alicia from radiation poisoning. That could provide an interesting second half to Season 5.
Only one episode left before the mid-season break. Get ready!

“Is Anybody Out There?” is next time.