AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead
6×10: “Handle With Care”
Directed by Heather Cappiello
Written by Ashley Cardiff & David Johnson

* For a recap & review of 6×09, click here.
* For a recap & review of 6×11, click here.
Daniel’s recounting a day that started out with The Traveling Wilburys’ “Handle With Care” and lots of community, as he and all the others went about continuing on building their new home. He talks about keeping everyone “in the dark” about the real purpose of that place, saying that certain lies are necessary for the proper cause. So, what’s the real reason they’ve been building that new community for themselves? Then we see Sherry and her crew roll up in the SWAT truck. Sarah went down to greet them, and Strand turned up, as well. They were having a long overdue meeting after being apart since the fateful day when Virginia died. They talked about problems at Tank Town. Morgan suggested they all had to “work together” to face a common threat.

So what exactly happened? Looks like Daniel’s behind bars nowadays.
Did Daniel break Morgan’s rule?

Back to that previous time. Daniel talks about how everybody who came through their gates had to check their weapons, under lock and key; the only people who had access with a key of their own were Daniel and Morgan. Even those people who were once their closest friends had to disarm. One great thing: Daniel was reunited with Skidmark, a notoriously awesome and lazy kitty. Things seemed generally pretty good, and though friendships were somewhat shaky between the now divided communities of friends they were still strong in their own rights. Grace was getting along pretty well in her pregnancy, but they needed a “foetal monitor.” Luckily Morgan had everything they needed when he setup a place for Grace elsewhere. He just had to go there and retrieve the monitor. This left Daniel in charge to “keep the peace” while Morgan was gone.
Everyone got together around the table to discuss things. Daniel talked about protecting their mutual futures. He tried to include Dakota in talking about the folks from Tank Town. But everyone else had their share to say, not to mention most of them will never trust Dakota after what she did to John. Plus, Sherry didn’t quite get along with everybody there, either. And, on top of it all, there were lots of lies between the supposed friends.
In the midst of everything, an explosion went off.
Seems it was a dynamite accident, so says Daniel. However, Luciana thinks it could’ve been an attack, like how things went at Tank Town while she was there. In the current day, Daniel suggests it was an attack, even if he wanted to believe it wasn’t, and back then he was hiding a lot anyway. So they all went on the offensive, particularly when walkers began crawling out of the woodwork because of the noise. Daniel decided to open up the weapons shack, only to discover everything was missing. He then knew the explosion wasn’t an accident. But who did it?

No time to think much with the dead bearing down on their community, taking out communications. Daniel wanted to get Grace out of there while he figured things out. He gave her the necessary supplies to go hide a while, knowing it was a desperate move to send a pregnant woman out there like that. He was intent on finding the weapons again. He and Charlie looked around everybody’s gear, and things got a bit sketchy, so he sent the girl off to Grace while he continued searching. All the while, zombies were pouring from the depths, and some had made their way inside the camp through a breach in the walls.
When Victor puts a bullet in a walker Daniel realises it was Strand who took the weapons. Or, that’s what he thinks. He’s the one who let the walkers inside to draw out the person who took the weapons. But Strand says he only sneaked a weapon past them for safety purposes. Daniel was grappling with the right thing to do, and how to do it. He didn’t want to fail Morgan and the reason they built that place. He was also dealing with all those stolen weapons and more walkers were making their way into the community. Daniel warned everybody: “The betrayal of those closest to you comes with a cost.” They did a lot of arguing amongst each other while zombies were about to bust through the remaining smaller gate.

What did Daniel do? He went back into Strand, firing off his gun and getting very serious; he showed off the damage to his face after taking a bullet. He again asked Victor to tell him where the weapons were, yet he got nothing. He was clearly still holding a grudge against Strand, and, for a second, it appeared as if he was going to kill the man in cold blood. Then he heard the sound of gunfire, so off he went. He came upon heaps of zombies, then he saw Morgan in front of the SWAT truck.
Daniel and Victor talked more, the latter wanting to know why the former was so attached to that new place. We hear Daniel talk about living two lives, trying to forget the person he once was—both back before the zombie apocalypse, when he was denying his military past while living in Los Angeles, and after the zombie apocalypse, when he was pretending he didn’t remember anybody. He was running away from his own lies and personal horrors.
Everything took a slight turn for the worst when Morgan and the others couldn’t find Grace or Charlie. The shack where Grace was meant to go looked like nobody had been there for months. Then they heard Grace over the radio, eventually finding her in one piece with Charlie. She claimed that Daniel didn’t tell her to go the shack, and Charlie confirmed it. They see that on the map Daniel gave her it was marked not with the shack but with the caverns. Strange, no? They also turned up the weapons again—in Daniel’s shed. Except Daniel said he didn’t know how they got there. He was sure somebody was manipulating them. Morgan talked to Daniel, wondering if the old man was okay. Could it be that Daniel was having trouble mentally?
That’s why he’s behind bars, talking with June like he would a therapist in the time before walkers.

June has Daniel do some basic tests. She believes it’s “not neurological,” that it’s actually something psychological. Not out of the realm of possibility, even without tests; Daniel holds a lot of guilt, shame, and trauma. June thinks that it’s because Daniel is worried something might happen there, so he’s put himself under too much stress. Though he sees it more as punishment for his actions. Nevertheless, June’s determined to help her friend. Things with her and Morgan are a bit touchy, considering what happened last time she was there, executing Virginia and all. But, again, they’re still friends, and they need each other.
All the groups are heading off to their respective communities again, though they’re intent on not forgetting about their mutual threat looming out there. Meanwhile, Dakota talks about Virginia and what she said of the people at Tank Town going “underground.” Virginia talked about somewhere around Dallas. This at least gives Morgan and the others something to go on; if it’s true and leads to something, it also shows Dakota’s worth having around. Outside the walls, Daniel’s deciding to leave. He doesn’t want to hurt anybody because of whatever’s going on in his own head. He’s scared he’ll put someone in danger. He remembers the fire, everything that happened then. Strand asks Daniel to go to Lawton. Maybe this is how they both heal their psychological wounds.