Fear The Walking Dead
8×01: “Remember What They Took From You”
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Written by Ian Goldberg & Andrew Chambliss

* For a recap & review of the Season 7 finale, click here.
* For a recap & review of 8×02, click here.
Morgan is sitting at a table with a hood over his head. He has the hood removed, then he’s spoken to by a voice through a speaker. Madison’s in the room, too. They’re at PADRE. The voice from the speaker asks Morgan some questions about the people on the rafts. The voice wants to make sure Morgan is committed to their “vision.” They want Morgan to be “a collector,” to bring them children. A radio lets Morgan hear a baby on the other end. All they care about is vaccinating babies and divorcing children from emotion. Soon, Madison and Morgan take their chance to grab some guns, disarming the guards around them. Morgan makes his demands, then he goes looking for his daughter while Madison keeps her gun raised and pointed.

We see a zombie get its teeth knocked out, then it’s sent into an arena where a young girl is sent in to fight it. It’s like a PADRE training ground with gear similar to fencing equipment. The girl uses a staff-like weapon to knock the zombie around, however, she freezes up, thinking of zombies out in the wild. She’s nearly bitten and an older girl has to save her. The girl’s name is Wren (Zoey Merchant). We later see her near a chamber where she hears someone calling from inside. Wren looks inside, where a hand reaches out and scares her; inside is Madison, who’s counting away the days.
See, after what we last saw, Madison’s been imprisoned for a whole 7 years. Her arm is a reddened, scarred mess. Seems they’ve been using Madison like a blood bank. That is some grim shit. Madison’s known as Lark at PADRE, so says Wren’s older friend Dove (Jayla Walton). They tell all kinds of legends about Madison; it’s said she’s a violent, crazy woman. And it sounds like PADRE is not only a place… but, a person?
Wren goes to Madison, asking to be trained so she can kill walkers. She’s determined to prove her worth in PADRE. Madison wants Wren to help her die. She says she’ll help Wren learn to use a weapon if Wren will, in turn, turn off the valve that’s keeping oxygen flowing into Madison’s prison chamber. The young girl agrees, so Madison starts a bit of training. Madison lures Wren over and gets the sledgehammer, using it to smash the glass. She tries to cut her throat open, but Wren opens the door and stops her. This is when Madison sees a telling scar on Wren’s wrist: Wren is actually little Mo. Madison didn’t even realise it’s been 7 years. Now she has a reason to keep living, hoping to live long enough to save Wren from PADRE. Madison takes on a couple of guards who try to stop her. Then they’re off on an adventure.

Madison and Little Mo are somewhere in a speedboat when they hear chatter over the radio. They stop at a wharf someplace. Madison’s got an oxygen tank to suck on while they go looking for Big Mo. The girl wonders if her dad’s even still alive. Along their way, Mo gets stuck, but she just uses this as a diversion to knock Madison over and grab a radio. She tries calling back to PADRE, but Madison cuts her off. They don’t have time to worry about PADRE since there are zombies shambling closer. Mo and Madison have to fight some of the undead, and it, again, brings back bad memories for Mo, who remembers the last night she was with both her parents. The girl freezes up and Madison has to save her. Then Morgan shows up out of nowhere from the forest, meeting his daughter for the first time in so long. But it’s not a sweet, happy reunion for Mo, who’s not really thrilled. Although her father wants to take her back to PADRE, believing it’s the safest place for her. Morgan’s known as Nightingale these days, still working for PADRE as a collector.
On top of everything, PADRE’s done with ‘Lark’ and gives Morgan orders to take out the “liability to the settlement.” Dad tells his daughter to move away, giving him and Madison time alone so that he can put a bullet in her head. After everything? Good lord, Morgan! C’mon now. Even Madison, who was suicidal not too long ago, asks her old pal: “Seriously?” She gets enough of a chance to disarm Morgan. She feels like she has to save both Morgan and Mo now. So, at the moment, Madison’s calling all the shots. They end up in the swamp that night, which is not great for walkers, nor for Madison’s breathing difficulties. Morgan keeps saying PADRE provides “a way of life that works,” whereas Madison tells Mo how PADRE finds out what’s important to people then they use it against you.

Things get a little uncanny, as Madison, Mo, and Morgan are headed for the same area where they were 7 years ago before their present situation. Walkers are swarming everywhere in the swampy night, forcing the trio to take shelter in a familiar place. At the boathouse, they’re able to keep relatively safe. It’s there where Mo winds up stumbling onto a cassette tape: the one with Grace singing “In Dreams” on it. This helps Little Mo fully remember what happened when she was there all those years prior when Morgan and Grace tried to get their daughter out of there but failed.
And then, it’s zombie action time! Mo’s scared that the zombies are going to pull the boathouse into the water. She and her dad have to try escaping while Madison attempts to draw zombies to the boathouse. Everything is starting to look very dire when Grace shows up in a boat with bullets to spare.
After Mo sees her parents taking on zombies, she doesn’t want to go back to PADRE; she wants to go with her parents and Madison. But Morgan and Grace want Mo to go back to PADRE, to go back to life as Wren instead. It’s not long and PADRE troops arrive, taking Madison into custody to use for more blood. Madison tells Mo before being taken away: “Remember what they took from you.” Unfortunately, it seems that Morgan a.k.a ‘Nightingale’ is set for retirement by PADRE; at least as a collector. Are they going to use him for a blood bank now, too?
Back at PADRE, Mo is Wren again. She promises the mysterious leader of the place she’ll be no more trouble. The leader says Wren is crucial to some “next steps.” Later, Wren goes back to practice against a zombie, doing much better this time around.