AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead
8×08: “Iron Tiger”
Directed by SJ Main Muñoz
Written by Nick Bernardone & Jacob Pinion

* For a recap & review of 8×07, click here.
* For a recap & review of 8×09, click here.
Daniel’s trying to get everything safe and situated for their group while Madison can’t stop thinking about going after Troy. It’s worse than that because Madison won’t stop wondering if what Troy said is true, that perhaps Alicia’s out there wandering as a zombie. Daniel and the group head inside a gas station for cover. They find one of those familiar TAKE WHAT YOU NEED, LEAVE WHAT YOU DON’T! boxes; Daniel wonders aloud “who would want to resurrect that?” to his friends. Madison can’t stop looking into the zombie hordes and imagining her dead daughter as a walker. She sees one with missing left arm, but it’s not Alicia, and her distracted state of mind leads to zombies breaking through a glass door to try chomping on her. Gunfire from outside take down the walkers, then the group are reunited with their old friend Luciana, which is a pretty big surprise for Daniel who’s been searching for her such a long time. Turns out Luciana’s been using the gas station, so they’ve got to clean the place up after all the mess; run of the mill shit in the post-zombie apocalypse wasteland. She’s been making gas for PADRE under threat that they’d kill Daniel if she didn’t do it. If it weren’t for her, PADRE would’ve just killed Daniel long ago. She’s nervous about Troy and doesn’t want him finding out about her business.

Who’s “Iron Tiger,” anyway?
A big truck arrives at the gas station and Luciana has to head outside. She tells her friends to stay inside, but they soon want some transparency about what’s happening, worrying there may be something nefarious about to go down. We soon discover Charlie’s still around, too. She’s very surprised to see Madison and the others again. Daniel’s once more thrilled to see someone he thought was gone. Charlie got the treatment she needed, then she and Luciana worked together. Then there are more secrets coming out: Charlie explains to Madison that she’s the one who killed Nick. This sends Madison into a fury. She takes a sledgehammer to an old car frame and then to a few zombies, as well. More than anything, Madison somehow blames herself for ever bringing Charlie into the stadium since Charlie ended up killing her son. As Strand says, nobody knew how things were going to play out eventually. Nobody could’ve ever predicted those turn of events.
Charlie doesn’t expect forgiveness but she tells Madison that she was a scared 11-year-old girl “being used” by older people around her. She apologises for what happened, even if it won’t fix anything for Madison. She’s trying to do good for the world in an effort to make up, even a little, for killing Nick. Then Madison says she wants Charlie to help infiltrate Troy’s group and kill him for her. Victor thinks it’s too much to ask of the young woman, however, Madison doesn’t think it’s too much to ask in exchange for a dead son, and Charlie seems to agree. The whole plan doesn’t sit well with Daniel, either. He tries to offer himself for the job, but both Madison and Charlie know the best way to do this if for Charlie to do it since Troy won’t see that coming. And the whole moral pain of it all is driving Charlie to feel it’s what she has to do in order to make things up to Madison. She wants to try finding out what really happened to Alicia, too.
After Charlie heads out, Luciana gives Madison keys to a tanker full of gas that should last months. Daniel wants to stay behind, yet Luciana wants to keep her distance so that things don’t get complicated. He feels slighted. But Luciana says it’s all been out of a need to keep protecting people beyond themselves. Daniel’s still proud of her.

Later, Madison finds out that Luciana dug Nick up and cremated him. Luciana and Strand also reveal they only buried Nick in the original spot to get at some weapons; he claims they were “in a dark place.” The whole story’s just a kick in the gut for Madison, though at least there are ashes left for her to hold onto and find some degree of closure. Charlie wanted to give Nick a better resting place after finding out where they buried his body. They call her on the radio and Madison asks her to come back so Charlie can be part of laying Nick to rest properly. Madison says Charlie doesn’t have to go on the mission any more. Sadly, it’s too late because Troy and his people already found Charlie on the road. Troy hears Madison’s voice over the radio, which is no good for Charlie. Uh oh. Daniel wants to go find Charlie, so it’s time to just go right at Troy; no more sneaking in and surprise attacking.

Poor Charlie’s tied up and bleeding from the head when she comes to for an interrogation with Troy. He asks if she actually killed Nick and, if so, why Madison is protecting her. Troy’s trying to get into the girl’s head about trusting Madison for “a second chance.” He also wants to know the location of PADRE. He wants somewhere nice and secure and fortified to call home; a place nobody can take from him. It’s even better if he can take such a place, like PADRE, from Madison. He threatens Charlie with a machete to her throat, yet the girl resists and says she can’t give Troy the info he wants. So Troy’s going to let the zombie loose and make Charlie run through glass on bare feet. She offers a map from the tanker when an explosion is heard outside; the tanker is ablaze. This just makes Troy more determined to find PADRE. He calls out to Madison on the radio. He thinks Madison’s just using Charlie like bait. Then he says that if Madison wants Charlie to stay alive, he’ll need PADRE’s location. Charlie yells out for Madison not to give up the info. Troy’s on the verge of killing the girl, so Madison offers to meet him out front of the hotel where she’ll give him the location.
A little bit later, Troy and Madison with their respective groups meet. But there’s no Charlie; she’s still back in that room filled with glass and zombies. Madison won’t give up the PADRE location until Troy hands over Charlie, and vice versa. No trust here. Troy insists he’ll give Charlie back, he just wants a new, safe home at PADRE. He says none of this is about the loss of his family, it’s only about finding a home. Madison doesn’t want to give over PADRE, so she asks Strand about bringing them back to his new community. Troy promises it isn’t about people; he’ll give anyone living there time to clear out. At the same time, Charlie kills one of Troy’s men and grabs a gun, threatening to kill another one. She doesn’t want Madison giving over any kind of info that might lead Troy to PADRE. She refuses to let Alicia and Nick down after everything that’s happened. Troy tells his men not to hurt Charlie and urges the girl to drop the gun. Madison just wants to get Charlie back now, but the girl won’t let Madison go any further… and Charlie puts a bullet in her own head. Holy shit.

On top of everything, Troy hears about someone named Tracey going missing. There’s a reason he’s trying to find PADRE and it’s because of kids, just like so many others. The news of Tracey going missing sends Troy into a panic, as he rushes into the darkness looking for her. He soon finds himself joined by Madison, who’s unwilling to let another kid die after what just happened to Charlie. Troy’s near madness and Madison realises that Tracey is his daughter. He says Tracey’s mother is dead because of Madison, but Madison can’t make sense of it all. He goes on killing zombies when Madison realises that he’s been cutting off zombie arms to make her think Alicia’s still out wandering as a zombie. She nearly kills Troy when Strand pulls her away.
In the aftermath, Daniel blames Madison for Charlie’s death. He says there’s something “fundamentally wrong” with Madison. He wants to get away from her, so he goes with Luciana, who’s also pretty pissed off about Charlie and about Troy knowing about her business. Madison doesn’t fight it because she knows that part of what they’re saying is true. Strand tries to tell his friend that it’s not true, yet Madison can’t deny she’s played a part in messing shit up. Madison doesn’t want to put any more people in harm’s way. She gives Strand the key to the tanker and then heads off on her own in spite of his attempts to change her mind; nothing will change her mind at this point.