Season 5, Episode 8: Is Anybody Out There?
PLOT: Groups of characters race to catch a plane before a cloud of radiation reaches them.
REVIEW: The story that has taken up the first half of Fear the Walking Dead's fifth season, a story of a group of characters seeking to help people in the zombie apocalypse crash landing a plane in a remote area where a nuclear power plant is about to have a meltdown, could have easily been told in a few less episodes, and would have been all the better for it. As the writers were dragging this story out, we got two kinds of filler episodes: slow ones packed with chit-chat where little to nothing was accomplished (The Little Prince, for example), and ones like Is Anybody Out There?, where you barely notice how little substance there is because it's fast paced and contains a good amount of action.
Is Anybody Out There? begins with a moment of relief, as Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) has caught up with nuclear power plant worker Grace (Karen David) after catching a splash of irradiated zombie blood on her face in the previous episode. Alicia cleans off and Grace, who was already exposed to a lethal amount of radiation herself, gives her hope that she's going to be okay. It's going to suck watching Grace succumb to radiation poisoning, but we don't need to see Alicia suffer the same fate. She's the only character left on the show who has been around since the first episode. Her brother and mother used to be the leads, and with them gone Alicia must endure.
With the "is Alicia doomed or not?" question brushed aside, the episode is then able to focus on some race against the clock action. The plane that was crashed in the season premiere is now repaired and ready to take off, with Strand (Colman Domingo), Althea (Maggie Grace), Luciana (Danay Garcia), June (Jenna Elfman), Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), and the group of kids they have lured out of the wilderness waiting patiently for two separate groups of their friends to get back to the plane. While Alicia, Grace, and Morgan (Lennie James) are dealing with a herd of zombies while trying to reach the plane, John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) and Morgan's fellow crossover character from The Walking Dead Dwight (Austin Amelio) are dealing with car trouble. A few years deep into the apocalypse, gasoline is starting to go bad… And it seems like gasoline is going to be very important in the episodes ahead.
John is a guy whose life has actually improved during the apocalypse, and this episode plays up how good his luck is these days. I'm a fan of John, but when the writers throw in moments like him knowing he'll be able to start a car in a lot full of dead vehicles simply because a candy he enjoys is on the dashboard it's so irritatingly cheesy – up there with Morgan's inspirational speeches – that it makes me want to see his good luck streak come to a screeching halt. It's not happening yet, things are wonderful for him at the end of this episode.
The meltdown occurs, a cloud of radiation starts sweeping across the land. Will the plane take off in time? Just imagine if it doesn't: the only characters left on the show would be Sarah (Mo Collins) and Wendell (Daryl Mitchell), maybe with Daniel (Ruben Blades) continuing to come and go. So clearly, yes, the plane is going to take off in time.
In general I would say Sarah and Wendell are the most useless, expendable people on this show, but they actually get to step up and be heroes here. They're in charge of making sure the plane has a runway to land on in a safe area, and it takes some effort to accomplish that. They get some help from Daniel, who thankfully wasn't gone for too long after heading out at the end of the Skidmark episode. When that guy leaves, you never know if he's going to be gone for a couple episodes or for a whole season. I'm really hoping to see him throughout the second half of this season.
Is Anybody Out There? moves along quickly enough and has some exciting moments, but the best thing about it is the simple fact that it means that damn "stuck in a radiation danger zone with a bunch of dirty kids" story is over and done with. Now let's move forward and see if the story for the second half of the season can actually sustain eight episodes without too much padding.
BEST ZOMBIE MOMENT: Some zombies get caught in netting dragging behind the cargo plane as it's rolling down the runway. The zombies have to be dealt with before the plane can lift off, so we don't get any THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS style aerial stunts, but it's the best zombie moment anyway.
GORY GLORY: There was nothing special in the gore department here, just the standard zombie head damage.
FAVORITE SCENE: Wendell saves the day by making sure the runway lights will be on for the plane, showing he has a reason to be on this show.
FINAL VERDICT:
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