Not Fade Away

**"Not Fade Away"**
Director: Kari Skogland — Writer(s): Meaghan Oppenheimer — Aired: September 20, 2015 —    prev   next

**"Not Fade Away"** is the fourth episode of the first season of *Fear the Walking Dead*. It aired on September 20, 2015 on AMC.

## Plot

With the arrival of the military, life seems to have settled into a routine. The episode opens, to the background of "Just a Perfect Day" by Lou Reed, with Nick sunbathing in the pool and Travis jogging with headphones. Chris is on the roof recording a video diary and we listen in on him, catching up on events since we saw them last.

It's now 9 days since the power failed and the military arrived. They've put up a fence around the area, the "Safe Zone", and have been supplying the people inside it with food, water and some medical supplies. They've also been enforcing a strict curfew. There were some people outside the fence who were close enough to be seen and they were loaded into trucks with one suitcase each - to go "East", Chris doesn't really know where they are taken and nor does anyone else. Life inside the fence is safe, no one appears to be living, and nothing is moving outside it anymore. Chris records what's going on around him. Travis running, people walking, burned out buildings, smoke on the horizon; and then what appear to be signal flashes from a large house across the valley... Chris is surprised and pleased.

Madison is watching a clock tick in the Clark home, the clock is marked "Power On" at 8 and "Power Off" at 11, the clock reads 8.10 at the moment and Madison is waiting.

Alicia comes in, Madison says hi and tells her they are going to repaint the family room. It turns out that this will be the second time they've painted that room since Peter was killed in it. Madison can still see the stain, so Travis has found some more paint. The stain Maddy's referring to is Infected Peter Dawson's blood etc from when Daniel had to shoot him in the family room. Alicia does **not** see the point.

Travis arrives back, panting, asking about the power and promising that  "don't worry, we're going to get it sorted". Madison doesn't look impressed, Alicia doesn't comment.

The power comes on and Travis starts to leave, Madison asks where he's going and he replies that Moyers is making an announcement later on and he's asked Travis to be there. Madison looks even less pleased, if that's possible, and comments that "We we wouldn't want to upset him now would we." Travis asks what the problem is and Madison tells him. House full of strangers, lots of work and no Liza 1/2 the time. "I don't know where your ex-wife goes." Travis says that she's helping sick people. The argument escalates until Alicia loses it and tell them to stop it. She carries on telling them until she's interrupted by Ofelia asking if she's ready to go. Ofelia looks very different, she's dressed in jeans and a t-shirt (borrowed from Alicia?) instead of the old fashioned clothing we've seen her in so far. Alicia and Ofelia leave, Madison and Travis stop arguing, nothing really settled but... Travis leaves the kitchen.

Chris is on the roof trying to signal across the valley to whoever in the large house over there was flashing earlier. Travis climbs 1/2 way up to tell Chris to come and help Maddy. Chris gets him to look at the video he's recorded but Travis doesn't see the flashes and tell Chris it's nothing.

Madison goes out to the pool to give Nick his Oxycontin that he's forgotten to take. Somehow. He says he doesn't need it anymore, says to give it to Griselda. Eventually she gives up, tells him not to be a hero and walks back in, says to enjoy his swim.

Moyers' is making announcements from the back of a military truck surrounded by armed and grim faced guardsmen. The meeting is inside the fence and there don't seem to be any Infected about, so the weapons aren't to protect people against that. The guardsmen watch the crowd while Moyers speaks. He's getting a bit of heckling.

Moyers tell the people that the tide has turned, that they are on the offensive, and that a 6 mile radius around the perimeter is now "infect free".

Alicia and Ofelia listen from the crowd, the crowd is a mixture of children and adults, some wearing anti infection masks and clothing but most are not. The crowd claps Moyers and Travis joins in.

Moyers says that "Command" have asked that he reads them some new items. That the "DZ" (the Dead Zone) remains off limits while bio hazardous material is disposed of. Someone in the crowd asks "What bio-hazardous material?" but he doesn't answer. Someone else heckles him about the phones but Moyers carries on, another asks if they are being relocated and this time does get an answer - No. He goes on to talk about water and sanitation services being planned for when they have "achieved total containment". Ofelia asks about medicine. He replies that they are working on it and that they should keep on boiling water. The same guy who asked if they are going to be relocated asked where the people outside the fence have gone. Moyers puts his clipboard down and tells them they're lucky to be in one of the 12 safe zones and finishes with a joke "Be nice or I'll have to shoot you." He laughs at his own joke but no one else does.

Alicia gets to the front of the line and is asked her name; as she is being looked after, a young man with Corporal stripes jumps down and smiles at Ofelia, asking her name. Ofelia smiles back and tells him. There is hair flicking, she has to remind him to look down at his list. Alicia smiles at Ofelia and the young man as Moyers calls out for Travis. Travis catches Alicia's eye as he walks over, to signal her that he doesn't know what it's about, but not to worry. It turns out that Moyers wants him to talk to a man Travis knows, Doug Thompson, who is acting strangely. Travis isn't keen but says OK when he's told that the alternative is for Moyers to "take him down". Travis goes in and speaks to a woman he obviously knows "Maria". Maria and her two girls look scared, and are all wearing anti-infection suits. He asks a couple of questions and she talks about him acting strangely since last night. Travis goes in, obviously wondering if he's going to be attacked by Maria's dead and infected husband. He walks in calling for "Doug". "Doug" is sitting on the edge of the bath looking scared and stressed but otherwise healthy. Travis takes some time and calms him down. He finishes by telling Doug to say everything will be OK when his family ask, and that his family need him to go and show the guard he's OK.

Alicia gets home, alone, with her trolley of supplies and see her mother and Chris painting the family room. Alicia escapes to Susan's garden and house. The garden looks a lot less threatening in the sun and Alicia's obviously comfortable there. She goes into the house and Susan's bedroom. She takes a picture from the wall and looks at it. It's from a child, to Aunt Susu from Alicia, and she holds it.

She finds a letter on the bedside table and she sits reading it, looking at the spiral heart Matt drew on her wrist and weeping quietly.

Doug is being examined by a male medic in uniform and Travis leaves him to it for a while.

Liza is looking after a man lying in bed, Hector Ramirez. Hector's on a drip and what looks like an oxygen concentrator. His wife Cynthia Ramirez, becomes anxious and tries stop Liza from leaving when Liza finishes. Cynthia gives Liza some soup and says that Liza must have seen a lot of people like Hector at the hospital. Liza answers "Yes", but looks uncomfortable; it's obvious that Cynthia thinks Liza is a lot more qualified than she really is, and also that Liza is the only help, and hope, she has for her husband.

Next door, in the pool at the Clark home Nick hears Cynthia tell Liza goodbye and immediately gets out of the pool. Through a gap in the fence he sees Liza leave and Cynthia come out of the house to do some gardening.

Chris has shown Maddy his flashing video. Madison looks but wants to know why Chris hasn't shown his Dad etc. she sees the signal flashes though, she knows it's a person.

Nick is lying under Hector's bed, he's taken Hector's Morphine IV, put it in a vein in his foot and is lying there getting listening to Hector's laboured and painful breathing.

Later in the day, Ofelia is necking with the nice young man (Cpl Andrew Adams) she spoke to in the food line. After a few minutes she slows him down a little and asks if he's managed to get her mother some drugs she's asked for, he hasn't been able to and we see now how worried Ofelia is about her mother. A radio message asks Adams where he is and he replies he's on his way back.

That evening Madison and Travis have been stealing some privacy in the car in her garage. Madison opens the door to leave and Travis asks what the hurry is. She says she has a lot to do, he wants her to come back but she carries on dressing and getting ready to go back in.

He asks what's going on, she replies she doesn't know, but tells him that "Vivian" heard soldiers talking about quarantine camps out near Barstow. That's not what he means though and asks why she's watching Nick and Alicia like a hawk. She replies that he might want to start to pay some positive attention to Chris. She tells him that she saw the flashing light and all her worries about the soldiers come out. Why they aren't making progress etc. They're interrupted by Maria Thompson, she's out after curfew with her two girls looking for her husband Doug who has gone missing. Maddy and Travis calm her down; Travis says that he will look for him and walks her home.

In the morning Madison is on the roof flashing a torch at the house across the valley while Travis walks the boundary fence, looking for Doug. He finds Doug's car, empty, by the fence. Madison sees a replying flash from the house.

Later Travis is trying to persuade Moyers to send out a patrol to check on the house and asks about Doug Thompson. Moyers refuses to send out a patrol and tells him that Doug has been taken to HQ for treatment.

Liza looks for Hector when she sees he's not in his bed and finds Cynthia with someone new, Dr Bethany Exner. Hector's been moved to HQ for treatment and Cynthia's been telling the new Dr all about how "Nurse Practitioner" Liza is the reason her husband is alive. Liza looks mortified to hear that. Dr Exner knows immediately that Liza is unqualified but doesn't say so in front of Cynthia. Dr Exner asks her about the treatment she's been giving Hector and the other patients, and says that she's done well considering that she's not a nurse, that she understands why she's been pretending and asks her to carry on pretending. Liza is shocked.

Madison's out walking on her own carrying some bolt cutters as unobtrusively as she can. She waits for a patrol to get out of the way, cuts a hole in the fence and goes exploring. She sees burnt out cars, a wall covered with hundreds of messages for missing people and clothes from open suitcases strewn everywhere. She jogs onto the next street and finds herself surrounded by dead bodies, on the ground, sitting against a wall, lying in the road. The smell is overpowering and there's graffiti everywhere: "This Is Our Home", "Staying", "No Evac". All of the bodies have gun shot wounds to the head. One body in particular has a handgun next to it and is obviously not one of the Infected. As she's standing there, soldiers come over the top of the hill towards her and she hides, at first behind and then under a car next to the body of a young woman who looks as if she was pretty before someone shot her in the head. The soldiers don't see Maddy and walk on past.

Liza is telling Dr Exner about Griselda's foot and her assessment, that it would need better treatment, is correct. The Dr says that this (the infection) was always going to be the outcome without antibiotics and that it wasn't Liza's fault. Dr Exner wants to take Griselda to the hospital where she can be cared for, Daniel and Griselda are suspicious but agree - Daniel is going with his wife.

Next, Liz and the Dr go out to the back yard where Nick is sleeping in a chair. He tells her that he's already gone through withdrawal and doesn't need methadone and that he last used 2 days before the world ended. Travis arrives and welcomes Dr Exner. Exner carries on with her examination of Nick. Travis asks more questions and Liza lets slip that Hector has gone to the hospital along with Griselda. Nick is alarmed and Exner notices, but he says he's fine. He asks about Hector and she tells him - despite having told Travis a moment ago she couldn't discuss patients when he asked about Doug. She notes that Nick becomes agitated when he hears about Hector.

Alicia is in Susan's bedroom; she's tattooing the spiral heart design given to her by Matt, both hurting herself and making the design permanent.

Madison gets home and talks with Daniel, he tells her that Griselda is going somewhere for treatment and Madison, after a moment, says that's good. Daniel asks where she's just been and she tells him about the bodies of the infected and of the dead man she found who didn't seem to be infected.

Daniel tells her of when he was a boy and soldiers came and took people from his village in El Salvador His father, Miguel, asked the officer in charge where the people were and was told "they always come back". Daniel tells her how the bodies of everyone who'd been taken came floating past him as he was fishing in he river. He asks her to look after Ofelia if he doesn't return from being with Griselda and Madison says she will. He also tells her to keep her son close.

Madison goes outside, looking for Nick and finding him next door in the Ramirez home where he's searching the house for drugs. He is sullen, mocking, and she tells him he doesn't understand and slaps his face, hitting him over and over, he curls up in a ball and she leaves.

Later, at home, Nick pushes Alicia out of his room when she tries to go in, his face is bruised. He won't let her or Travis in at first and Alicia tells Travis to let her handle it. Travis leaves her to it and Nick opens the door when Alicia threatens to get their mom. He lets her in but doesn't tell her who hit him and she comforts him.

Madison in the garage drinking from a mug, Travis pauses at the door wondering if he should go in, he's about to do so when they both hear the military arrive for Griselda. Liza helps them take her.

They take Griselda out on a stretcher, and then want Nick. Nick tries to run but they catch him and cable tie his wrists behind him, there's a good deal of shouting and chaos, Madison's small house in candlelight looks very full of soldiers.

Daniel and Chris tries to stop them taking Nick and get pushed to the ground. Travis stands between the soldiers and them, telling the guardsmen to take it easy - they calm down.

Liza tries to stop them taking Nick and asks Exner to intervene. Exner tells her that if she wants to help to get in the truck, that she needs her. The soldiers put Nick in the back of the Humvee. Liza hesitates, looks back at the house, mouths "I love you" to Chris and then gets in the back of the truck.

In the house Madison is frantic, trying to open a sealed window. She runs out in time to see Liza on the back of the truck as it drives away. Nick is gone and Madison stares furious at Liza on the back of the truck as it drives away.

Madison goes back in the house and says to Travis "Liza", she points at him. "She did this." Travis looks stricken but doesn't have an answer for her.

In bed, later on, Alicia is reading the letter she found, it's a suicide note from Susan addressed to her husband. "Patrick. If you find this, I am sorry. If you find this, I love you. Susan"

Madison goes to the garage sobbing, furious. Travis goes out, looking for Chris but doesn't find him. Travis ends up sitting on the roof where Chris saw the flashes. Looking out over the valley Travis sees the signal flashes from the house, the signal flashes are replaced by harsher muzzle flashes and the sound of gunfire, then silence.

## Goofs

* The muzzle flashes and sound of gunfire are simultaneous, from that distance there would be a noticeable "lag" to the sound, travelling slower than the light from the flashes as it does.

## Deaths

* Survivors found dead outside the fence by Madison, presumed found and killed by the military.
* The person or people signalling from the house across the valley, again presumed found and killed by the military.

## Cast

### Main Cast

* Kim Dickens as Madison Clark
* Cliff Curtis as Travis Manawa
* Frank Dillane as Nick Clark
* Alycia Debnam Carey as Alicia Clark
* Elizabeth Rodriguez as Liza Ortiz
* Mercedes Mason as Ofelia Salazar
* Lorenzo James Henrie as Chris Manawa
* Rubén Blades as Daniel Salazar

### Guest Cast

* Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Griselda Salazar
* Sandrine Holt as Dr Bethany Exner
* Jamie McShane as Lt Moyers
* Shawn Hatosy as Cpl Andrew Adams

### Co-Cast

* Jared Abrahamson as CPL Cole
* Alison Araya as Maria Thompson
* Claire Torrance as Thompson Daughter 1
* Phoenix O'Reilly as Thompson Daughter 2
* John Stewart as Doug Thompson
* Rey Borge as "Neighbor"
* Shane Dean as PFC Richards
* Sharon Ferguson as "Neighbor"
* Floyd Foster, Jr. as "Neighbor"
* Luis Javier as Hector Ramirez
* Gabriela Zimmerman as Cynthia Ramirez
* Bobby Naderi as Castro

## Trivia & Easter Eggs

* After Griselda and Nick were taken away by the military to the Hospital, in the large house can be seen the flash of what probably is a shot from a firearm.
	+ This means that they could be killed by the military under the suspicion that they are infected.
* AMC made a poll on the judgement section of the Story Sync (on their website) asking how normal is the life under the military's control on *Fear*. The majority of the fans answered that isn't normal.
* This is the first episode of a Walking Dead Show, *TWD* or *Fear*, with no zombies.
* "Just a Perfect Day" by Lou Reed is the song playing over the opening sequence. For a long time this has been thought to be about Lou Reed's romanticized attitude towards the time when he was addicted to heroin himself; this popular understanding of the song as an ode to addiction led to its inclusion in the soundtrack for *Trainspotting*, a film about the lives of heroin addicts.
* Rev 21:4 is in three places in this episode: from the gate (below), the message wall Madison finds on her expedition and also where she finds the dead bodies. The verse reads "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

* Easter Egg: Revelations 21:4 is everywhere in this episode but look at this. From when Travis is talking to Moyers, the shadow of the words tied into the fence seem to spell out the word BEAST. Can that be accidental?
* On the messages wall, the same bible verse is badly misquoted, reversing the meaining. It says "and there shall be more pain".
* The massacre that Madison come across when she's outside The Safe Zone is an area where the people didn't want to leave when the National Guard tried to evacuate them. The Guard told them to move on and things got out of hand when one person told them "No."

## References

1. ↑ http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/blurred-vision-at-the-beeb-1235724.html
2. ↑ https://www.yahoo.com/tv/fear-the-walking-dead-not-fade-away-129449406730.html Yahoo TV Interview