Fear the Walking Dead finale recap: 'Things Bad Begun'/'Sleigh Ride' 

Ruben Blades, Mercedes Mason, Cliff Curtis

The problem with two-part finales is that I’m torn on how to consider them. For critics viewing screeners, they are very much two contained episodes. But at the end of the day, I suppose it’s best to approach them as they are originally presented to viewers: as one continuous installment. The first hour of 

‘s season 3 finale was a bit cluttered in trying to get all the disparate story lines to converge to a point, while the second hour was more focused and better played up the tension of its world-altering event.

The most compelling, however, was our new villain: Proctor John.

Until now, he’s been just a name, someone Victor fears above anyone else (except for maybe Daniel) and someone who chained the master wordsmith to his gate at the trading post. But now, he’s far more present. Nick is finding his own place at the trading post — chopping off the heads of walkers so El Matadero can harvest its signature drug cocktail — when Troy discovers John’s plot. He asks about the Proctors, John’s biker gang, and learns they’re about to launch an assault on the dam.

While Nick and Troy are rushing back to the dam to warn everyone, Alycia is getting herself thrown into John’s path. While on the road with her new companion on their way to sell more zombie teeth at the trading post, an armed car crashes into their side. Men rush out and try to rob them, but Alycia is able to grab her gun and fire off warning shots. Her friend, however, is injured so badly that they have to seek medical attention at the trading post.

“Things Bad Begun,” the title of the episode, is a phrase from the third act of Shakespeare’s

. The full line is spoken by the tragic protagonist to Lady Macbeth about his plans to kill Banquo and Fleance: “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” In other words, evil begets more evil. Victor, the one pulling the strings with John since his secret meeting last episode, delivers a similar speech to Madison when they’re getting day drunk on top of the dam. In a veiled discussion, he acknowledges (if only to himself) that he has to kill someone, an act he’s somehow managed to avoid this whole time.

They’re interrupted by the arrival of Nick and Troy, who brief everyone of the situation. Lola and Efrain know of the Proctors already. The gang was in business with the drug dealers before the outbreak, has no regard for human life, and probably plans to seize control of the water supply and demand tribute in return. The conversation erupts as Victor tries to get Madison and her family to leave, Daniel spars with Troy, and a Plan B — to rig the dam with explosives — is set into motion.

Madison quarrels with her son as she goes to see Walker. Nick wants her to leave the dam, but she’s preoccupied with the fact that he’s doing drugs again. Adding to her stress are Walker, Crazy Dog, and Victor. The first two are preparing to leave and head up north before the fight comes, while the third confesses to Nick that he made a deal with Proctor John to “open the back door” and let his men into the dam. He claims he did it because John was already coming for the dam anyway and he wanted to set himself up as a warden for the Proctors, but you’d still have a hard time convincing me that this was a better option than either scavenging for more artillery and defending the stronghold, or abandoning it entirely.

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