Fear The Walking Dead Recap With Spoilers: Cobalt

Colman Domingo’s yet unnamed character (credited as “Strand”) tells people they are a buyer. He knows because he is a closer. This person bought into the earthquakes and disasters people were selling him. He goes on to talk about selling insurance and how people put their lives in the hand of strangers. The man his talking to is Travis’ neighbor, Douglas, who is weeping over a picture of his family. Strand asks about Doug’s wife and tells him his wife is going to latch onto a man who will help her through the apocalypse. Strand watches as soldiers take Douglas out of his quarantine zone. He stands over someone and asks, “Who the hell are you?” It’s Nick.

Ofelia throws bottles at the fence of her “safe-zone,” and confronts them. The neighbors look on. She wants to know where her mother is. A soldier wants to handle the situation but the soldier she’s been talking to wants to protect her. He convinces the soldier to let him handle it then opens the gate and approaches Ofelia to console her and take her home. The original soldier starts to walk away from his post and the CO attempts to stop him.

Inside, Travis tells Madison he has to go. Chris enters and wants to know what the plan is. Madison tries to ease his worries but Chris rudely cuts her off. Travis grabs Chris and takes him out of the room to talk to him about his mother. Travis stays positive. He orders Chris to go in and apologize which he refuses and storms out. Travis tells Madison to tell Chris he’s gone to get his mom to which she responds, “And Nick.”

At the quarantine zone, Liza sews some stitches. She starts asking questions but Doctor Exner shuts her down.

Madison finds the note from last week’s episode on Alicia’s bed and goes looking for her. She hears a thump in the basement and investigates armed with a flashlight and a knife. She finds Ofelia and Daniel with the soldier Ofelia’s been talking to captive. Daniel tells Madison, “This is how we bring them home.”

The soldier insists their families are just been evaluated and treated. He says he wants to help but he can’t answer the questions. Ofelia defends him but Daniel doesn’t believe him and Madison doesn’t like the way they’re handling the issues. Daniel wants to trade him for their family members. Madison tells Daniel his idea is absurd. He agrees but wants the information the soldier has to offer. He sends Madison home with Ofelia and insists she not let Ofelia come back. Madison doesn’t want Daniel to hurt the soldier but Daniel questions her morals and how far she’ll go to get her son back.

Travis questions the CO and the CO dodges answering. He assures Travis he wants to be there no more than Travis wants him there. He tells Travis they’ve killed 83 “rotten bastards,” and he can’t be concerned with civilian issues. After Travis threatens the CO with an uprising, the CO offers to take Travis to see Dr. Exner.

Daniel confronts the soldier he has captive. He preps for torturing him and clears Ofelia’s name. He tells him how Ofelia asked him not to harm the soldier and trade him but Daniel says that isn’t going to happen. The soldier tells Daniel his wife is close by at a college where they set up acamp. He’ll tell him anything.

Travis rides with soldiers to where the families are being held. The man on top of the truck spots a zombie and orders the truck to stop. They get out and set up to snipe a man in a distant restaurant. The CO orders Travis to take the shot but Travis doesn’t want to. He digs into Travis and questions why he won’t take the shot, telling him the zombies aren’t human. Travis takes aim and the soldiers coach him. He sees the zombies “Kimberly” name tag and can’t take the shot. The CO mocks him and does it himself then everyone re-enters the truck.

Liza and other doctors care for an injured soldier. Liza and Dr. Exner find bite marks and take the soldier to quarantine. A man left behind starts releasing gas in the room.

Chaos rings out over the radio as Travis rides with the soldiers. One soldier tells Travis to stay in the truck as they raid a previously evacuated building. Travis listens to the gunshots and hears the chaos on the radio as bodies fall out of windows.

Daniel continues with the soldier. He shares a story from his youth where he was given a choice of what man to be. The soldier pleads for Daniel to stop and Daniel asks what “Cobalt” over the radio means. Daniel pushes his knife into the deeper parts of the soldiers forearm gash.

Alicia rides a bike and criticizes Chris who is sitting on top of a car. She invites Chris on her bike to talk and show him something. They go to some rich neighbors house and play with remote control helicopters and raid their closets.

Strand is ordered to the fence and the soldiers take his temperature and Nick’s. Nick has a fever and is taken downstairs. Domingo wants to keep Nick and convinces the soldier with diamond cufflinks. The soldier orders Nick be returned and asked Strand who “A” is, after noticing the “Love Always, A” on the cufflink.

Soldiers flee the building as Travis watches and they throw a grenade to stop the horde of zombies. The CO was left behind and the soldier insists he go back to San Diego to find his family.

Madison hears Ofelia scream. Daniel comes upstairs and calmly starts telling Madison about the first time Ofelia asked about “the war.” He told her everything except which man was him. He becomes emotional as he asks Madison if Ofelia would’ve understood what is necessary to survive and that it is necessary again. Madison starts toward the other room and sees the dead soldier and asks, “Did he tell us what we need to know?”

Liza wonders around the makeshift hospital and finds all of the captives in the quarantine zone. Elsewhere, she finds Griselda with an amputated foot. Dr. Exner finds Liza and tells her Griselda has sceptic shock.

Alicia and Chris look at pictures of the family who lived in the house they’re playing in. Chris is now dressed in a suit and Madison in a lavish dress with extravagant jewelery. She ponders what happened to the people who lived there and uncovers the piano. Chris shatters their picture on the ground. Alicia finishes a bottle of champagne and then shatters it, as well. The two go on a rampage breaking things around the house and smiling at one another.

Travis, back at the safe-zone, finds a distraught Ofelia. He rushes into the house and looks at Madison, questioning if she knew what Daniel was going to do. He hopes she didn’t know.

The soldier explains to Daniel how he saw so many people turning and trampling each other. They couldn’t tell the infected from the healthy so they locked them in the arena and he chained the doors. Travis barges in and Daniel order he tell him about Cobalt. It is a command code to initiate evacuation from the L.A. base. Travis asks when they leave and the soldier tells him the civilians won’t leave but the soldiers will. It includes procedures for the humane termination of the survivors set for 0900 tomorrow.

Nick throws up in quarantine. Nick asks why Strand saved him and he says he didn’t save him. He obligated him. He says privileged people will now be the victims and Nick is someone who knows what it is to need something. He’ll need a man with Nick’s talents when the soldiers leave and he makes his move. He reveals a key and Nick smiles.

Chris and Alicia walk down the night street and see a caravan go by loaded with goods. Chris concludes “They’re not patrolling.”

Griselda talks, saying she’s seen the devil’s face, all in Spanish. She questions what she was supposed to do when committing her sins. She loses her breathe and dies on the bed in front of Liza and Dr. Exner. Dr. Exner preps a pistol to stop Griselda from coming back and Liza elects to do it herself, pointing the pistol at Griselda’s forehead and pulling the trigger.

Daniel explores outside, dodging patrols. He makes his way up the stairs of the arena where the soldier locked the dead inside.