Fear the Walking Dead: June Buries John in Episode 609 Opening Minutes

A widowed June (Jenna Elfman) buries John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) in the opening minutes of Fear the Walking Dead Episode 609, "Things Left to Do." As Ginny (Colby Minifie) attempts to radio Morgan (Lennie James) with a reminder not to do "something stupid" — she has the rest of his people, including Daniel (Ruben Blades), Luciana (Danay Garcia), Sarah (Mo Collins), and a heavily-pregnant Grace (Karen David) under threat of execution — June digs a grave for her husband after he's shot and killed by Dakota (Zoe Colletti). When June cradles John's pearl-handled pistol with the initials "JD," Ranger Hill (Craig Nigh) cocks his gun: "Put it down ... unless you want to join him."

Confronted by Ginny, June demands answers: "Why did your sister kill my husband? I saved your life, Virginia. Because of what you said about her, what she meant to you, and that is the only reason you're still breathing and he isn't. Answer me."

June saved Ginny's life when she was bit by a walker in the wake of an explosion at a sabotaged Tank Town and spared her when she pleaded with June to look after her younger sister. When Ginny says she doesn't know why Dakota gunned down John — he figured out the teenager murdered Ranger Cameron (Noah Khyle) and Ginny covered up the crime — June calls the bluff: "I think you do."

"I'm so excited about the back half… because the entire thing gets extremely potent for every character. Every character is going to be hit by impacts of life that truly change them, that will launch us into Season 7, in a way that catapults the story," Elfman, who boarded Fear alongside Dillahunt in Season 4, said during an appearance at WonderCon@Home 2021. "It's more change than any of these characters have gone through on Fear yet, which I think is thrilling."

June last saw her husband alive in Season 6 Episode 6, "Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg," which ended with John escaping to the remote cabin where he first met his future wife in Season 4 episode "Laura."

"We wanted to break people's hearts," co-showrunner Ian Goldberg told EW about the zombified John washing up on the shore of his cabin, where he's found and put down by June. "We wanted to make it feel as though he might just be able to come out of this so that when he doesn't, and June is faced with the unthinkable of seeing the person she loves as a walker on the shores of the cabin, it was just, I mean, honestly it felt like the most heartbreaking ending imaginable for both of those characters."

Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD. New episodes of Fear the Walking Dead Season 6 premiere Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.