Fear the Walking Dead Maims a Main Character in Comic Book Callback

Fear the Walking Dead takes a bite out of the Walking Dead comic books by maiming a main character in Sunday's "Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg." In the penultimate episode of the half-season, a deadly explosion at the oil fields puts nurse June (Jenna Elfman) and fuel worker Luciana (Danay Garcia) on a collision course with Virginia (Colby Minifie), who launches a frantic investigation into the growing threat targeting her settlements. When heavy winds at Tank Town turn a blowout into an oil-fueled fire, the ensuing explosion traps June and Virginia beneath rubble with zombified quarry workers.

A half-unconscious Virginia stirs awake beneath an attacking walker just in time to witness the zombie sink its teeth into her non-dominant hand — her right — as she struggles to keep the greasy growler at arm's length. June finishes off the biter but refuses to hand over her ax, needed to amputate Virginia's zombie-bitten hand to prevent the infection from spreading to the rest of her body.

June, a former ICU nurse, relents when Virginia pleads for June to look after her younger sister Dakota (Zoe Colletti). Because a begging Virginia agrees to give June the hospital she's requested for the 800-plus people living under Pioneer rule, June severs Virginia's hand and cauterizes the wound with hot metal.

Nick Clark (Frank Dillane) uses a machete to remove the arm of Jake Otto (Sam Underwood) when he's bitten in Fear the Walking Dead's third season, but unlike Virginia, he does not survive the amputation. She's now one of the few still-living amputees in the Walking Dead Universe, along with Aaron (Ross Marquand), who loses his left arm after a logging accident in The Walking Dead's ninth season.

Virginia's injury harks back to a similar incident in The Walking Dead comic book, where it's Connie who has her hand removed to prevent infection from spreading when she's bitten during the Whisperer War. The character does not lose a limb in the television show, where Connie (Lauren Ridloff) is Deaf and communicates through ASL.

Fear the Walking Dead next airs episode 607, "Damage From the Inside," which acts as the midseason finale when it premieres Sunday, November 22, on AMC. Follow the author @CameronBonomolo on Twitter for all things TWD.