Fear the Walking Dead’s Midseason Death Scene Released Online

“I can’t have you telling people.” Fear the Walking Dead releases the heart-wrenching talked-about scene from Sunday’s midseason premiere, “The Door.” Spoilers for Fear Episode 608. After his failed investigation into the “ugly mustard” that went down behind the walls of the Lawton settlement in “The Key,” which ended with Virginia (Colby Minifie) viciously executing the falsely accused Janis (Holly Curran) for the murder of one of her Rangers, John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) is in despair. He left behind his new wife, June (Jenna Elfman), and retreated to his cabin to take his own life, feeling that he’s not made to live in this world overrun by death and the dead.

When John recognizes the unique-looking knife that Dakota (Zoe Colletti) uses to eliminate a walker, he solves a Season 6 murder mystery: it was Dakota who killed Ranger Cameron (Noah Khyle), and Virginia covered up the scandal to protect her younger sister. And Janis, who was left tied up in the woods to be torn apart by walkers for a crime she did not commit, was collateral damage.

Explaining Cameron’s death, who was killed with a slash to the throat, Dakota reveals to John: “He figured out the way that I was sneaking in and out of Lawton, and he told Ginny. He took away the one way that I had to get out of Lawton.” Holding John at gunpoint, Dakota tells him, “I can’t let you ruin this for me. I can’t have you telling people.” If John gives her up as a killer, she risks her spot in the community Morgan (Lennie James) is building away from her sister.

John finds his reason to live in Dakota, but it’s too late: she fires John’s pistol, shooting him in the heart and sending him tumbling into a river where he succumbs to his wound.

“Because John Dorie has this humanity in him, he sees that as a weakness because he feels like even when he’s trying to help people, they get hurt, which is the same thing that he felt about what happened with Janis,” co-showrunner Ian Goldberg said in episode commentary explaining John’s death. “John starts in a place where he doesn’t see a reason to live, and Morgan tells him, ‘You’re gonna find that reason.’ And he does end up finding it in the last place and the last person he expected, and it’s with Dakota.”

Goldberg added: “Of course, it’s a huge shock and a gut punch for him when he realizes, ‘Oh, my God. You’re the one who killed Cameron.’ But on the other hand, he sees this as a real opportunity. Here’s someone who needs help, who he believes he can help. We’ve seen him forge a connection with her over the course of the episode, and he’s finally found that reason to live, that reason to open the door [and] that just as he’s opened that door, Dakota is not ready to walk through it with him. Because of who she is and because of what the circumstances are, John pays for it with his life.”

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.