'Fear the Walking Dead' continues to prove it's not 'The Walking Dead' in latest episode

Well, that happened. 

One week after introducing Connor -- a sort of big bad of the high seas -- Fear the Walking Dead offed the SOB in Sunday's new episode. 

The beauty of this surprising -- but not in any way disappointing -- death was that it gave the show an opportunity to further set itself apart from its big brother, The Walking Dead. 

This show made clear with this episode that it's more concerned with the bottom line -- in this case, the characters on the boat and their mission to get to Baja -- rather than using several episodes to fall into a meet a foe/prepare to fight a foe/fight the foe cycle. I had fully expected the gang to waste a whole episode on recon and get to know the residents of the Connor-led community a little bit. I've never been happier to be wrong. That's not to say we've seen the last of this group -- but I was pleased with the speedy rescue. 

It also feels like these detours have been used wisely so far. Just as the gang's interaction with the creepy family a few episodes back yielded more information on the status of the post-apocalyptic country as a whole, this episode served as the gang's first interaction with a real enemy and perhaps even gave them confidence about their ability to face another in the future. 

Well, maybe everyone shouldn't be confident. Alicia definitely should, though. 

After being kidnapped last week, Alicia really showed her ability to be resourceful and brave in this episode -- even if she let the could-be-pregnant-with-zombie-child captor steal the Welcome to Boatsville steak that Connor made her when she arrived.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

I went back and forth on Alicia this entire episode, though, because it wasn't entirely clear when she was playing Jack and when she wasn't. I generally felt like she was doing the former -- and that made me like her a lot, as did the ending when she chose to leave Jack on the big boat as she floated away in the smaller vessel with her family. 

Jack didn't look too happy about that decision, and I predict we'll see Jack at some point again, at which time we'll realize he was actually a crazy dude in nice guy clothing. You know the type -- like the guys who get scarily aggressive when you refuse to do more than make-out. Pieces of crap, in other words. Yeah, them. 

But warning to Jack if he plans on making an unfriendly reappearance: As Alicia proved this week, she's absolutely cut from the same cloth as her badass mom.

That time Chris took his shot and messed everything up

F--king, Chris. 

Sorry for the profanity, but it's the only phrase I could say every time I saw his face in this episode.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Here's what happened: The gang's only bargaining chip in this sucky situation was Reed, the little twerp with the gun who Madison turned into a Reed-cabob last week.  

With the kid fading fast, they tied him up and intended to trade him for Alicia and Travis. 

Chris was put in charge of keeping an eye on him, but after Reed got under his skin, Chris snapped and shot him in the face. At first, he claimed the kid had died and he had shot him to keep him from turning, but that turned out to be a huge lie. Everyone realized that when Reed ended up turning while Ophelia and Nick were cleaning up blood. 

TL;DR: Chris can't even shoot a tied up person in the brain properly.

I did feel a little bad for him when he started crying in Madison's arms after shooting Reed because it's clear this kid has some really bad trauma he's working through. I also kinda wanted him to punch him and tell him to grow up. I like to think Madison had the same struggle. 

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

For the time being, though, one of Madison's big concerns -- of many -- seems to be Nick's growing comfort with the dead. In one scene, she argued with Nick about who will lead the rescue mission and she insisted on being the one who goes. 

"Why don't you just let me go?" Nick asked. 

"Because you want to," she said. 

It's clear to Madison that her son has traded one addiction for another, and she's not happy about it. 

Tasty morsels

• I really liked how they played the truth of Strand's condition. At the end of last episode he had severe hypothermia, and at the start of this week's he was still recovering. Too often these shows forget that characters are human and need recovery time. 

• What's going on with Daniel? Is he hearing voices? Is he getting cabin fear, or something more serious? I'm so intrigued here. 
  

• Speaking of Daniel, he had the line of the night: "In my time, I've known men who inspire fear. You know what they have in common? They never say how frightening they are."
  

• Travis had an encounter with Alex, who apparently joined Boatville after being recruited by Connor. She was still pissed about the raft thing. I didn't really get a sense of closure from their convo, though. Do you think we'll see her again? 

What did you think of the episode?