Life's Too Sports

Sunday's midseason finale begins in recognizable fashion, as walkers munching on a deer carcass are killed by Virginia's rangers while Strand and Dakota ride in comfort towards a safe house. In their interaction, Dakota urges Strand to move forward with his escape plan, as she doesn't wish to live under her sister's rule any longer -- much to her chagrin, however, Strand insists on biding his time. Unfortunately for Strand, his casual escort system quickly goes awry when the horse of one of Virginia's rangers (Terry) rejoins their group without its rider -- Strand and Samuels quickly set off together to check for a horde of walkers ahead, but find only an inexplicably fallen tree. While the pair are away, a deadly conflict ensues -- the remainder of their convoy is brutally slaughtered, and Dakota (Strand's most prized possession) disappears. After the recent destruction of Tank Town , Strand fears that Dakota's life (and in turn, his own) may be in jeopardy...

The cryptic title of this week's episode becomes immediately self-evident when Paige (a woman seeking to escape Virginia and her rangers) commits suicide rather than explaining the meaning behind her spray painted message: " The End Is the Beginning ". Subsequently, Virginia's rangers are instructed to gather any useful information and then "Bury Her Next to Jasper's Leg", an ominous request that quickly sets the tone for the remainder of this week's episode. As the title sequence wraps, viewers are quickly thrust into a high-stakes operation, as June (and her apocalyptic rescue assistant, Sarah) are forced to conduct an emergency appendectomy on a man named Malcolm. Unfortunately, Malcolm dies before June is able to do more than create a small incision, and as she refuses to accept her failure, June is nearly killed by his reanimated corpse. Nonetheless, John and June Dorie are soon reunited, with John proposing a plan for the couple to flee Lawton ...

Two weeks ago, Fear the Walking Dead reunited Dwight and Sherry in unexpected, yet incredibly genuine, fashion. However, this week's episode made it readily apparent that Negan's reign of terror did not end with Rick Grimes' epic throat-slash in the Season 8 finale of The Walking Dead . But let's rewind for a minute... Episode 6.05 begins with Dwight and Sherry sharing a tender moment of reunion, though it's quickly interrupted by a radio call from Hill, informing Dwight that he's missed his check-in. Once again, Dwight lies to Hill, insisting that he must continue scouring off-map terrain, though he's concerned about Al's unexplained disappearance. Reinvigorated, Dwight suggests that he and his wife run off together -- unfortunately, Sherry refuses his proposal, and viewers quickly learn why when Dwight is abducted by masked figures. This new, seemingly shady group is constructed primarily of Virginia's outcasts, as Sherry and company seek to end ...

Season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead has sought to resurrect the "bottle episode" in an unprecedented way. Our  season premiere  focused on Morgan's battle to outlast gangrene and remain alive -- viewers were then treated to a parting of the ways between Strand and Alicia before last week's emotional episode  centered around Dwight and Al. Thus, it took four episodes for the fandom to learn of John Dorie's fate -- he has become one of Virginia's most trusted rangers, stationed squarely within the fences of Lawton. While John writes frequent letters to June, he initially seems to have become well-adjusted to Virginia's way of living, doing his best to contribute to their future with his peacekeeping duties. Unfortunately, everything changes when a man named Cameron meets an untimely end -- despite Virginia's insistence that Cameron had a drinking problem and errantly stumbled into some walkers, John wants to launch a full-scale investigation. During Camer...

Thus far, Season 6 of Fear the Walking Dead has produced two intriguing bottle episodes -- the season premiere (revealing Morgan's fate) and last week's emotional rollercoaster (revolving around the trio of Alicia, Strand, and Daniel). However, Sunday's "Alaska" may feature this season's most powerful narrative to date. Though the episode begins with Morgan gifting supplies to Rachel and her newborn baby (also named Morgan), his promise to return with Grace and the remainder of his people will have to wait until later in Season 6. Indeed, this week's episode focuses primarily on the journey of Dwight and Al, who have set out to examine locations where "things have gone south", reporting back to Virginia to help her organization avoid similar mistakes. To make their task more bearable, the pair create a grim game for themselves -- snatching licenses out of the wallets of fallen walkers and trying to collect as many states as possible. It's ...

While last week's  season premiere  of Fear the Walking Dead is nothing short of riveting, it fails to address the current location of many of our favorite survivors. As promised, this Sunday's "bottle episode" provides further insight on the whereabouts of Alicia Clark, Victor Strand, and Daniel Salazar. "Welcome to the Club" begins with Virginia's night crew being tasked with the near-impossible job of overcoming dozens of walkers covered in molasses. Unfortunately, their efforts quickly go horribly wrong -- a partially jammed door causes Virginia's rangers and the entirety of her night crew (aside from a terrified, indecisive Sanjay) to become walker food. Meanwhile, Alicia and Strand are on [excrement]-cleaning duty when they are approached by Marcus, one of Virginia's more hostile rangers. When Strand challenges his authority, Marcus pulls a gun on both of them -- only to be talked down by Dakota, Virginia's younger sister. Alicia and St...

With five eclectic seasons in the rearview, AMC aired the Season 6 premiere of  Fear the Walking Dead on Sunday, October 11. And if the premiere is any indication, viewers are in for a captivating ride this season. Initially, the introduction of the series'  70th episode  is quite reminiscent of its Season 4 premiere, featuring a character "running from something" and stumbling across a fellow survivor in the woods. Unfortunately for Walter (the runner), his time as an on-screen survivor is relatively short-lived, as he immediately encounters one of the most sinister individuals in the history of The Walking Dead universe. While this villain seems cordial upon introduction (gifting Walter beans and accepting his company), Emile soon reveals his true colors by beheading the newcomer with an axe. He then removes a mysterious key from Walter's corpse and leaves the site alongside his dog, Rufus. However, the apocalyptic bounty hunter is quickly called into action once m...

On Sunday, October 11, AMC is slated to air the Season 6 premiere of spinoff series  Fear the Walking Dead (alongside the second episode of World Beyond ). With this in mind, I thought it might be interesting to rank all five seasons of the series currently in circulation. (Please note that these rankings are subjective, and thus, subject to change.) If you haven't seen all five seasons of this show, be warned: there are spoilers ahead . 5. Season Five There seems to be little argument amongst Fear fans that the most current season is the worst of the bunch. Quite honestly, the first half of this season has some very interesting storylines, as fans try to unpack a rather layered plot. The season starts with a plane crash, Al encounters a mysterious woman, a community of small children pose a threat to our survivors, and Logan of C&L Freight Services moves into his role as the series' newest villain. However, Season 5 quickly goes off the rails with too much captured video f...