‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 3, Episodes 9 & 10 Recap: Premiere Sets Up Rest Of Season 3

Fear the Walking Dead has returned after a mid-season break to start the end of its third season.

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD RECAP

We start off with Madison and the people of Broke Jaw Ranch. Before the hiatus, Madison delivered the head of Jeremiah Otto to Walker, thereby welcoming the people of Black Hat Reservation onto the land. Jake is still trying to keep Troy from attacking Walker after he almost scalped him, and all the emotional wounds opened up in the first half of the season are still gaping.

Jake so badly wants to maintain peace that he gives Walker a key that, when combined with the one Jake holds, gives access to the arsenal of the ranch. “We can survive together,” he tells Walker. Madison though, continues to manipulate the situation from behind the scenes. She’s using Alicia, who is close to Jake, and Nick, who is close to Troy, under her finger, keeping an eye on her sons.

Walker and Jake attempt to keep everyone together, but people aren’t having it, and don’t trust the messengers. The first hour of the two-hour mid-season premiere, titled “Minotaur,” does more to set up future events than delve into the drama of the world. Terrence is still torn up about Gretchen’s death, but also still unaware that it was Troy who killed her. We see more upset between the Native Americans and everyone else, and soldiers grow aggressive toward Walker’s man, Crazy Dog.

With all this tension building, future events are spawning for the rest of the season. Troy convinces Terrence to shoot at Walker’s men in plain sight, and hits one of them. Terrence is killed almost immediately afterward. This prompts Walker to get the secondary key from Jake so that he could have full control over the camps. Madison pushes Jake to comply, and he does. It seems Troy’s plan is to blow up the entire ranch once Madison and Walker’s men arrive, but this changes when Nick admits that it was he who killed Jeremiah.

Walker and Madison conclude that Troy will be kicked out and Nick will be jailed. Madison escorts Troy out of the compound, and they engage in an awkward rehashing of events. And leads to Troy fighting back by stealing a knife off of Claw and stabbing him. Madison, however, pulls a gun and ends Troy’s attempt to flee. We watch as he stumbles off, a deranged man walking toward the dead.

Elsewhere, Daniel Salazar is helping Lola become leader at the dam. They search for Ofelia, but this angers some who see Lola as a threat. Literal stones get thrown and Salazar and Lola must flee for their lives. We are reminded that Lola stole water, of which the dam is running out, setting up a storyline in which the dam and the ranch will collide for the precious resource.

Nick, who was thrown into a hot box cell, is hallucinating and sees Troy taunting him for killing his father. Madison and Walker decide to travel to a trading post in order to solve their water shortage crisis. She tells Alicia to escape with her brother if things go awry while she is away. While on the mission, Walker warns Madison to let her children off the leash a little bit, or else. Meanwhile, Nick and Alicia are fighting amongst themselves, as Nick wants to fight and Alicia wants to go the diplomatic route.

Madison and Walker arrive at the Bizarre, a marketplace and casino of sorts. Madison is forced to trade her walkie talkie, with which she was communicating with Alicia, just to speak with a man who claims to have water access.

Alicia finds Ofelia and Carzy Dog, and talks of the rumor that the ranch is losing water. Alicia appears to be the only one handling the situation with a level head. Later, she confronts Nick about his gun and figures out that he was the one to kill Jeremiah, and that their mother covered it up. She is clearly jealous from being excluded from the family plan, but it offers the question of who is Nick doing all this work for? Alicia calls Madison, but can’t get through.

At the Bizarre, Madison sees Victor in a brawl and she and Walker go to help. He made a bad bet and is stuck at the Bizarre until he pays off his debts. At the Ranch, tensions rise when Alicia sees someone take more water than allotted, and she decides to tell everyone that they only have six weeks until the water will run dry. Violence erupt and Nick helps get everything under control by pulling a gun on Crazy Dog.

Back at the Bizarre, Walker tries to make a deal but ends up trading Victor’s life. The next day, Walker repairs the water deal only to find that Madison has taken all their goods and traded them in order to pay off Victor’s debts and save his life. Madison tells Victor to take her to the dam in order to avoid Walker’s wrath.

Nick now leads the militia, and has equipped it with knives and bows. Others are waiting with guns. They are about to fire when Nick sees Alicia helping a Black Hatter dig for water, and he realizes that they can in fact work together. Everyone puts down their weapons and begins to dig.