Los Muertos
Directed by Deborah Chow
Nick wakes up in an infirmary in Colonia.
He wanders through the town and sees a young girl crying. In a nearby field, the girl’s father stands surrounded by neighbors from the Colonia. “Ready?” asks Alejandro, the community’s leader. The father hands his knife over and enters a bus. Through the bus he passes into a gated field, filled with Infected. He sacrifices himself to the herd as the people look on.
Madison, Alicia, Strand and Ofelia drive around Tijuana in search of Nick. Alicia calls the search futile and insists they return to the Abigail.
In Colonia, Nick sees Alejandro inject an elderly man with medication. Alejandro confers with Luciana. They look at Nick.
Madison’s group arrives at the shore and finds the Abigail missing, stolen by the Mexican military. Alicia suggests they take refuge at a nearby hotel. Using driftwood, they write a message for Travis and Nick, “Abigail Lost Head North.”
They drive to the Rosarito Beach Hotel’s pier and assess the situation from afar.
In Colonia, Nick cleans bloody bandages at a faucet. Luciana enlists Nick to help her in a mission.
Madison’s group pulls up to the hotel and enters the lobby through barricaded doors. Strand rings the bell at the front desk to flush out any Infected.
Luciana brings Nick to the field of Infected and pins an Infected to the wall. She slits its throat and slathers herself in the Infected’s blood. Nick follows suit.
Madison’s group looks for supplies in the hotel ballroom.
Nick and Luciana walk down a Tijuana street. Nick asks Luciana about the man who sacrificed himself to the Infected. Luciana says that the dying sacrifice themselves to the Dead and that once the Dead are gone, the world will be renewed. Nick questions whether Alejandro was actually bitten, since he hadn’t turned. Luciana says she saw it happen.
In the hotel bar, Alicia and Ofelia leave to search the hotel rooms for supplies. Strand offers to make Madison a drink.
Nick and Luciana arrive at a supermarket guarded by local gangsters. Luciana gives the leader, Marco, a bag of medication. In return, she receives a shopping cart. She says the deal was for two carts but Marco says it’s now only one. Nick and Luciana enter the supermarket to shop for supplies.
Madison and Strand drink martinis at the hotel bar.
Alicia and Ofelia collect clothes and food from a hotel room. Alicia finds an Infected hanging from the bathroom showerhead. As they leave, Alicia puts a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door to indicate an Infected inside.
At the supermarket, Nick puts a candy bar into the cart. Luciana puts it back and tells him to take only what’s essential. Nick sees a large group of dazed junkies camped out in the supermarket. Marco kneels next to one of the junkie women, his sister.
Alicia and Ofelia gather more supplies from a hotel room. Alicia wonders why the man hanged himself. Ofelia guesses he was tired of surviving and predicts they’re not going to make it. Alicia disagrees.
Nick and Luciana leave the market with a full shopping cart. As they walk away, one of the gangsters charges and tackles Nick, revealing a pastry stowed in his pants. Marco comes after Nick with a machete and gets ready to chop off Nick’s hand. Through Luciana’s translation, Nick threatens to stop supplying Oxy for the junkies, including Marco’s sister, if they don’t let him go. In addition, he demands a second shopping cart. Marco begrudgingly agrees.
Nick and Luciana wheel two carts of supplies back to Colonia. Luciana worries the gang will follow them back and yells at Nick for upsetting the gangsters.
Madison and Strand get drunk at the bar and open up to each other. Madison tells Strand about the death of Nick and Alicia’s father: he was driving home from work and his car drifted into oncoming traffic. Strand assumes he fell asleep but Madison explains that, despite what she told her kids, their father killed himself. She worries the same darkness lives in Nick.
Madison flings her glass against the wall, pours more drinks, then flings another glass. Strand bangs on a piano.
Across the street, a trapped herd of Infected pounds on the door of a gift shop, provoked by the noise in the bar.
Alicia takes a shower then looks for Ofelia. She goes to the balcony and sees Infected walking onto balconies, dropping to the ground and flocking to the bar. She hears the loud piano music and screams for Madison.
Alicia runs into the hallway and finds the stairwell packed with Infected.
Back in Colonia, Nick and Luciana drop the supplies off at the pantry. Nick gives the candy bar to the young girl whose father was sacrificed. Luciana ushers him inside a house to meet Alejandro.
Alejandro reprimands Nick for riling up the gangsters. He goes on to explain the importance of faith, saying only the faithful will remain once the world has been washed clean of death. “We have been chosen. We will outlast death,” he says. Nick notices a scar on Alejandro’s shoulder – the bite Luciana spoke of.
Infected begin to swarm the hotel bar.
Alejandro preaches to his people in the Colonia church. Nick stands in the audience.
Madison and Strand fight the Infected and become trapped behind the bar. Alicia stands alone in a room.
“From death we come, and to death we deliver ourselves,” the congregation repeats. Call and response. Nick joins them.
Tropes:
- An Arm and a Leg: Marco threatens to cut off Nick's hand after he is caught stealing a pastry.
- Badass Boast: Nick delivers one to Marco and his cronies, after being pushed one too many times."If he doesn't let me go, we'll take our business elsewhere. Sí, sí, no more Oxy. Yeah, you're gonna run out of Oxy. No more Oxy, man. Tell him. Tell him that there is nothing left. Nothing left. You have your stash, but at the rate you're going through it, man, that's gonna last, what, a few weeks? Maximum. And, yeah, you can find a substitute, sure, but that crave's gonna get worse and worse and worse and your sister needs her family. Familia. Yeah, they need it. You let your sister go for one week without it, you're gonna pray she turns just so you can kill her. You need Oxy. We have Oxy. But now, if you want it, we want another cart of water."
- Drowning My Sorrows: Madison and Strand have drinks at the hotel bar. Madison laments about her kids.
- Human Sacrifice: The community Nick is at has their sick sacrificed to become a part of the town's defenses.
- Idiot Ball:
- When going to the lobby of the hotel, Strand rings the bell several times. Somewhat a subversion with the fact he was seeing if their were walkers in the hotel basically checking if it is safe.
- Nick almost gets his arm chopped off for "stealing" a treat for the girl who's father was sacrificed earlier in the episode, while there was plenty of room on the cart to sneak it in even after Luciana tells him not to take it.
- Strand and Madison get drunk at the bar. Madison starts throwing glasses at the wall, and then Strand starts playing the piano, which starts attracting walkers within earshot.
