The Dog

The Dog

"The Dog"
Director: Adam Davidson — Writer(s): Jack LoGiudice — Aired: September 13, 2015 —    prev   next

"The Dog" is the third episode of the first season of Fear the Walking Dead. It aired on September 13, 2015 on AMC.

This is the last episode of Season 1 to be directed by Adam Davidson and marks the first occasion the main cast are all together.

Title

The title of this episode, "The Dog", refers to the German Shepherd dog that turns up at the Clark's door but also appears to be a reference to one of the two Jack London short stories called "To Build a Fire". This story is the subject of Travis' English lesson in the episode "Pilot" that Maddy watches part of and that Art listens to from his office. (The dog is similar to the German Shepherd that was on the front lawn of the Cruz home in "So Close, Yet So Far".)

Synopsis

"After they escape a riot, Travis, Liza and Chris have sought refuge with the Salazars; now, as they are forced to leave because of a fire, they see much more of what is happening. Madison defends her home."

Plot

The episode opens with Christopher Manawa looking out through the shutters of Salazar's Cuts at the riot outside - now in full swing. He can hear helicopters, see people destroying property and then

Chris sees an Infected man looking directly at him through the shutters of Salazar's Cuts.

the eyes of an infected man looking directly at him. Chris is startled and calls out for his dad, his dad (Travis is sitting in the shop behind him with Liza and the Salazar family. Travis asks him what he sees and reminds him that he's told him to stop looking. Chris mumbles something about a man outside and turns back to the window.

Alicia is looking out at the street through the blinds; she's scared

At the Clark home Madison is getting some Oxycontin pills for Nick. Alicia is looking out at the street through the blinds; she is scared and asking her mother what Mr Dawson "did to the Cruz's?" Madison puts her off. She gives the pills to Nick and he crushes them before taking them, saying that he knows best. Nick wants to know how many she's got and what will happen when they're gone. Madison tells that when they're gone he can "howl at the moon".

At Salazar's Cuts Travis is talking to Liza, he's saying that as soon as things settle down they'll go to Madison's. Chris just the Manawa family, to leave. Liza starts to answer him but the noise outside suddenly escalates and Ofelia enter from the back of the shop saying that they are breaking in next door. Travis insists that they are safe and then offends Daniel by implying that there's nothing in the shop that's worth breaking in for. Daniel doesn't say anything, though he does tell Chris to put back an open razor that he'd picked up. Daniel tells Travis that there's more than combs here, and then dismisses Travis' reply as him just trying to deceive Chris into thinking everything will be OK. Chris

Chris notices that the wall in Salazar's Cuts is much too hot

interrupts what is turning into a tense conversation by calling his dad - telling him that the wall is hot. The two men check the wall and immediately make arrangements to leave. They all group together by the door and Daniel unlocks it. Some young men rush in as soon as the door opens, forcing the group by the door to step back. As the rioters enter, the group leaves. Daniel is reluctant to leave with the rioters destroying his shop but Griselda pulls him, and he goes. Outside a policeman is being attacked by another policeman, a sergeant, who is biting his throat under his protective vizor.

Chris sees this immediately they leave the shop.

Liza and Travis pull him away. The Manawas hurry through the crowd followed by the Salazars, the Infected are mixed in with the crowd, attacking people; the riot police are advancing down the street but to no apparent effect. At the Clark home Madison has decided to distract her children and gets out the game of Monopoly. Alicia tries a token "Really?" but Nick sits straight up and as soon as Madison says she wants to play as "The Top Hat",

Alicia claims "The Car" and Nick "The Shoe". Alicia says that "Dad was always The Shoe", but Maddy says that Daddy wouldn't mind. This is the first time we've heard them mention him. They go quiet for a moment but then fall into an established routine of gently squabbling over who gets to play with which piece and Nick saying he's going to wipe the floor with them. Downtown the two families are pressing on trying to find a way out of the fighting. Young people are climbing up scaffolding and jumping up and down at the top. The families, with some others who are caught up in the riot, work their way through scaffolding below as quickly as then can. The Manawas and then the Salazars with Griselda at the back. The Fire Dept are using a high pressure hose pipe to try and control the crowd. The water jet knocks over the scaffolding with several people on it, and traps Griselda underneath it, hurting her leg. Both families turn back to help, Daniel and Chris lift the debris and

Travis picks up Griselda as you would a child, he puts her in the back of his pickup. Chris and Travis get in the front and the others in the back. Travis does a 3-point turn so enthusiastically he knocks over a motorbike. He accelerates away, rioters banging on the truck as it gets out of reach. The police advance, and the fighting, continues.

Griselda is being cared for in the back of the truck by her Liza as he husband holds her and Ofelia speaks to her. Griselda has quite a nasty wound on her right foot and Liza calls out to Travis that they "need a Doctor".

The game of monopoly is going well, the Clarks are relaxed and laughing as they play, Nick wins something and gloats a bit, Madison says that she's crushing them - etc. The mood is broken when they hear something like a gunshot but the game continues after a few moments. Madison takes her move, then Alicia asks how long they are going to wait for Travis? Madison replies that they can go to sleep soon but Alicia says that she can't sleep while she's waiting for someone to come home, that she's having a major case of deja-vu right now. Nick and Madison avoid answering her.

In the pickup the radio is telling Travis and Chris that "eleven states have declared a State of Emergency and have requested the assistance of the National Guard". As they approach the hospital they pass an abandoned ambulance at the side of the road, back doors open and trolley half out. The Infected are wandering around, one still wearing his white Doctor's coat. People are running and yelling, sirens wailing and lights flashing. It's a chaotic scene that stuns the two families. They hear screams and drive slowly past a policeman running with the crowd carrying an assault rifle. Another policeman waves them on, they pass more men with weapons, policemen. They're shooting and killing what look like some patients from the hospital who are in night clothing and gowns. In the back they crouch down and take what cover they can, Travis drives one and they leave the Hospital behind, smoke is coming from the roof of the building as it goes out of sight. Travis asks Liza where to next and Daniel says that all of the hospitals "will be the same", he asks Travis to take them home with him and that he will call his cousin - and that they will be gone in the morning. He and Travis bicker, both keeping score about who is indebted to who.

Chris is silently watching sections of the city go dark as the power fails. They all go silent and watch as a massive power failure throws the city into darkness, block by block. The apparent scale of what is happening has suddenly expanded in their eyes, it has gone from a terrifying but localised riot until it covers the entire city.

There's power at the Clark home for the moment and Nick is asking again what they will do if Travis doesn't return. As he says that it's been 6 hours the power goes out. Madison, determinedly normal, insists on the rule of "loser puts the game away" and makes Alicia go and do it. Nick presses harder once Alicia is out of the room, Maddy tells him that he will be back to be with his family here, Nick says that maybe Travis has decided to be with Liza and Chris, his family.

Alicia interrupts them to say that it's happening again and they look out at the street. Whatever "it" is, is not visible when they look outside. Nick says that the need to get away from the windows and tries to convince his mother that they "need to tell 'licia what's out there" - but Madison refuses. A noise at the patio window makes them jump and, when Nick looks, it's a dog asking to come in. Nick appears to know the dog, it looks like the dog that was with the Cruz family in the episode "So Close, Yet So Far". Nick lets it in, the dog is covered with blood that's not his. The dog barks at the front door, looking out they can see an Infected Peter Dawson shambling his way across the road, he appears to be coming from the Cruz home opposite. You can still see the remains of the bouncy castle and balloons behind him.

Nick gets decisive and is off to get the gun, a shotgun, from the Tran home next door. They all go out the back, leaving the patio door open and the dog still inside, barking at the closed front door. They climb the fence at the back into the Tran's back garden. The garden is a complicated covered maze, Japanese water and ornaments can be heard as they follow Nick through the maze to the back door. He knows where the key is (under the mat) and they go in, calling for Susan and Patrick as they do. The house is dark and silent, but the lights flicker back on and they search for the weapon. Alicia looks at the pictures on the wall while Nick searches urgently, he finds it and the shells. They can hear the dog barking an, looking out of the windown, alicia sees someone go into the Clark home through the open patio doors. They hear the dog, aggresive at first but then whimpering and silent. Travis chooses this momen to arrive and they rush to warn him . Travis goes in the dark house, calling for Maddy, Liza and Chris follow him in. Maddy rushes through the maze to get to him. Travis sees Peter Dawson eating what is left of the dog. He tells Liza and Chris to get out and Infected Peter hears them, gets up and walks towards them. Travis talks to him and tries to fend him off but falls backwards. Infected Peter is on him at once and Travis has to fight to keep him away. Maddy, Nick and Alicia are climbing the fence back from the Tran's garden. Madison takes the weapon and Nick asks Alicia where the shells are, she goes back for them. He says to leave it but Alicia if already on her way back into the house. Travis manages to get out from under Infected Peter but, unsurprisingly to us, Peter keeps on coming. Alicia is back i the room where the shotgun shells are and picks them off the floor. She pauses when she sees an empty pill bottle on the table, the only thing out of place in the house. She also sees a pair of feet under the swing door in the hall she's just been in. As the swing door starts to open she runs past it and out. Madison comes in with the shotgun and Travis continues to fight Peter, telling Madison to put the gun down. Madison hesitates, Daniel doesn't. He takes the weapon from her and shoots Infected Peter in the face from about 2 metres. Peter keeps on coming, his face a ruin. Daniel steps up close to Peter and fires again with his last shell, blowing away half of Peter's head and, finally, putting him down. Travis and Madison are speechless with shock, Liza is watching from the back of the room and is juts as shocked. Daniel hands the shotgun back to Maddy and Chris goes outside to vomit. Travis looks at Madison numbly and asks "What did you do?"

Alicia is running the wrong way through the maze trying to get back home with the shotgun shells from the Tran's house. She goes the wrong way, has to double back and is attacked through the wall of the maze by an infected Asian woman. Alicia screams as she breaks free and this attracts Madison's attention who runs out back giving the (now empty) shotgun to Nick as she goes. Alicia has made it 1/2 way across the fence. Chris gets to her and helps pull her all the way over but Alicia kicks him in the face in her panic. There's some shouting and pushing while they sort themselves out. Chris goes inside. They look at the Infected woman through a gap in the fence and recognise her as their next door neighbour Susan Tran. Infected Susan growls as she reaches through a gap in the fence. Madison says that she's sick, but Nick says that she's not sick, she's dead. Alicia thinks of Matt, her boyfriend, and panics. Madison comforts her as Travis turns to Nick and asks him why wold he say that? It's not clear whether Travis means "Why would you say that in front of your sister?" or "What the hell do you mean by that?".

In the bathroom Chris is looking at his bloody nose in the mirror, Travis comes in to check on him and Chris, eventually, lets him help. It's not broken. Chris looks very young as he asks his Dad what was wrong with Peter Dawson. Travis doesn't answer this well, he says that people are getting sick but that they will all be ok.

Liza is looking after Griselda's foot injury and asks for pain killers. Travis replies that they only have aspirin and tells Daniel that the phone is in the kitchen if Daniel needs to call his cousin. Daniel says that he's already called him and that he will pick them up in the morning. Ofelia and her mother exchange glances as he says this, Griselda shakes her head slightly and Ofelia leaves it.

Madison wants to leave right now, Travis thinks the morning is the right time. They argue about what to do for the best, Travis persuades her, just, that waiting until light will be safer than setting out in the dark. She tells him to "take care of Peter", to remove his body and the dog's, in other words.

Travis rolls Peter's body up in the rug and drags it out the back, watched but not helped by Daniel. Daniel wants Travis to burn the body to stop the infection from spreading. Travis refuses, saying that they don't know that, and that Peter deserved better.

Liza, is doing what all nurses do before and after everything - she's washing her hands. She tells Travis that what he said was true, that the dead don't stay that way. He tells her that she's doing a good job with Griselda. She's grateful for the faith he has in her, that she says he's always had in her, but sees more problems with Griselda's injury than Travis has even considered. She tells him that he can't fix everything and it sounds like an argument well rehearsed, over many years. Travis says that he's relieved. He says, perhaps a little tactlessly, that he "thought it was going to be awkward having two wives in the house." and walks away, it seems their moment of reconciliation was just that, a moment.

The Salazars are in Alicia's room. Griselda is on the bed with her foot on a pillow. Ofelie wants to go with the Manawas and Clarks. He disagrees, saying that it is not a time to be in someone else's debt if they're not family. Ofelia reminds him that she knows he doesn't have a cousin in the US and Griselda tries to shut it down by asking her to sleep. Ofelia doesn't let that happen and presses on, she tells him that she thinks they should leave tomorrow with the others but neither of her parents give an inch. Ofelia leaves the room and her parents smile, not unkindly, at one another about her.

Travis asks Madison where the pills has come from, she tells him from school but doesn't mention having to kill Arty. She tells him that she's kept enough to get Nick to the desert and given the rest to that woman. "Griselda", Travis says. He says he's sorry for having to bring them back but that he had to, because they'd taken them in, and sorry for what Daniel did to Peter. He looks deeply shocked when Madison said that Daniel had "had no choice."

Later Liza is getting a glass of water from the kitchen and sees Madison looking out of the window at the back garden. It looks as if she's drinking something a lot stronger than water. She reaches out to Maddy, saying that they need to suport each other for the sake of the children. Madison breaks in and says that she needs something from Liza. She talks about Susan Tran, whose infected and reanimated body is still pushing dumbly at the fence outside. She tells Liza that Susan has care for her children while she went to work and looked after her when her husband died. Liza says that she sounds like a good friend. Maddy nods and agrees. Then she says that if ever she, Madison, ends up like that she needs Liza to "take care of it", not to let Travis do it. Liza looks at her and, finally, gives the tiniest of nods before walking away. Maddy stays lokoing out of the window at what used to be her friend pushing at the fence, over and over, and growling.

In the morning Travis is digging a grave for Peter's body. He turns and says "Morning Susan" as the Infected woman reaches for him through the fence. He ignore her and carries on digging, later we see him put the trash bins out for trash day, one of the bins has the blood stained rug used to wrap Peter's body. He sees hie neighbour from a couple of doors down, past Peter's house, also putting out bins. They look at each other but don't speak.

In the house Daniel is telling Chris about the shotgun and its ammunition, showing him how to load it. Madison is there and gives Danial coffee while he talks, she approves of Chris learning this but Travis is not at all pleased when he comes in and send Chris away. "The more the boy knows the safer he'll be", Travis talks to Madison "You know how I feel about guns" but Daniel answers "The gun doesn't care how you feel about it". Daniel cuts him off.

Madison says that the car is packed, that she has one more thing to do. She takes a hammer and goes out to the back garden where the body of her friend Susan is still trying to get through the fence. She feels that she should Put Down the body of her friend but can't bring herself to do it. Travis comes out and persuades her that she shouldn't, that it's not her call. He takes the hammer from her, Daniel watches from the house and thinks him weak.

They finish loading the cars, Nick wants more pills, she gives him two. He finds out that Griselda has the rest and complains that she's a stranger.

In Alicia's bedroom Griselda is lying on the bed as Ofelia looks out the window. She can see that the rest are about to leave and is worried about that. They argue about what to do, switching between English and Spanish. She finished by saying in Spanish that her mother needs the nurse (Liza) and that these are good people. He answers in English (so that Griselda cannot understand?) that the good people die first.

Alicia finally comes out of the house and the two families pull off the drive. Two Chinook helicopters thud around overhead. They drive through the housing estate and Maddy sees Susan's husband arriving home. She calls out to him but has to go after him. We see Patrick going through the house and hear him calling for his wife. He enters the back garden, where we know Susan is, and goes towards the maze, seeing her inside. He sees how bad she looks and holds out his arms for her, not understanding the danger. Maddy comes around the corner shouting to him, Infected Susan reaches for him as her head explodes from a round shot by a National Guardsman. The garden is now full of soldiers.

Susan's body is taken away in a body bag as Travis and Madison are questioned about who lives in the house. The Guardsman, a young woman, takes the names Travis gives her. Madison goes around the back again, asking where Patrick is. She's told he as covered in the blood from an Infected person and the soldier asks if anyone else has been exposed. She says no. He looks at Peter's grave and asks what it is, she says "Our dog died" and he replies he's sorry to hear it. Nick, meanwhile, is looking to break into houses, for drugs presumably. As he's trying to undo a barred window (he has a screwdriver) a tapping sound behind him makes him turn to see a young girl in the next house waving to him with her dolly. Nick waves back and moves on, looking up at an unusually low and loud airliner passing overhead. The airlines makes some strange maneuvers as if it's not under proper control before disappearing out of view.

Travis stands on the drive watching the soldiers with Madison. "The cavalry's arrived, it's going to get better now." he says. Behind him Chris, Liza, and Alicia are by the front door.

He and Madison watch as they load another body into a truck and paint marks on the houses to say whether it's an Infected house or not.

Daniel and Griselda watch from inside the house. She says something in Spanish we're not told about and he answers: "It's already too late."

Deaths

• Peter Dawson died from the infection in "So Close, Yet So Far", Put Down by Daniel.
• Susan Tran died from possible drug overdose, Put Down by a member of the National Guard.

Cast

Main Cast

• Kim Dickens as Madison Clark
• Cliff Curtis as Travis Manawa
• Frank Dillane as Nick Clark
• Alycia Debnam Carey as Alicia Clark
• Elizabeth Rodriguez as Liza Ortiz
• Mercedes Mason as Ofelia Salazar
• Lorenzo James Henrie as Chris Manawa
• Rubén Blades as Daniel Salazar

Guest Cast

• Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Griselda Salazar

Co-Cast

• Steven Allerick as "Guardsman 2"
• Noah Beggs as Peter Dawson
• Cynthia Rose Hall as "Guardswoman"
• Cici Lau as Susan Tran
• Jim Lau as Patrick Tran

Trivia

• The air date for this episode was delayed for one week - so as to avoid Labor Day weekend in the US. The UK newspaper "The Guardian" didn't realize this and (very briefly) published their review of this episode by Brian Moylan a week before it was aired. Oops...