Fear the Walking Dead season 5, episode 7 review: Still Standing

On the brink of a nuclear meltdown, the Fear the Walking Dead survivors make a final push to get everyone out of the radioactive radius.

After Strand and Charlie crashed their hot air balloon in “The Little Prince,” Morgan rushes into the danger zone to help them evade contaminated walkers. Strand also has to drag a plane propeller into a secure location. The pair construct a barrier between them and the dead, using the deflated balloon.

Morgan ends up taking a detour to look for a vehicle before making his way to his stranded friends. As he loads the propeller onto the truck’s trunk, Grace radios with a disastrous update from the plant. The generator isn’t enough to keep the plant running and the doomsday clock for nuclear disaster is anywhere between 12 and 24 hours.

Back at the truck stop, June and Althea notice that, even if they can get the plane up and flying, they do not have enough fuel to make it home. Althea knows where they can secure aviation fuel and ventures out with June.

During their outing, Althea confesses that she has feelings for the woman she recently came across, without giving away any of the important details regarding Isabelle and her people. As June compares Al’s situation to her own relationship, she fails to reach John on the walkie. He and Dwight are in the middle of their own heart-to-heart after John breaks the news to Dwight that his wife wants him to stop looking for her.

Alicia also heads into forbidden territory, breaking the lines of intestines and entrails put up to keep people away from the teenager’s campgrounds. Dylan shows Alicia the way to what is essentially a large tree fort, connected by a makeshift bridge. Alicia has to convince Annie and her merry children to evacuate before the nuclear power plant melts down again.

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The recent activity around their site causes growlers to come scratching at their front fence. Alicia holds the fort, literally, to buy time for the kids to get out safely. She uses her signature weapon to kill dozens of walkers. One she crossed paths with earlier with his eye dangling out of its socket falls on her before she gains control and stabs it in the face. Blood splatters on her mouth and throat, and then she sees the dead man’s necklace indicating it is contaminated.

Alicia readies herself to take on countless more and sends Annie and the others to the plane. Annie fits them into her van, and they reunite with Luciana. Strand and Charlie were given directions to the truck stop, while Morgan went to retrieve Grace from the nuclear site. John and Dwight are also planning their return trip to the truck stop. That leaves Alicia all by herself in the woods, as the nuclear power plant sirens begin to sound.

Weekly Walkaways

• Alicia just can’t take a hint that Annie wants to be left alone with her orphan gang. Many minutes of this season, so far, have been dedicated to someone trying to save these kids that don’t want to be saved. We know Morgan and Alicia are doing the right thing, but it takes Alicia’s dance with death for Annie to agree.
• Oh and… is Alicia really going to die?! After a few episodes of table-setting, this really could be a serious development. Alicia is the only Clark family member left, and Alycia Debnam-Carey is the only original Fear actor remaining – Strand and Salazar were both in season 1, but not in the pilot. We’ll have to wait till the mid-season finale to find out her fate.
• Similitude runs through the episode’s multiple pairings of characters that draw parallels with each other. Alicia and Annie relate to one another through their dead parents; Annie spoke about her parents previously, and it was Alicia’s turn this time around. Morgan and Grace find comfort in each other’s selfless nature. Then June and John’s love story inspires Althea and Dwight with Althea opening up to June about someone she met, while Dwight is hopeful that he may reunite with Sherry the way John found June.
• The MVP of “Still Standing” is Alicia for displaying a superheroine level of bravery and resilience as a one-woman army. First, she tirelessly tears through countless zombie roadblocks to get to the orphans, and then she holds off an invading horde all by herself to allow for their safe escape. It was the fight of her life and may ultimately claim it, as an infected growler’s blood sprayed all over her face.

Fear the Walking Dead returns next week with “Is Anybody Out There” on Sunday, July 21st at 9:00 p.m. ET on AMC.