The following contains spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead Season 7, Episode 12, “Sonny Boy,” which aired Sunday, May 8 on AMC.
With as strict as the tyrannical Victor Strand has made his community (dubbed the “Tower” despite it being far from a tower) in Fear the Walking Dead, it’s no surprise that there are some people rebelling against his leadership. This seems to be the common theme in The Walking Dead universe these days, given the Commonwealth from the main series has their own resistance brewing.
Rebelling against a powerful leader is nothing new in the Walking Dead universe. It’s the foundation on which the show has built itself on ever since the walkers became measly threats to the humans. Yet it’s awfully coincidental that these two stories are aligning at precisely the same time. The Walking Dead is entering its final episodes with a resistance growing against Pamela Milton in the Commonwealth, which is ill-famed for its complicated society based off a caste system. Down in Texas, Strand is in control of the Tower, where he holds a dictatorship over 200 people.
When compared to the cannibalistic, cultish groups encountered previously in both shows, the Commonwealth and the Tower are slices of heaven. Sure, they have their issues, but their respective leaders make things work under the treacherous conditions. Yet the looming threat from inside the house is what will cause their doom. In FTWD Season 7, Episode 12, “Sonny Boy,” Strand suspects a resistance against him is building after finding walkie-talkies in inhabitants’ rooms. Among these “traitors” is allegedly Strand’s right-hand man Howard (it’s later revealed the device was planted by John Dorie Sr. for reasons that ultimately don’t matter, because both men die).
Strand’s paranoia gets the best of him as he executes the rebels in his own fun little fashion: throwing them off the roof into a horde of walkers. It’s a technique he’s been using since gaining control of the tower, because where else would Strand find his sick entertainment? But besides the absolute joy of splattering dozens of people in his community, things at the Tower aren’t exactly terrible. They have medical resources, food, plenty of rooms, and more importantly… yoga classes. It’s just like the Commonwealth, but more open about the punishment residents will face if they oppose the hierarchy.
In the Commonwealth, Pamela Milton seems as oblivious to what’s happening to her community as Alicia is about finding the nonexistent Padre. After years of ignoring her lower-class citizens, Pamela hears that they might be forming a resistance against her government just when the residents of Alexandria arrive. How convenient. But why Pamela never knew about this before kind of makes sense. She has her footman and wannabe Beta, Lance Hornsby, do all her work for her. She might as well be a cardboard cut-out, considering she doesn’t actually do anything for the community.
At least with Strand, he gives orders and viewers are able to see him in action. Pamela rarely gets enough scenes to fully flesh out her job at the Commonwealth, and Lance has become by far a more interesting antagonist for the final season of The Walking Dead. Strand may be colder and harsher, but the man puts the work in… which only means that he’s more vulnerable to his enemies. You can’t have it both ways, Strand.
At this point, Fear the Walking Dead has stooped to new lows by copy-catting The Walking Dead‘s resistance storyline. It’s not like they want to hire better writers to create original storylines, because they would’ve done that a long time ago to save fans from having to witness this trainwreck. Their kind-of stolen story only proves that Fear the Walking Dead will unfortunately always hold secondary status, even when The Walking Dead ends its long reign.
To see if Victor will follow Pamela’s path, tune into Fear the Walking Dead Season 7. New episodes air Sundays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on AMC and are available to stream a week early on AMC+.
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