Fear the Walking Dead recap: 'Sicut Cervus' 

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The Abigail finally finds its way to Strand’s destination, the supposedly secluded and safe home of the ship’s namesake, Thomas Abigail. But their arrival starts off on a bloody note and never truly recovers, as even in the confines of a palatial estate, Travis and Madison’s combined family, Salazar, and Ofelia face their own internal strife (a.k.a., Chris is the worst, ever) while discovering the dark secrets of their new home.

Of course, none of them were originally intended to come to the safe house. Strand’s plan first only considered Luis and himself crossing the border, so as the boat reaches the border patrol on the water, the rest of the Abigail’s passengers have to hide below deck.

And already the fraught seeds of division are being sown, with a brief conversation between Chris and Travis as the son explains to his father what happened with Reed. Travis tries to imply “the group” said Reed wasn’t sick at all when Chris shot him, but Chris almost immediately guesses Madison said that. He’s furious, saying Madison told him she believed him. (And unless she did so off camera, she never actually said those words, merely comforting him and telling him it would be OK. This marks only the beginning of Chris’ attempts to blatantly, and poorly, lie about reality to suit his safety.)

Before they can properly figure out the situation, though, Luis and Strand send them all below deck to hide as Luis speaks with his border contacts. Salazar translates what he can for them about the trade being conducted, as well as the unfortunate desire for Luis’ contact to search the boat. Gunfire breaks out before they can do so, however, and the families rush upstairs after silence falls to investigate.

Luis and a few other men lie motionless on the deck as others continue to fire on the Abigail. While they attempt to flee, Salazar stabs the bodies on the boat before they turn, but as he comes to Luis, he finds Strand’s compatriot still gasping his last breaths. Ofelia and Nick stop Salazar from killing him, rather letting him die first. He gives them a coin to give to his mother, who he asks for in his last moments, and though Salazar relents, he takes the coin, an owl carved into its face, and tosses it into the ocean.

The gunfire ceases as the Abigail reaches land, as Strand guesses, because the patrol expects whatever is on land to kill them instead.

What they first find after a long hike on solid ground certainly implies death is right around the corner, literally and figuratively. The group stumbles upon a church in an abandoned neighborhood, with what Strand recognizes as Abigail’s truck parked out front. The man himself is nowhere in sight, but what does appear is a group of fresh walkers, ranging from a priest to choirboys to any number of young and old churchgoers.

As “Sicut Cervus’” intro reveals, this church’s congregation gathered for a solemn, ultimately final time as they discussed the end times scenario plaguing the world. The priest ruminates on how what is happening could not be the work of the God they know, but rather the evil working against him. (As much as it might be polarizing to take a lengthy dive into religion,

only briefly touch on a religious view of what’s occurring. I couldn’t help but hope there would be a longer examination of this group, though they sadly are only then transformed into walker fodder that belies an ugly truth at Thomas’ home.)

NEXT: Strand reunites with Thomas, but all is not well.

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