The Beginning
Written by Ian Goldberg & Andrew Chambliss
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Everyone desperately scrambles to live out the coming destruction on their own terms.
Tropes:
- Big Damn Heroes: Isabella arrives in a CRM Helicopter to escort Daniel and his group to safety.
- Bittersweet Ending: The warheads go off, but the group sans Dakota manages to find shelter in time, some of them even being evacuated by the CRM. Their home is devastated, though, with no doubt more radiation around than those left behind are capable of dealing with.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Teddy dies, but the warheads go off, leaving much of Texas devastated, and the group is scattered.
- Character Death:
- Rachel is forced to kill herself so that her walker form can get Mo to safety, with Morgan putting her down.
- Teddy is shot and killed by Dakota once she realizes he doesn't actually care for her.
- Dakota dies in the nuclear blast.
- Riley is shot by Charlie and dies of his injuries.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Rachel is forced to kill herself, being too injured to get Mo to safety on foot, but knowing as a walker she can carry Mo somewhere safe.
- Devastated by Teddy's betrayal, and feeling there's no place for her in this world, Dakota calmly waits for the end instead of taking shelter.
- Morgan and Grace ultimately decide to take their own lives, since Grace convinces him that trying to eke out a living in a nuclear disaster worse than Chernobyl won't be worth living. It's also out of her lingering depression from having lost Athena and wanting to be with her. However, they stop themselves when they learn of Mo's arrival. Morgan seems eager for the chance to take her in, but Grace isn't.
- Face Death with Dignity: Most of the cast tries to do this as Morgan advises. Dwight and Sherry initially try to have a last drink and enjoy their time together before they get their chance at survival; Morgan and Grace profess their love for each other before preparing to kill themselves until Mo arrives; and Strand enjoys one last afternoon of drinks, art, and music with Howard before they too survive.
- Karmic Jackpot: Helping the Larson family fend off some of the cult results Dwight and Sherry being welcomed into their bunker, saving them from death.
- Last Episode, New Character: Howard and the family Dwight and Sherry take shelter with.
- Never My Fault: Out of guilt at his own actions, Strand introduces himself to Howard as "Morgan Jones", the one who didn't screw things up and stop them from stopping Teddy. However, when he survives the ensuing blast, Strand is reinvigorated and declares he was right all along, playing this trope straight.
- "No More Holding Back" Speech: Strand's monologue at the end of his story in this episode is this, declaring that his self-preservation tactics were right all along and that he's just going to embrace his dark side.
- Party Scattering: The cast's reactions to the nukes being launched was to scatter like cockroaches. The various groups consist of Morgan, Grace, and Mo; the Dorie's; Dwight and Sherry; Strand who joins up with Howard; and Daniel, Luciana, Jacob, Wes, Charlie, Sarah, Isabella and by extension Al.
- Real After All: Since Daniel's been hearing things, his group is skeptical that the coordinates he heard were real, only deciding to go there when their other plan is revealed to be a trap to kill them. When they get there, it at fist appears to be just that, but then Charlie hears a helicopter...
- The Voiceless: Isabelle remains silent during the rescue, and when Sarah tries to ask her anything she just holds up a walkie talking so that Althea can speak to them, in line with The Civic Republic's code of secrecy.
"It feels like the dawning of a new day to me. How about you?"
