Cobalt
Directed by Kari Skogland
At the military's command post/medical facility, a man in a suit speaks to Doug Thompson about their current circumstances while inside a cellblock.
Doug was detained after attempting to escape the safezone, and the man talking to him, Strand, goads him for leaving his family in the care of the soldiers when he attempted to flee. He tells Doug that a better man will be able to help his wife survive. Doug loses it, and starts laughing and crying at the revelation before soldiers arrive and drag him out.
After Doug is hauled away, Strand asks who the other person in the cell is, looking down at... Nick.
At the front gate of the safezone, Ofelia throws bottles towards the soldiers. She calls them out on taking her mother and acting overzealous. When a sergeant attempts to detain her, Corporal Adams intervenes and defuses the situation by entering and calming her down. At that moment, a Corporal sees what's happening and refuses to continue, storming off in anger. Moyers sends a man to deal with the errant soldier before he leaves.
Inside the Clark household, Travis comes to the breakfast table and tells Madison that he's going to talk to Moyers about what happened the night before. When Chris appears and rails at her for keeping him out of the conversation, Travis pulls him aside and tells him to hold it together. Chris has a momentary breakdown over his mother leaving with the soldiers, and leaves in anger after being told to apologize to Madison.
At the medical facility, Liza is stitching a patient's wound. Exner appears and tells her she's doing good work. She then says that there are limited medical staff due to the outbreak, and that she came at a good time. When she asks how Griselda and Nick are, Exner tells her that the former's foot was amputated due to the injury, and the latter is doing fine.
Madison goes up to Alicia's room to make the bed and finds Susan's suicide letter. She goes to Susan's house and searches for her. In the basement, she finds Daniel, Ofelia and Alicia holding Corporal Adams captive. Madison asks what's going on, and Daniel tells her that this is the way to get Nick and Griselda back.
Adams attempts to defend his actions, but Madison calls him and the soldiers out for invading their home and taking Nick and Griselda. Upstairs, Ofelia and Daniel tell her that their plan is to "trade" Adams for the two missing family members. Madison tells them it's a foolish idea, but Daniel reveals that he has no intention of trading the soldier. He tells her that he wants to find out what the soldiers are doing and "how much time" the community has left before he walks off.
Outside, Travis confronts Moyers about his soldiers' actions the night before. When Moyers asks if he's threatening him, Travis indicates that he doesn't want others in the community to rise up in response to the military's actions, and that bringing Nick and Griselda home would pacify everyone. In response, Moyers offers to bring him to the command center to see them.
On the way out, Travis sees Moyers berate a soldier who complains about his men not getting enough sleep and losing squadmates...
In the basement, Daniel tells Adams not to blame his daughter for what he's about to do. He reveals that despite her request to not hurt him, he lied. He tells Adams that he was once an interrogator for the military-led government in his previous home, and gets to work setting out a set of knives.
The military truck drives towards the command center. Travis talks with one of the soldiers, Castro, about his family before they spot a walker. The group exits and sees a lone walker moving in the distance. Moyers attempts to get Travis to shoot her. He acquisces and aims a sniper rifle they set out for him. Through the scope, he sees that the walker is a woman named Kimberly who worked as a waitress. Despite his best attempt, he can't bring himself to shoot her and steps away. Moyers tells him he isn't surprised, and shoots the walker himself before they continue on.
Soon after, the truck receives a distress call from another unit who is taking heavy losses at a library. As they drive up, Castro tells Travis to stay in the truck before he, Moyers and the others exit and head inside. Travis worringly listens to the sound of the fighting on the truck's CB system.
In the basement, Daniel has flayed Adams' arm, and continues to press him for information while explaining that they're not so different. He asks Adams what the "Cobalt Protocol" is.
Chris is sitting on the hood of a car when Alicia rides up on a bike and says she wants to show him something. They go to a nearby house and she tells him that the occupants were rich people who left as soon as things got bad. She says she wants to have fun for a while, and they both dress up in a fancy suit and gown before trashing the house while laughing.
At the medical center, soldiers arrive and take Strand and Nick's temperature. Nick is shown to be running a high fever, and a pair of guards go to haul him out. At that moment, Strand makes a deal with the commanding officer, Melvin, to let Nick stay in exchange for his cuff links. Melvin reluctantly accepts and tosses Nick back in, then tells Strand it's his responsibility if Nick turns.
Nick asks why Strand saved him. In a low voice, Strand lays out his philosophy - that the "old rules" are back in effect, and anything goes. He tells him that because he's a heroin addict, he's a survivor. Strand says that the soldiers are leaving, and that he'll need Nick's help to escape. He reveals that he has a key to the cell.
Travis sees the soldiers fleeing the library and tossing a grenade to slow the walkers down. When Castro gets back in the vehicle, Travis asks him where Moyers went. He reveals that Moyers is dead, and then tells him that they'll drop him home before Castro leaves to find his family in San Diego.
Madison goes back home to find Ofelia storming out in tears and Daniel looking on. He tells her about his work as an interrogator. She accepts his explanation and asks if Adams revealed what he knows. Travis arrives back home, and Daniel brings them downstairs to Adams, who reveals that the Cobalt Protocol is an evacuation order - all of the military will evacuate the city at 9 AM the next morning before the populace is "humanely euthanized". She is aghast at the revelation.
After helping a group of soldiers, Liza begins exploring the medical facility and finds Griselda in the basement, missing a foot and near-death. Exner appears and asks Liza to trust her, before revealing that anyone who dies reanimates, and that severe brain trauma is the only way to kill them for good.
Soon after, Griselda begins rambling about the nightmares she had when she was younger regarding the disappeared people from her previous home. As she goes on about how she feels damned because of her actions in life, Exner tells Liza that Griselda is suffering from septic shock and will die soon, and that the doctors use a captive bolt gun to humanely dispatch the bodies before they reanimate. Griselda suffers a brain hemorrhage and passes away.
When Exner goes to use the bolt gun, Liza takes it out of her hands and performs what's necessary herself...
Daniel sneaks out that night and goes to an arena Adams told him about, which was locked after the soldiers couldn't tell the difference between the infected and non-infected. Walkers bang on the chained doors as Daniel stares at it in shock...
Tropes:
- Actually Pretty Funny: Doug starts laughing after he realizes the absurdity of his situation.
- All There in the Manual: The online Story Sync supplement on the AMC website indicates that Moyers may have been killed by Friendly Fire inside the library.
- Awesomeness by Analysis: Liza figures out that a soldier has a collapsed lung after a few seconds of looking at him.
- Badass in a Nice Suit: Strand, who understands what's happening with the outbreak and conscripts Nick to help him break out of the facility.
- Battle Discretion Shot: The fight between Moyers' unit and the infected in the library is mostly heard from Travis' perspective, as he listens to the truck's radio. The ending of the battle (Castro and the others fleeing and tossing a grenade to stall the walkers) is the only part shown.
- Boom, Headshot!: Moyers delivers one to the zombie Kimberly.
- Call-Back:
- The discovery of Susan's suicide letter is what drives Madison to search for Alicia in the former's house.
- Doug Thompson also appears, having been hauled off to parts unknown in the previous episode.
- Character Death: Moyers and Griselda.
- Children Are Innocent: Daniel talks about his daughter in this way.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Daniel tortures Adams while talking about how a "steady hand" is needed for someone who's an interrogator.
- Friendly Enemy: Moyers makes a show of characterizing his men as "kids" for Travis' benefit.
- Friendly Fire: Implied. When Castro exits the library, he's intentionally vague when talking about what happened to Moyers. Supplemental material hints that Moyers was killed/left behind by his own unit because of his callousness towards them.
- Functional Addict: Strand characterizes Nick in this way, telling him he's a heroin addict - the "gold standard". He later tells Nick that he needs the latter's help because he's a survivor.
- Hidden Depths: Daniel shows that he has a... disturbing amount of knowledge about enhanced interrogation techniques, including awareness of the muscle layers in a person's arms, because he was an interrogator for the military-led government.
- The Idealist: Madison still believes that the soldiers aren't capable of abducting civilians, but Daniel soon sets her straight after he interrogates Adams and learns about the Cobalt Protocol.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Daniel defends his work as an interrgator for the Salvadoran dictatorship in this way, telling Madison it was "necessary" to survive, and that it continues to be necessary.
- I Lied: Daniel tells Adams that he won't keep his daughter's promise to not hurt him.
- Laser-Guided Karma: Moyers' men include Cpl. Cole, a sergeant he made an example of earlier, and Sgt. Castro (who Moyers insulted because he was concerned about the safety of his men). Considering Castro's dismissive comments about Moyers after the botched library assault, it's clear that the soldiers either left him behind or killed him themselves.
- Ms. Fanservice: Alicia, once again showing off her legs and then walking around in a backless dress while playing dress-up at a neighbor's house. Even Christopher is flustered when he sees her.
- The Needs of the Many: Exner has this philosophy, telling Liza that she's trying to save 600,000 people instead of the six the latter is attempting to treat.
- Not So Stoic: Despite his bravado, Moyers shows signs of cracking under pressure, as he momentarily goes off on a fellow soldier who tells him that the men haven't had sleep in two days.
- Oh, Crap!:
- Adams, once he realizes that Daniel is going to torture him.
- The whole family gets this once they realize the army is evacuating in advance of a napalming of the city.
- P.O.V. Cam: Momentarily, when Griselda has a brain hemorrhage and dies.
- Precision F-Strike: Strand tells Doug to "man the fuck up" at the beginning of the episode.
- Sanity Slippage:
- Doug shows traces of it when Strand confronts him with the knowledge that he's just left his family to a horrible fate, and hopes there will be a man who can look after them better than he did. The realization causes Doug to break down in equal parts laughter and tears.
- Most of the soldiers are on the verge of a nervous breakdown. They have been patrolling and clearing out buildings for days with little or no sleep, lost many friends and seen some horrific things. Worse, they know that they are losing the fight against the infected and there is no hope of success.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here:
- After Moyers and a group of soldiers attempt to attack an infested building, Sgt. Castro runs out with PVC Richards and says that he's going back to San Diego to find his family.
- "Cobalt" Protocol: evacuate after "humanely" eliminating the civilian population.
- Ship Tease: Between Alicia and Chris.
- Snake Oil Salesman: Strand hints that he's this.Strand: I... am a closer. I can sell anything, everything. Ask anyone... except insurance.
- Title Drop: During the scene where Travis rides with Moyers and the soldiers, a voice on the radio can be heard mentioning the "Cobalt Protocol". Later on, Daniel learns that it's an evacuation order in advance of the napalming of Los Angeles the next day.
- Torture Technician: Daniel reveals he became this during the Salvador Civil War when he was kidnapped by the government. He didn't do it because of sadism or ideology, just what he had to do to survive.
- Trash the Set: Chris and Alicia destroy a neighbor's house after realizing that no one else will be coming back there.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Doug is nowhere to be seen after he's hauled off by the soldiers at the beginning of the episode.
- What the Hell, Hero?:
- Madison calls out Daniel and Ofelia for their plan to "trade" a soldier for Nick and Griselda. Later subverted when Daniel reveals that he lied.
- Madison and Travis gives Daniel this response when he comes home and sees the interrogation.
