‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Season 4, Episode 15 ‘I Lose People…’ Recap: The Reunion

In this week’s penultimate episode of Fear the Walking Dead, things get a bit downhill—again. “MM 54” was an awesome episode, but the fifteenth chapter, titled “I Lose People…,” made me lose my mind. Despite the grim title for the episode, it’s not actually a dark Morgan-esque premise. In fact, the much-awaited reunion came towards the end. But what made “I Lose People…” a little more bearable was the Walker action. At least we got more interaction with them in the last three weeks.

Tonight, we saw Morgan (Lennie James) thinking of ways to get June (Jenna Elfman), Luciana (Danay Garcia), Sarah (Mo Collins), and Wendell (Daryl Mitchell) out of the hospital rooftop. Al (Maggie Grace) is incommunicado, while Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) and Charlie (Alexa Nisenson) finally make their way to Strand (Colman Domingo) and John (Garret Dillahunt). It’s a reunion of all sorts, but nothing could ever make this episode worse than Martha (Tonya Pinkins), that asshole who’s way in over her head about making them “strong.”

Of course, the precautionary illogical decisions and writing are present, but I’ve learned to accept that Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 will always have shoddy writing—no matter how much they try. I don’t know, I just go through it, even though the shitty writing makes it clear that it’s the lesser Walking Dead show.

So, here’s what went down this week (try to keep your eyes open, okay?).

A sticky situation

“I Lose People…” opens with Morgan looking down from the hospital rooftop, trying to figure out how to get them all down. June tries to contact Al, but she gets no response. Sarah, Wendell, and Luci await for their next move, while Jim (Aaron Stanford) slowly succumbs to his Walker bite. June tries to ask about Morgan’s plan, to which the latter hesitates. It’s obvious that he doesn’t want to be the leader (’cause no one else can ever replace Madison, but I’m just sayin’), but June believes in what Morgan can do. She then continues radioing to Al.

Meanwhile, Strand and John see Alicia and Charlie waving at them from the other side of the alligator-infested flood. As Alicia thinks of how to get to them, June sounds off on her walkie. Alicia tells June that they’ve found John and Strand. Morgan then tells Alicia about their predicament and warns her to be careful as Martha might be listening.

Ryan Green/AMC

Alicia and Charlie leave to find a boat. John and Strand exchange place this time. Strand uses to think that there’s no point in being hopeful. Now it’s the other way around. Meanwhile, Martha consults her map in the SWAT van and prepares to leave. Her wound is also getting worse.

Finally, Alicia and Charlie conveniently find a canoe on a truck. As they retrieve it, Martha emerges, shooting them and forbidding them to help Morgan. But due to the severity of her wound, she collapses. It’s funny how Alicia tries to scream out that they can help her when it’s clear that Martha gives zero fucks about them. The old Alicia would have shot her point blank. Charlie then recognizes her as the woman on the radio.

Ryan Green/AMC

Seeing the SWAT van, Alicia uses it to drive through the flood waters to save John and Strand. This time, Strand gets to say “I told you so.” Charlie opens the back door to reveal Martha tied up inside. They proceed to drive to wherever Morgan and the gang is.

Sacrifices and guilt trips

Jim knows that he’s dying. So he gets on the rooftop and pisses on the Walkers below as a “fuck you” to them. Morgan tries to talk Jim into helping them escape despite his condition, but Jim has none of it. Sarah tries to coax Jim into giving her his beer recipe, but he also tells her to fuck off.

Morgan suggests looking for Al in the generator room. The group elevator down to that floor and see that there’s a pile of rubble blocking the hallway from the Walkers. Morgan sees a pile of Walker corpses outside the generator room, suggesting that Al made a run for it. Luci then finds a written message from Al telling them that she’d run out of batteries for her radio and to keep the videotapes somewhere safe if she dies.

Morgan’s urges the group to head back to the elevator and escape as he distracts the herd. June hesitates but is left with no other choice. Morgan returns to the roof, dragging a Walker corpse with him. He tries to ask for Jim’s help again, but he refuses. Back in the SWAT van, John radios Morgan and tells him that they’ve got Martha in custody. June responds and gives him their location, but tells them to meet them outside the hospital area.

Ryan Green/AMC

Morgan tells June and the others to get to the hospital fence while he causes a distraction. He throws the Walker corpse on a parked van to set off its alarms. The herd is drawn to the sound. Morgan tells June to leave. They reach an ambulance and hesitantly leaves Morgan and Jim behind.

Back in the van, Martha wakes up. Alicia then tells her that she’s lucky to be alive if not for Morgan’s desire to help her.

Ryan Green/AMC

Reunion Rescue

Morgan and Jim have a heart to heart conversation about turning. Jim thinks that Morgan’s desire to help stems from his guilt of bringing them there in the first place. Morgan takes it like a pro but vows to make things right. Jim then asks Morgan to kill him when he turns.

Morgan’s walkie them chimes with the rest of the group telling him them that they will help him get off the roof. In a cheesy sequence that looks straight off The Sandlot, Morgan sees everyone reunited and telling him that they will never leave him behind. They also brought along a firetruck with them.

Ryan Green/AMC

A small horde gathers around the SWAT van and the firetruck. June, Alicia, and Luci act as the defense, while Sarah, John, Strand, Wendell, and Charlie work on getting Morgan down from the roof. The ladder extends only until the floor below the roof, so Morgan tries to jump to it. He ties up a rope to help him shimmy down. Morgan tries to ask Jim to come with him, but Jim urges him to leave him. Morgan reaches the lower floor, but a Walker bursts out of the window to attack him. Luckily, John shoots the Walker.

The Walkers converge around the firetruck, and the women struggle to fight them off. Morgan jumps on the ladder as Sarah brings it down. Jim looks on, happy that Morgan was able to make it to safety. The horde becomes thicker, so everyone scrambles on top of the firetruck.

Ryan Green/AMC

Morgan thinks of clearing a path to the SWAT van in an attempt to sacrifice himself, but Jim radios into him and finally volunteers to help. He also gives Sarah his beer recipe before jumping off the roof and landing on another car to set off its alarm. The horde is drawn away by the sound.

The group runs to the SWAT van but sees that Martha has escaped. They drive down the road, and an intimate moment of silence blankets the rest of them. They then decide on what to call Jim’s beer. Wendell suggests “Jimbo’s Beerbo,” and everyone agrees. Morgan thinks Jim would’ve hated that name, but it’s all for his memory. Everyone then looks to Morgan for direction, and he offers to take all of them back to Virginia after they find Al.

Ryan Green/AMC

Meanwhile, Marthe writes weird letters on Jim’s face. He then turns, and Martha uses him as her new pet to make the others “strong too.”

‘Fear the Walking Dead: I Lose People…’ Overall Verdict

I hoped “I Lose People” would continue the okay episode that was “MM 54.” Considering that it’s the penultimate episode, you’d think that the showrunners would throw in everything they’ve got for setting up the finale. However, as much as we’d love to see more zombie action, tonight’s episode just didn’t make the cut. There are a lot of aspects that would’ve worked better for “I Lose People,” but logic and believability clearly isn’t what they wanted. Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 is a mess, and I don’t even think the finale could save it.

Fear the Walking Dead continues next Sunday, September 30th, with the Season 4 finale titled “I Lose Myself” at 9/8c. Watch the preview below: