‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Season 4, Episode 2 ‘Another Day in the Diamond’ Recap: A New Settlement [SPOILERS]

“Fear the Walking Dead” Season 4 is indeed a reboot of AMC’s companion series to “The Walking Dead.” We kicked things off last week with TWD’s Morgan (Lennie James) transitioning to the show and meeting our main people. The show also introduced new faces—Althea (Maggie Grace) and good-guy John (Garret Dillahunt) into the series. This week, in its second episode, titled “Another Day in the Diamond” gives us a glimpse of where Madison (Kim Dickens) and her family are following the events of the dam explosion in Season 3. Today, we fast forward to a couple of months after, where Madison is now leading a small settlement inside the massive Dell Diamond Baseball Stadium in Texas.

Another Day

“Another Day in the Diamonds” opens with the days before Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey), Strand (Colman Domingo), Lucy (Danay Garcia), and Nick (Frank Dillane) captured Morgan, Al, and John, waking up and going about their chores in their new community. Meanwhile, Madison comforts Charlie (Alexa Nisenson), a girl who somehow found her way to them after being separated from her parents. She points out where she came from—and it’s farther than the new community’s established perimeter.

Richard Foreman, Jr./AMC

The day moves along with breakfast. Alicia brings Madison some, but she refuses, heavily focused on building a small shed for Charlie below the bleachers. Alicia reminds her that they’re leaving in a few minutes to look for Charlie’s people (that is if they are still alive). Meanwhile, Nick examines his turnip crops and sees that they’re rotten. Charlie asks about their food distribution, but Nick tells her not to worry about it.

Madison and her small group plan their journey as they examine a map of their location. Viv (Rhoda Griffis) and Douglas (Kenneth Wayne Bradley) both think that it’s a risky move since it’s far from their established “safe range.” Madison, however, is confident that the information Charlie gave her is accurate. They will be safe outside the range.

Douglas distracts the massive group of Walkers outside with a small projectile, and Strand looks on as Lucy prepares their stuff for the journey. Cole (Sebastian Sozzi) asks if he could come, but Strands wants him to stay and guard the place with the others. Nick approaches Lucy to wish them luck and to make her promise that they will be back. As they drive away, Lucy says to Madison that Nick has to come with them soon. Madison agrees, but it has to be when Nick is ready. There’s too much trauma in Nick from what he went through in the Ranch and the Dam.

The Search

As Madison and the others drive out, Nick calls in to report that their crops got infested with pests. Lucy asks if they should bring back pesticides when they return until Nick’s signal cuts out of range.

They arrive in an abandoned town near Charlie’s supposed camp, and it’s eerily quiet. Not even the dead are around. Strand and Lucy look around the buildings, only to find it clear of anything useful. Alicia and Madison, on the other hand, arrive in an area of what seemed to be a former camping ground near the large oil tanks. The camp is also deserted, with most of the tents burned. They also notice a huge flag with a number painted on it (similar to the one that Al saw last week).

Richard Foreman Jr/AMC

Back in the stadium, Nick sees Charlie playing with his radio. He feels Charlie’s doubts about whether or not Madison will return with her parents or people.

Madison walks around the tankers and tries to call in how she found nothing until a woman points a gun at her and demands her car keys. Madison tries to calm her down and assure the woman that she won’t hurt her. Madison also punches a three-letter code into her radio, alerting Strand and Lucy that she’s in trouble.

The woman takes Madison’s keys and tries to run, but Alicia, Strand, and Lucy soon have her surrounded. The woman runs to one of the tanks, with Madison and Alicia coming after her. Alicia puts down her rifle to show the woman that they won’t hurt her. Madison notices that the top of the tank that they’re all standing on is becoming brittle (not to mention the speakers surrounding the hole). As the woman tries to back up, she falls into the oil tank filled with the Dead. Madison tells Alicia to open the hatch and then jumps in to save the woman. Once inside, they team up in killing the Dead swarming around them.

Richard Foreman Jr/AMC

Strand and Alicia opens the hatch, and oil, the woman, and the Dead pour out. For a slight second Alicia sees Madison seemingly turned into the Dead, but she turns out okay. That night, the woman introduces herself as Naomi (Jenna Elfman). It turns out that Naomi wasn’t a part of the original camp and has no idea which people led the Dead into the oil tanks. Lucy sees an old “The Little Prince” book and retrieves it for Charlie to read and urges everyone to leave as they threat of the Dead become closer.

The Vultures

Back in the Stadium, Nick paces with worry. Then, he hears a faint sound. It’s music coming from somewhere. He then has Charlie, Viv, and Douglas listen to it, but by the time they reach a watchtower, the sound faded. Nick believes that Madison and the others are in danger, but Douglas tells him to wait for them. Unsure about what to do, Nick has Charlie open the gate so he can find them.

Richard Foreman Jr/AMC

Nick drives a truck out, but visions of his trauma (the dam explosion) overwhelm him, and it causes Nick to crash onto a pole. The Dead surround him, but Cole shoots them one by one from a distance. As Nick runs back to the Stadium, Madison and the others arrive, taking him inside their truck and back to safety.

Madison tells Charlie that they haven’t found her parents, to which the girl shrugs off. Meanwhile, Naomi cleans up the gash on Nick’s forehead from the crash and reveals that she used to be a nurse. Madison goes to her and offers Naomi a chance to be a part of their community. Madison also tells Naomi to get a shower, something that surprised the latter.

Strand, Douglas, and Cole drive the crashed truck back to the stadium as Lucy looks out for the Dead. Suddenly, Lucy sees a large group of vehicles coming at them, so she has Cole and the others run back to the Stadium.

As Madison and the other Stadium dwellers watch the commotion outside, one of the visitors gets out of his car and bikes around the place with loud music blasting from his stereo. The man lures the Dead into a van and labels it with a numbered flag. It turns out that the random numbers on white flags that Al and Madison saw separately and the music that Nick heard a while ago came from this group of people.

Another man gets out of his vehicle and proceeds to camp around the Stadium’s gates. Madison goes to meet the man to ask what he wants. The man then reveals that he knows about Nick and his dying turnips, as well as the number of armed people in the Stadium. When Madison asks him how he knew about it, the man calls Charlie, who also turns out to be one of them—a spy sent to scout.

Richard Foreman Jr/AMC

Madison insists that Mel’s group won’t be able to take anything from them. But Mel gives her two choices—give them what they want and live (and join their group if Madison wants) or they sit and wait for them to die. Either way, the man is determined to take what they have. The man then introduces himself as Mel (Kevin Zegers). Still, Madison wouldn’t budge, believing that their way of life works. Mel has none of it and tells Madison that they will be waiting for her to change her mind.

The next day, as Mel’s men camp outside the stadium, Nick’s crops are still dying from pests. Alicia, Strand, and the others watch as Mel’s group sets up tents outside. She hears Madison still building the shed supposedly for Charlie and pitches in to help. Lucy then goes out to leave the “Little Prince” book outside Charlie’s trailer.

Now

We are then taken to when Alicia, Strand, Lucy, and Nick captured our newcomers. Lucy sees the numbered white flag with Al, but Al insists that she also doesn’t know who it came from. Morgan tells them that they’re not who they think they are. Alicia believes them and reveals Mel’s group’s name—The Vultures. Lucy then instructs Al to take them to where she found the flag, and they drive away.

Richard Foreman Jr/AMC

‘Fear the Walking Dead: Another Day in the Diamond’ Overall Verdict

Few questions remain after seeing tonight’s “Fear the Walking Dead” episode. What happened to Madison? Did the Vultures take her? Did they successfully take over the Stadium, having her as a prisoner, with Alicia and the others merely escaping? Mel’s group are one of this season’s bad guys, but it’s still unclear how they managed to overpower Madison’s camp. On the other hand, I’m pretty sure that Al, Morgan, and John could prove to be an asset for the escapees, what with Al and her truck’s ammunition. They can easily take back their camp should they want to. “Another Day in the Diamond” is a good episode that sets up the direction that the show is taking. It’s close to leveling with “The Walking Dead,” and I can’t wait to see the action that’s to come.

“Fear the Walking Dead” continues next Sunday, April 29th, with “Good Out Here” at 9/8c on AMC.