Everybody hates Chris! That is the feeling at the moment all over the internet. In episode 206, ‘Sicut Cervus’, we find out why! It seems as though our young friend, has a problem. Well maybe, many problems!
We are taken to church in this episode. Literally. What appears to be a sweet little congregation in Mexico, is not all that. The old priest preaches about how God is not testing them, but it is Evil itself that wants to shake their faith. As the people take their Communion wafers, I felt like I was back in church,(way back when). Alter boys and singing in the choir, but then, What The Hell? (forgive me Father I have sinned), gun toting, ax wielding, bats and clubs. People start bleeding from their eyes! Where the heck are we and why? Thomas shows up, just when things get hairy. Spouting of to the priest , he implores him not to do this, “fighting death with death”. The parishioners starts falling, they are dying, and Thomas is in the middle of it all. The priest tells Thomas, “it was Celia”.
Back on the yacht, Chris and Travis are talking about what happened with Reed. Chris is saying he didn’t do anything (liar), and Travis goes on to say that Madison told him Redd wasn’t infected. This puts Maddie in a bad light with Chris, and you know that isn’t gonna end well. This kid is on the verge of being psycho anyway.
Trouble brews as 2 military guys approach. Strand and Luis only know one of them. They are here to collect payment for entrance to Mexico. Strand tells all the others to hide until he can straighten everything out. Daniel overhears them talking and translates. The military guys are not buying it. They want to search the boat. Gunfire erupts as all hell breaks out on deck. When the boat starts up, they go above to check it out. The 2 military are dead and Luis is shot and dying on the deck. Things went south real fast. Daniel dispatches the 2 and goes to Luis, who is still breathing. He asks Ofelia to give his mother an owl coin. Nick won’t let Daniel knife Luis, and what becomes of him after is not known. Daniel throws the coin overboard.
When they finally reach shore, it is a long walk. When they come upon the church, Strand is desperate to find Thomas. The hoard of infected parishioners approach the group and it’s everybody on deck. Killing begins! Even alter boys and kids are killed (again). Daniel freezes as he is about to kill an alter boy. His memory flashes back to when he was a child in similar circumstances. An infected man tackles Maddie and she is struggling for her life. Chris witnesses all of this and DOES NOTHING! Alicia can’t believe what she has just seen! She saves her mother,while Chris stares on.
When they get to the mansion, it is all that Strand promised, wine orchard, workers in the field, and servants, all enclosed in a safe walled villa. They are greeted by Celia, Luis’ mother. Strand tells her about Luis. Their weapons are all taken away for security. Strand finds Thomas, sick, and dying. He has been bit. Strand puts him to bed and doesn’t leave his side.
Alicia is really pissed at Chris! She knows that something is not right with him and says so. He pleads with her not to tell anyone. He more or less threatens her, saying “I don’t want to hurt anyone”. Of course she goes and tells her mother (tattletale)
Nick has a little mama moment with Celia. You can see that he is having some sort of emotional moment. Almost in tears, he tells her, ‘he is a bit sick of all the killing’. She tries to tell him that the dead have always been there, but now they can see them. Maddie walks in and doesn’t like what has transpired. She thinks Nick is fragile. (Get your head out of your ass Madison)! Nick is most capable than anyone in this world ! Geesh! Then there is the odd little moment between Daniel and Celia. He offers hiss condolences for Luis, but she doesn’t seem worried about it. Luis wasn’t shot in the head so everything if dine. Oh Crap! What is with this woman? She is one strange duck!
Madison brings food and drink to Victor and Thomas. She can see how bad he is and is concerned. Thomas makes her promise to take care of Strand after he is gone. Daniel is shown to be suffering some kind of faith loss. He is clearly missing his wife and doesn’t want to eat. He looks disheartened and frail. Ofelia is very worried. I know that he is not, but he has been through something like this before in his past. I hope that we get to see more of his story soon.
After hearing what Alicia had to say about Chris, Madison is on the warpath. She is steamed as she tells Travis that he must do something about his son. He doesn’t believe that Chris has threatened Alicia. He tells Maddie he was always there to help with Nick and now he needs her to help with Chris. This is obviously a splitting point between the two, and she marches off to sleep in Alicia’s room, while he goes to Chris.
Victor really does love Thomas. They talk about staying together always, and Strand is ready to die with Thomas. They mention that Celia will watch over them. Meanwhile, while on a walk around the grounds, Daniel sees a young boy, throwing a dog down a shoot. What the hell? Ofelia and Nick are also outside. She wants to go to the little prayer cove and talk to her mother. Nick sits and listens, until the carved owl in the tree catches his eye. He stares and wonders and has a flashback, recalling the start of all of this, the infected at the drug house, the bodies, him running away.
When Daniel follows the little boy, he finds him in the basement talking to someone. he asks the little boy. The boy is speaking to his mama. When Daniel asks to meet her, the boy obliges him. Inside a large cage, are very hungry infected, and the boy’s mother is clearly one! Immediately after seeing this, Daniel goes to see Celia. he confronts her and she admits. They are family and had to be protected. WTF! Are you kidding me? This babe is nuts! he sees 2 wafers on the plate. This is what she used to kill the all the parish. She tells him, “You need to make peace with your dead, old man. What are you afraid of?”
Celia is washing and singing to Thomas. She has brought the 2 wafers to him and Victor. Strand is going to do it!
Celia and Nick talk. He is having some sort of crisis in faith and belief. She would not be the one that I would talk to! She tells him that the infected are not really dead, that they are what comes next. OMG! Really?
Thomas id dead. Strand is crying. Victor gets the gun, puts a pillow over Thomas and shoots him in the head. Will he do it? Will he go the way of the wafer?
Chris wakes up. He quietly goes out of the room. He gets to Alicia’s room and opens the door. He calls out her name, then he sees a knife on the table. He picks it up! There is a gunshot. Madison wakes to find him standing there! She screams for him to get out. He runs away.
Strand is shown dropping the gun. He walks past the wafers, and leaves the room.
EW has a pretty good write up about this episode of Fear, and they asked Fear showrunner Dave Erickson for answers. It will explain some things. You can read that here.
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