5. 1 x 05. Cobalt

Fear the Walking Dead: A Podcast

5. 1 x 05. Cobalt.
Shawn Igou joins us again as we discuss of episode 5 of Fear the Walking Dead. Bruce takes a victory lap for suggesting that Daniel Salazar had belonged to the death squads in El Salvador during the 1980s. Ok, he took several victory laps.

The gang likes this episode quite a bit. The focus again is less on the zombies themselves and primarily on the breakdown of human society. We welcome the arrival of a strong black character named Strand (played by Colman Domingo). He is a well-to-do "closer" who uses his ability to read people to manipulate them.

The army decides to stop trying to preserve its corner of civilization and switches to Operation Cobalt. Daniel Salazar reveals that he did indeed belong to the death squads in El Salvador's civil war, and he dusts off his torture skills to figure out where his wife has been taken, and to find out what Operation Cobalt is. At the end of the episode, Cpl Andrew Adams, the soldier whose arm Daniel has flayed, reveals that the army plans to abandon their enclave, killing everybody on their way out. Bruce and Stephen agree this is great TV, but worry that fans will learn the wrong lesson about torture. It hasn't been very long since watching the torture scenes in 24 influenced rulings coming from the Supreme Court.

Madison is a surprise this episode. When she learns that Daniel is torturing Andrew, she's upset. However, when Daniel asks her a couple of times if she wants to get her son Nick back from the army, and she goes along with his plan. Travis, however, is stuck in his pre-apocalypse mindset. He still sees walkers as human and is unable to shoot one even when army men place a sniper rifle in his hands. Liza starts showing her potential when she finds Griselda in the hospital, sits with her while she dies, and then uses a bolt gun on her head to keep her from turning. Meanwhile, Alicia and her step brother Chris bond through youthful hijinks. They break into the nicest house in the neighborhood, get drunk, dress up in nice clothes, and broke glass and china for fun. And are they starting to be attracted to each other? We try to figure out whether it's icky to have step-siblings falling for each other.