"Blue Jay" is the second episode of the eighth season of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead. It is the one-hundred and third episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 21, 2023. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Ian Goldberg and directed by Heather Cappiello.[1]
Plot[]
After fleeing PADRE, June's safety and solitude is threatened by an unwelcomed reunion and a desperate father's search for his missing daughter.
Synopsis[]
In her hideout near PADRE, June prepares her medical supplies and a tranquilizer rifle and puts up signs warning anyone coming to "turn back or PADRE will take your children," "PADRE is a lie turn back," and "collection route ahead stay away." As June wanders, she puts down a passing walker and notices that someone has added to one of her signs "they took my daughter please help." Over the radio, a woman and a man called Warbler discuss the man being ten minutes out while the woman has a lead on an egg, another child that PADRE can kidnap, noting that it might be a whole nest. Watching a PADRE boat approaching in the nearby waterway through her binoculars, June shoots both of the occupants with her tranquilizer rifle as they go to beach the boat. June slices off the index finger of Warbler and his companion and cauterizes the stumps before she shoves the boat back into the water.
Returning to her hideout, June adds the guns that she stole from the two Collectors to an already impressive hidden arsenal of stolen guns. June puts the severed finger in a jar of similar severed fingers as Warbler wakes up and calls in the attack over the radio as his companion screams in the background. The woman chides Warbler for not being ready for the attack as June has been at it for years. Warbler angrily states that he's going to cut off both of June's hands in revenge when he finds her.
Returning to the shore, June finds another one of her signs altered asking who she is and where they can find her. June nervously looks around for the person responsible, staring in particular at a nearby sign for the Coastal Railroad Museum, before PADRE 3 calls in about a successful rescue. Moving on, June ambushes the guards on their way to PADRE 3 and cuts off their fingers as well.
As June adds the fingers to her collection, a man enters her hideout asking to talk and June holds him at gunpoint. The man admits that he followed June and that he's the one who's been writing on June's signs, introducing himself as Adrian. June angrily refuses to help Adrian who explains that he needs her help to find his daughter Hannah who was taken from him nearby by Collectors years before. Although June insists that she doesn't know his daughter, Adrian knows that she knows PADRE from June's signs and her jar full of severed fingers and he believes that she can help him. June orders Adrian to get out, stating that she doesn't want to get to know him or anyone else anymore. Adrian realizes that PADRE did something to June and asks if they took her kid or made June take kids for them.
Refusing to give up despite June's order to leave and not come back, Adrian shows June a picture of Hannah that was taken five years ago when she was seven. Adrian reveals that he and Hannah have matching bracelets that she had made for them both. Softening her tone but refusing to give in, June orders him to leave again, but Adrian leaves the picture and promises to return every day, revealing that there are a lot of like-minded people who would help June with what she is doing. The group that Adrian is a part of is forming an army to take on PADRE which June could be a part of. Moving closer, she threatens to kill Adrian if he ever returns, but Adrian knows that she's just trying to scare him off and asks why. June sadly offers Adrian a piece of advice "if PADRE has had your daughter this long, you're not getting her back," adding that PADRE uses the people you care about the most against you when Adrian asks her why. Adrian refuses to give up regardless of June's warning and states that she can either kill him or help him. June forces Adrian out of her hideout, but Adrian reiterates that he's not giving up, his people know who June is now and they will be back. As Adrian leaves, June stares sadly at the picture of Hannah that he left behind.
That night, after finally pulling herself together, June begins packing up her belongings to leave due to her hideout being compromised. The next day, June tranquilizes three people in a passing PADRE boat. However, one falls overboard and drowns, forcing June to stab him in the head to keep him from reanimating after checking the man's pulse. As June goes to cut off the fingers of the other two, she notices that one's face is scarred and is shocked to discover that they're actually Dwight and Sherry. Armed with June's tranquilizer rifle, a young boy confronts her, and June apologizes as she didn't know that there were kids onboard. The boy explains that he hid under the tarp when June shot the adults and takes Sherry's radio to call the attack in, revealing his name to be Finch. Finch reports that June killed Whistler while Red Kite and Starling have only been knocked out. As Finch goes to report their location, June grabs the gun and the radio from him, but the gun goes off in the process, puncturing the rubber hull of the boat.
Finch sits down, holding his side in obvious pain, as Dwight and Sherry regain consciousness and recognize their old friend. Finch explains that June had shot them with the darts and was trying to steal the boat while Sherry is shocked that June is the one who has been cutting people's fingers off. Dwight takes June's kit from her and questions her actions while Finch is confused by the use of Dwight's real name and that June used to work for PADRE. However, June refuses to answer their questions. Stating that they don't have time for another boat, Dwight asks June for help, revealing that they think that Finch has appendicitis and he needs surgery. June tells Dwight and Sherry to take the boy to the clinic, but Sherry states that they were doing that when June ambushed them.
Over the radio, a man reports to Finch that they've sent a patrol out and Finch tells Dwight to tell PADRE where they are. As Sherry tends to the boy, Dwight refuses, telling him that June will do the surgery as she was a nurse. June refuses, ordering them to go to the clinic where someone can help them, but Sherry points out that the clinic is 20 miles away and Finch's appendix could burst by the time that they arrive on foot. However, June doesn't have what she needs in her kit to do an appendectomy. Dwight threatens to tell Padre who has been cutting off all of his Collectors' fingers if she doesn't, but June just wants to leave as it's not safe for her here. With Finch experiencing more pain, Sherry has him move away so that June and Dwight can talk to each other alone and Dwight hands the boy an oar with a sharpened handle, reminding Finch how he taught the boy to aim for the eyes if he encounters any walkers.
Left alone, June questions why the couple is forcing her to do this while they want to know why they have to force her to help them in the first place and what happened to her. Sherry offers June a deal: do the surgery and she and Dwight will get June a boat and she can go wherever she wants and Dwight and Sherry will keep her secret. Looking at Finch, June finally puts the pieces together. "That's your kid, isn't it? The one you were pregnant with when they found us on the rafts." Their reaction confirms June's suspicion and Sherry admits that June's right, explaining that Padre doesn't know that Dwight's the father. Dwight now teaches all of the kids combat training while Sherry works in the nursery and Finch has no idea that they're his parents. Although Padre would never let her spend time with her own kid, Sherry got in the boat by lying and getting herself reassigned. Dwight and Sherry have been following Padre's rules and, as a result, they haven't spent time together in years. The couple wanted to make sure that their son will be alright before taking Finch back with no one ever knowing what they did. Sympathetic, June finally agrees to do the surgery, admitting that she knows a place. However, she will not answer their questions and they must hold up their end of the deal and get her a boat which they promise to do.
That night, June leads Dwight, Sherry, and Finch to an abandoned lab set up in a train at the Coastal Railroad Museum. All of the equipment is covered in dust, there are notes on radiation safety and a severed walker head is mounted on an extension device. Dwight and Sherry are skeptical of the lab's safety, but June simply puts down the head and states that it's safe now. June powers up the lab and preps Finch for surgery as his parents reassure Finch and joke with him. As Sherry retrieves supplies for June, she notices an open file documenting experiments upon bite victims that were performed on the train with at least 78 trials. The notes one particular patient talks about increased aggression, biting off his own tongue, seizures, loss of hair and teeth, paralysis and eventually death and turning into a walker while the pictures show the bite marks, hair loss and lesions forming on his back near the bite mark. Calling June and Dwight over, Sherry demands answers from her and although June reiterates her refusal to answer any questions, both Dwight and Sherry refuse to proceed without her giving them something.
Adrian enters the train and holds the three at gunpoint, mistaking their intentions with Finch and, believing Dwight and Sherry to be Collectors, demanding answers from them about Hannah. Dwight and Sherry offer to help Adrian and Dwight tells the desperate father that PADRE hasn't lost a kid yet and, as the person who trains them to protect themselves, Dwight might be able to tell him something if Adrian can tell Dwight what his daughter looks like. A man calls Adrian for his location and Dwight takes advantage of the distraction to disarm him. However, the gun goes off in the process, knocking out power to the train and drawing in a nearby herd. As Sherry tends to a worsening Finch, Dwight smashes Adrian's radio as Adrian warns him that there a lot of people in Adrian's group and they will do anything to keep PADRE from hurting anymore kids. Dwight angrily explains that they brought Finch here to save his life while June reveals that the control panel has been hit and she can't do the surgery without power. Dwight agrees to hit an emergency override located at the back of the train to restore power while Sherry covers Adrian.
June stops Dwight from passing through the train itself to get to the back, revealing that it's full of the undead. June finally reveals that she used to work there and that it was an off-the-books operation as Padre didn't want anyone to know about it. Shrike was performing experiments to try to find a way to stop the infection from the walker bites. Although it's supposedly impossible, Shrike thought that it could be done, and her idea was to use radiation which is slow, painful and worse than dying from the bites. Shrike tried to force June to administer treatment, but June refused so she ran. As Finch cries out in increasing agony, Sherry states that they have no choice but to get the back of the train and they can't go around with the herd outside. However, Dwight comes up with the idea of climbing over the roof of the train instead.
June holds Adrian at gunpoint as Dwight and Sherry go to hit the override and he apologizes for his actions. June reminds Adrian that she had warned him away, but Adrian is glad that he didn't listen as he wouldn't have seen the lab otherwise which has shown Adrian that June knows even more about PADRE than she let on before. June insists that she can't help Adrian, but Adrian thinks that she just won't and informs June that her attacks are barely even slowing PADRE down, let alone stopping them. Adrian urges June to do something by helping him find his daughter or by getting Finch out before Dwight and Sherry come back and take Finch back to PADRE. June again refuses and Adrian points out that she's afraid and reminds June that she had told him that PADRE uses the people that you care about against you, and you can't run away from that. Adrian is truly sorry for whatever PADRE did to her, but June if lets that stop her from getting close to people again, he wonders what June is living for. Dwight and Sherry succeed in restoring the power before she can answer him and June warns Dwight that, while Finch is still asleep, the medication won't last for much longer.
Dwight and Sherry begin making their way back across the train, but Sherry admits that, having been reunited with her husband and son, she's having trouble returning to the way that things used to be. Dwight wants to make the most of the short time that they have left, but Sherry suggests that they do something different. Although Dwight and Sherry had agreed to play by Padre's rules when they were brought in because they thought that it was safer for their son, everything that they've seen now makes it feel more like the Sanctuary to her, which Dwight agrees with. Sherry wants to use June's knowledge of Padre's collecting routes and all of the places that he would look to leave. Once they find a place to go, Dwight and Sherry can find a way to let everyone inside know the truth about PADRE. Dwight is hesitant, but Sherry believes that they can be a family together, having seen Dwight's potential as a father during his earlier interactions with Finch. Dwight finally agrees and the couple kisses.
However, the train's roof gives way and Dwight and Sherry fall into a car full of walkers. Dwight uses his last bullets to shoot five of them as he and Sherry climb to safety on top of a shelf. Dwight reports their predicament to June and refuses her help as it's too dangerous with the number of walkers in the car. Dwight tells June that Finch needs her more and begs June to promise him that she will look after Finch if Dwight and Sherry don't survive. After looking at Finch, June decides to go and help instead against the objections of both Dwight and Adrian. June tells Adrian that Dwight and Sherry need to survive for Finch, but Adrian accuses her of only being afraid of being left to raise Finch. June warns Adrian not to follow her and moves deeper into the train.
June slowly passes through a car full of severed walker heads in jars and more walkers chained to the walls, the lab's test subjects. An emotional June apologizes to the walkers as makes her through the car. June struggles with the padlock on the door at the other end as the walkers become agitated and begin straining against their bonds. Six walkers break free and June shoots three of them before being knocked to the ground, losing her gun in the process. As June struggles to hold back the last three walkers, Adrian appears and puts them down with a knife, saving her life. Adrian wryly notes that it's a good thing that he didn't listen to her and that they're a lot alike. The only difference is that Adrian still has someone to live for while June needs to find hers. Adrian reminds June that there are more people like them and together, they can take down PADRE. However, June again refuses to help Adrian, but Adrian tells her that he's not doing this for himself, he's doing it for Hannah. Adrian is going to find her with or without June's help and when he does, Adrian wants Hannah to see that her father isn't the man PADRE says he is.
Having woken up, Finch insists upon coming with them over June's objections, having been taught how to handle walkers by Dwight. With Adrian's agreement, June reluctantly concedes. In the car where Dwight and Sherry are trapped, June shoots three of the walkers trying to reach the couple while Finch puts down a fourth with his oar, which Dwight praises, as June and Adrian finish off the last two. Finch is excited to tell Padre how he fought the walkers, but Dwight and Sherry explain that they're not going back to PADRE as they want what's best for him, which is not on the island, confusing the boy. Dwight finally reveals the truth that they're Finch's parents and Sherry promises that they will figure it out as a family. Finch doubles over in pain and June begins leading the family back to the operating room.
As the others begin to leave, Adrian notices a walker in the window to the next car and, in despair, recognizes it as his daughter Hannah. Adrian furiously attacks June, realizing that she knew all along and that that's why June wouldn't tell him. June finally admits the truth: she treated Hannah for asthma when she first came to PADRE, and she was just a scared kid who missed her dad. Hannah reminded June of her own daughter Rose and June wanted to take care of her and make her feel safe. June thought that she was until Hannah went on a scouting run off of the island and got bitten on her back where June couldn't amputate, but she had to do something to save her. To the shock of everyone, June reveals that the treatment wasn't Shrike's, it was June's. June explains that "I saw someone survive a bite longer than anyone I had ever seen, and she had been exposed to radiation, so I thought if it worked for her, it could work for Hannah. I gave her radiotherapy with equipment that we scavenged from a hospital. It stopped the infection. But the amount of radiation that it took... just made things worse for her and I wanted to end her suffering." However, Shrike wouldn't let June do it as she wanted to let Hannah turn so that Shrike could continue studying her and see how long it took for her to turn. Adrian accuses June of letting Shrike do it, but June tearfully explains that she didn't have a choice: Shrike held a gun on her and told June that as long as her finger was on the trigger, June had to keep the experiments going or other people would pay the price. This whole place happened because June tried to save someone that she cares about, and PADRE made sure that other people suffered as a result so June took Shrike's trigger finger to make sure that she couldn't do to anyone else what she did to June. June knew that PADRE couldn't do the experiments without her, meaning that as long as June stayed away from the lab and other people, no one else she cared about could get hurt.
Releasing June, Adrian tearfully tells her that Hannah is all that he had left, and he understands now why she wanted to be alone. As everyone watches, Adrian makes his way to the next car and holds his hand against the window for a moment before going inside. June tries to stop Adrian as Dwight and Sherry shield their son from the view. Adrian embraces Hannah and lays down on the ground, allowing Hannah and three other walkers to devour him.
In the operating room, June finishes stitching up Finch after successfully removing his appendix. June reports that Finch is stable, and he should be awake soon. Dwight promises to uphold his end of the deal and arrange for a boat for June, but when it arrives, he and Sherry want them all to get on it together. June reminds Dwight that they agreed that she would leave alone, but Sherry tells her that things have changed, and she and Dwight want to take their son away from this place when he wakes up with Dwight adding that they're going to try and be a family. Dwight and Sherry consider June to be family and they know what happened to her and they understand why June left and has been out here on her own, but they can't let her end up like Adrian: someone who doesn't have anybody to live for. Dwight wouldn't be here if it wasn't for June and John and he has a family because of that and Dwight wants June to be a part of it if she wants to be. June tearfully agrees, noting that Adrian had saved her so that she could find someone to live for. First though, June needs to go put Hannah and Adrian to rest as they have both suffered enough already.
However, armed PADRE guards and Shrike enter through both doors to the train, having presumably either led the herd outside away or eliminated it. Greeting June as Blue Jay, Shrike has one of her men knock June unconscious. June wakes up laying on a table and, showing June her missing left index finger, Shrike explains that they had figured that June was responsible when Collectors had started showing up on the island missing their trigger fingers as no one else could be that precise. After hearing that a transport got hit with a kid who needed surgery onboard, Shrike knew they'd come to the lab. Dwight demands to know what's going on and Shrike guesses that June told them what the lab used to be and how much promise it had. Sherry accuses Shrike of murdering people, but Shrike insists that they never killed anyone. Rather, this place was about saving lives and protecting PADRE's future. Shrike points out that Dwight was the one who lied to Padre about what he was doing that day, but Dwight argues that he brought Finch here to keep him safe from people like Shrike.
Shrike insists that "no one wants these children safe more than Padre. That is why this place is so important. What we were doing here could've protected these children from carrion. Can you imagine? But Blue Jay ran off before she could perfect the cure." June points out that whoever they tried it on died, but Shrike has faith that June will get it right this time. Shrike reveals that Padre has something big and expansive planned and he wants the children to be as safe as possible and June has to pick up where she left off. June refuses, but Shrike states that she just needs a little motivation. As one of the guards moves June, another one carries in Adrian's severed zombified head. As Dwight and Sherry angrily protest and plead, the guard attaches the head to the extension device and Shrike uses it to have Adrian bite the still unconscious Finch in the left shoulder. Dwight swears that he's going to kill Shrike, but she smugly states that she and June are the only ones who can save Finch's life. Shrike has a sobbing Sherry and Dwight, who is still spewing death threats at her, dragged away. Shrike instructs June to get to work, stating that she has a lot to catch up on and they have new patients on their way at this very moment. First, in order to make sure that June can never hurt PADRE ever again, Shrike cuts off her trigger finger.
In the back of a PADRE transport truck on a muddy road, Madison asks Morgan where they're being taken, but Morgan has no idea. Madison demands to know why Morgan thinks that he can't be the person that Mo needs him to be, wanting to know what happened that is holding Morgan back. Morgan hesitates to answer, so Madison points out that they might not be alive long enough for her to pass judgement on him. Morgan finally admits that "I've been... thinking about a thing I did. Actually, a thing I didn't do. A long time ago." However, Morgan refuses to tell Madison what it is as he claims that it doesn't matter. Madison asks if Morgan can fix it, but he states that he can't fix the worst of it, although Morgan acknowledges that some of it might be able to be fixed. Madison demands to know why Morgan isn't fixing it so that he can move forward to be the person that Mo needs. With a laugh, Morgan points out that he's not exactly in a situation where he can call the shots.
Madison suddenly descends into a coughing fit and Morgan yells for the driver to pull over since Madison can't breathe. The guards stop the truck and rush to the back to tend to Madison. One roughly helps Madison to her feet while the other orders his companion to get her an oxygen tank. Having faked the fit, Madison grabs the guard and rushes them both out of the truck into the man outside. Struggling with the guards, Madison yells "Morgan, go! Go! Do what you need to do!" Morgan races off into the trees, escaping as Madison holds the PADRE guards off for him.
Other Cast[]
Uncredited[]
Deaths[]
- Whistler
- Hannah (Alive, Confirmed Fate)
- Adrian (Alive)
- Dozens of unnamed PADRE test subjects (Alive, Confirmed Fate; 17 Zombified)
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Finch.
- Only appearance of Warbler.
- Only appearance of Adrian.
- Only appearance of Whistler.
- Only appearance of Hannah.
- The title of the episode, "Blue Jay", refers to June's PADRE code name and the fact that this episode is centered around June.
- This is the second episode to be named after one of June's aliases, after "Laura".
- This episode was made available for streaming to subscribers of AMC Premiere on May 18, 2023.
- Despite several PADRE guards having speaking lines, they were not credited. It is likely they were credited as stunt performers for the episode instead.
- Despite not physically appearing in this episode, Daniel's voice can be heard on Adrian's radio.
- Sherry compares PADRE to the Sanctuary.
- June reveals that Alicia's survival from her walker bite in Season 7 was due to her being exposed to high levels of radiation in "Still Standing" when she had put down a radioactive walker and had gotten splashed by its blood in the process.
- It's revealed that massive amounts of radiation can stop the active infection of the Wildfire Virus, although the levels themselves are fatal to the victims. This potential cure also does not stop the person from turning when they die, just the infection from the walker bites.
Episode Highlights[]
- June is revealed to be on the run and turning people away from PADRE and has gone back to her old ideology of not wanting to be around people out of fear of them being harmed.
- Dwight and Sherry are revealed to be working at PADRE and have a son, who goes by the PADRE name of Finch. They ask June to operate on Finch as he is suffering from appendicitis.
- June is also revealed to have been working on a cure to the Wildfire Virus, partly because of being forced to by Shrike but also after being inspired by Alicia's long survival of the infection due to her radiation levels.
- June reluctantly agrees to help a survivor named Adrian find his daughter Hannah, but Hannah is revealed to have turned after being treated by June. This causes Adrian to commit suicide by letting his daughter devour him.
- Shrike forces Adrian's zombified head to bite Finch in the shoulder, much to the devastation of Dwight and Sherry.