"Just in Case" is the sixth episode of the fourth season of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead. It is the forty-third episode of the series overall. It premiered on May 20, 2018. It was written by Richard Naing and directed by Daisy Mayer.
Plot[]
Strand wrestles with Madison's decisions; things take an unexpected turn at the Stadium.
Synopsis[]
Edgar, a Vulture, scavenges for supplies in a convenience store. John Dorie and Morgan corner Edgar outside and threaten to shoot him unless he cooperates. John blasts Edgar's finger off when Edgar tries to bolt.
Alicia, Strand, Luciana, and Althea speed toward the Vultures' next meeting spot. Alicia interrogates Al about the SWAT vehicle's firepower, but Al makes it clear that she only records events and will not participate in their fight.
John searches Edgar's pockets and finds a map to the Vultures' next meeting spot. He shows Naomi's gun to Edgar and demands to know what happened to the gun's owner. Edgar insists he joined up with the Vultures after they left the stadium. Morgan tells Edgar to warn the Vultures that some people are planning to ambush them at the meeting spot. Edgar runs off.
BEFORE
Naomi removes glass from Alicia's arm at the stadium infirmary and asks Madison if they're going out again for more supplies. Madison says they have no choice.
Nick, Luciana, and Strand consult the road atlas to find a location that might yield seeds and fertilizer. Luciana asks Strand where he found the car with food. Strand concocts a story and sees Cole glaring at him.
Strand thanks Cole for keeping his escape car a secret. Cole explains that he's merely keeping quiet because he's worried Strand might harm him if he talks.
Madison checks in with Strand and suggests they share some liquor that she found.
Madison and Strand take swigs straight out of the bottle. Strand asks Madison why she saved him after the dam explosion, despite his treachery. Madison explains that she knows Strand is a decent person. They're interrupted by the sound of a car honking.
Viv stands in the way as Naomi tries to leave the stadium in a car. Viv tells Madison that Naomi was trying to run off with one of their cars. Naomi says that she was merely driving to a location that might have seeds and fertilizer. Madison and Strand join her.
Madison, Strand and Naomi pull over at a motel and kill infected in the front office. Madison deduces that the people killed each other over some cans of baked beans. Strand finds a stash of snacks.
Over dinner, Naomi explains that she's taking Madison and Strand to an abandoned FEMA shelter. She admits that she had been planning to flee the stadium when Viv caught her but that she had intended to leave them with a map to the FEMA shelter. Strand orders her to hand over the car keys.
Madison wakes up and finds Naomi gone.
Naomi drives to the FEMA shelter after hot-wiring a car. She knocks on the front doors and attracts a herd of infected locked inside.
Madison and Strand look at the FEMA map to catch up with Naomi. Strand admits to Madison that the car with supplies had been his escape car. He warns Madison that some people, such as himself and Naomi, never change.
Naomi enters the FEMA shelter through a side entrance and goes to the pantry. She opens a locked box and retrieves a notebook containing instructions for survival. She also takes a set of keys with "JIC" written on a keychain.
Naomi enters a cafeteria and breaks into tears when she sees kids' drawings on the wall. The herd hears her and migrates from the lobby into the cafeteria. She flees to another room and finds herself surrounded by infected, some of whose faces she recognizes. She climbs to the top of scaffolding and sobs as the herd gathers below her.
Madison and Strand enter the FEMA shelter and spot Naomi on the scaffolding. Naomi tosses them the "JIC" keys and tells them there's a truck outside with supplies. Madison distracts infected while Strand strings up some rope. Naomi shimmies across the rope and escapes with Madison and Strand.
Madison, Strand, and Naomi rest in the lobby. Naomi explains that she and her daughter, Rose, had stayed at the shelter, where a woman named Ellen taught "Just in Case" survival skill classes. Naomi says that she left the shelter to find antibiotics after Rose caught pneumonia. When she returned, Rose had died, turned and infected everyone else.
Naomi takes Madison and Strand to a well-stocked "Just in Case" truck that Ellen had prepared in the event of an emergency. After putting down the reanimated Ellen and removing her body, they prepare to return to the stadium.
Strand assures Naomi that anyone can start over.
Alicia, Nick, and Luciana stride up to Mel as Madison, Strand, and Naomi return to the stadium with plants and fertilizer. Mel and the Vultures vacate the parking lot upon realizing that Madison's group will survive longer than expected. Before he goes, Mel tells Madison that people tend not to see genuinely awful events coming.
Nick surveys the agricultural supplies and predicts it will be enough to feed everyone. Madison stares at the "JIC" key chain.
Cole congratulates Strand on helping accomplish their mission.
Strand tries to talk to Madison, but she ends the conversation in a distracted mood.
Madison asks Alicia to quietly pack some supplies in the "JIC" Land Rover. "Just in case," she says.
NOW
Alicia, Strand, and Luciana wait for the Vultures at their designated meeting spot. They see a van approach.
Morgan and John get out of the van. Alicia's group forces them to their knees. Morgan explains that they warned the Vultures to stay away. A moment later, Mel and his Vultures arrive in their vehicles and face off with Alicia's group. On Mel's walkie, a woman asks where everyone is. A Land Rover pulls up, and Naomi steps out. "Laura," John says and walks toward her. Alicia shoots at Naomi but hits John when steps in the way. He falls to the ground.
Other Cast[]
Co-Stars[]
Uncredited[]
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Deaths[]
- Ellen (Confirmed Fate; Zombified, Flashback)
- Clementine (Confirmed Fate)
- June's Husband (Confirmed Fate)
- 2 unnamed Cottonwood Inn survivors (Confirmed Fate; Zombified)
- Many unnamed FEMA Shelter survivors (Confirmed Fate)
- Several unnamed FEMA Shelter survivors (Zombified)
Trivia[]
- First appearance of Edgar.
- Only appearance of Ellen. (Zombified, Flashback)
- Frank Dillane (Nicholas Clark) is reinstated in the opening credits for his flashback appearances in this episode, as well as the two that follow.
- The intro shows the sun having set behind the mountains with dark clouds having gathered to the right side of the screen while the left side sky was still light. Althea's SWAT truck appeared driving toward the dark side.
- The flashback scenes take place the week after the scenes in "Buried".
- The title of the episode, "Just in Case", refers to Naomi's friend Ellen's classes and the letters on the keychain and the box holding them: JIC or Just in Case. It also refers to Madison's subsequent orders to Alicia which are done "Just in Case" and John giving Morgan his pistols "Just in Case".
- Naomi's daughter's name is revealed to be Rose.
- Naomi is revealed to be alive in the present and a member of the Vultures.
- Naomi climbing across the rope is similar to Heath, Glenn, and Spencer doing the same to bring Andrea supplies in Issue 81.
Episode Highlights[]
TBA