Pillar of Salt

Pillar of Salt
Season 2, Episode 12
Air Date	September 18, 2016 AMC (United States)
Written By	Carla Ching
Directed By	Gerardo Naranjo
U.S. Viewers	3.62 million
Episode Guide
← previous	"Pablo & Jessica"
next →	"Date of Death"
Cast Guide
Starring Kim Dickens as Madison Clark Cliff Curtis as Travis Manawa** Frank Dillane as Nicholas Clark Alycia Debnam-Carey as Alicia Clark Colman Domingo as Victor Strand Mercedes Mason as Ofelia Salazar Lorenzo James Henrie as Christopher Manawa*
Also Starring Karen Bethzabe as Elena Reyes Paul Calderon as Alejandro Nuñez Ruben Carbajal as Antonio Reyes Raul Casso as Andrés Diaz Alejandro Edda as Marco Rodriguez Danay García as Luciana Galvez Ramses Jimenez as Hector Reyes Andres Londono as Oscar Diaz Patricia Reyes Spíndola as Griselda Salazar*** Brenda Strong as Ilene Stowe Ashley Zukerman as William*** * does not appear in this episode ** no lines *** flashback

"Pillar of Salt" is the twelfth episode of the second season of AMC's Fear The Walking Dead. It is the eighteenth episode of the series overall. It premiered on September 18, 2016. It was written by Carla Ching and directed by Gerardo Naranjo.

Plot

Madison lays down the law.

Synopsis

Francisco sneaks out of La Colonia with his wife, Ana, and their young daughter, Laura. Ana tells their daughter that it's no longer safe in La Colonia.

Marco spots Francisco's family on a Tijuana road. Francisco tries to hide, but it's no use. Marco demands the OxyContin he's been promised by La Colonia.

Ofelia drives to a restaurant. Inside, she kills an infected with a hammer and reminisces from a patio overlooking the ocean.

In a flashback, Ofelia dines with her boyfriend, William, at the same oceanside restaurant. William proposes to Ofelia and asks her to move to Santa Fe, where he is about to take a new job. Ofelia hesitates to leave her parents in Los Angeles but agrees to speak with her mother.

Back in the present, Ofelia studies a map then siphons gas from a car.

At the Rosarito Beach Hotel, it has been ten days since the arrival of Madison's group. United with the wedding guests, the survivors work together to secure the hotel and build a refuge; they fortify the front gate, till a new garden, fish off the pier, and power up the generator.

Alicia takes surfing lessons from Hector and talks to him about Nick. Hector reveals his own brother is lost to him as well after falling in with a Tijuana gang.

Reynaldo stops by Nick's trailer to inform Luciana that Francisco and his family snuck out of La Colonia. Reynaldo refuses to make the upcoming Oxy trade without Francisco. Nick volunteers himself and Luciana to make the trade so that the community can have water.

In Elena's room, Madison, Strand, Alicia, and Elena decide to run the generator for just a few hours a week, enough to make ice and boil water. Strand answers a knock at the door. Ilene stabs him. "You took my daughter from me," she says and runs.

Madison tends to Strand's wound in bed. Oscar brings over Andreas, a medical school student. Andreas examines Strand's wound and says he needs a suture kit, antibiotics, and erythropoietin. Elena suggests a place that might have such medicine.

Nick and Luciana inform Alejandro that Francisco left La Colonia. "No thank you, no goodbye," Alejandro says bitterly. He asks Luciana to speak with the scouts to boost morale in the wake of Francisco's departure.

Madison tells Oscar that Ilene must remain locked up indefinitely. She also declares that, going forward, anyone who harms anyone else at the hotel will be banished.

Alejandro addresses his people at the church and urges them to keep their faith in him and in the safety of their home. Afterwards, he questions Luciana's loyalty for neglecting to speak with the scouts immediately. He forbids her and Nick from doing the drug trade, despite Nick's fears that Marco will come for them if he doesn't receive his Oxy.

Madison, Elena, and Oscar get in a van to drive to El Pelícano, the supermarket run by the narcos.

On the road, Elena explains that Hector's brother, Antonio, lives with the narcos. She says Hector has never forgiven Antonio for choosing the gang over his own family.

In Nick's trailer, Luciana worries about Alejandro's mental state. Nick insists that they make the drug trade anyway, but Luciana refuses to disobey Alejandro.

Madison, Elena, and Oscar arrive at El Pelícano with a cooler. Elena tells the guards that she has something for Antonio. They allow Madison and Elena to enter.

Nick again urges Alejandro to make the drug trade. Alejandro refuses and accuses Nick of lacking faith in him.

Madison and Elena give Antonio a cooler full of fish and ice and request the medicine for Strand in exchange. Antonio asks if they can provide more ice. Elena agrees. Antonio tells them to wait. Meanwhile, they hear Marco yelling in an upstairs office.

Upstairs, Marco interrogates his captives, Francisco and Ana, about the location of La Colonia. Francisco assures Marco that someone will deliver the Oxy.

Madison and Elena overhear Marco's interrogation. Madison asks Elena to translate for her and runs upstairs when Marco describes an American with "ratty hair" who delivered drugs to them.

Desperate for news of her son, Madison barges into the office and demands the name of the ratty-haired boy. Francisco forbids Ana from answering. Marco orders them out. Antonio gives them the medicine and tells them to stay away, saying they won't be at the supermarket much longer.

In La Colonia, Nick asks Reynaldo to help him make the drug trade. Reynaldo agrees to accompany Nick that night.

Luciana talks to scouts outside Nick's trailer. She notices a look on Nick's face. He insists nothing is wrong.

At the hotel, Alicia lays a blanket over Strand and compresses his wound. She explains that she helped Nick through his detox withdrawals and says that Madison still doesn't fully see her. "Then make her," Strand suggests.

Nick surveys the area from a La Colonia rooftop. Marco, who is staked out nearby, spots Nick through binoculars.

Ofelia studies a map in her truck. She looks at her rosary beads.

In a flashback, Ofelia talks to Griselda about their family. Griselda explains that she and Daniel left El Salvador to shelter Ofelia from the violence and bloodshed and vows to do anything for Ofelia and Daniel. "That is love," she says. Ofelia takes her hand, choosing her family over William.

In the present, Ofelia kisses the rosary beads and hangs them on her rearview mirror. She drives toward the U.S.

Madison, Elena, and Oscar return to the hotel after dark. Madison runs to the generator and turns it on, lighting up the hotel sign in the hopes of signaling Nick. Alicia warns Madison that people will see the sign from all around and accuses Madison of thinking more about Nick than her, even though Nick chose to run away.

Travis stands in the hills overlooking the Rosarito Beach Hotel and spots the hotel's neon sign just before it goes out. Travis starts off on foot towards the hotel.

Other Cast

Co-Stars

• María Antonieta Zapien Romero as Laura
• Denitza García as Ana
• Alfredo Herrera as Francisco
• Cuauhtli Jiménez as Reynaldo

Uncredited

• Ryan McClurkin as Wedding Survivor

Deaths

• None

Trivia

• First appearance of Antonio Reyes.
• First appearance of Reynaldo.
• First (and last) appearance of Ana. (Alive)
• First (and last) appearance of Laura. (Alive)
• First (and last) appearance of William. (Flashback)
• Last appearance of Francisco. (Alive)
• Last appearance of Griselda Salazar. (Flashback)
• The name that Luciana calls Nick that angers him is Gringuito, loosely translates as "Little White Guy."
• The restaurant "Poco Cielo" is a functioning restaurant in Misión de San Miguel, half way between Rosarito and Ensenada.
• All but one of Ofelia's lines are during the flashback scenes. In the present, she only speaks once before driving off towards the US at the end.

Goofs

• In this episode, they get the hotel's generator running. However, there was power to use the door key cards in the previous episodes.