06x14 - Mother

[bunniefuu]

... and I will walk away.

- Why do you want it?

- Do it!

Dakota: I wouldn't be standing here if Alicia didn't stick her neck out for me.

Teddy: Now, you and the folks you came here with destroyed everything we have been working toward.

Years of work.

You destroyed it!

♪♪ What do you want?

To save you, Alicia.

I don't need saving.

I know you don't believe in this, [Chuckles] but you will.

- ♪♪ Reporter: Intensive care units across the country

are reaching capacity,

and hospital morgues are filling at an alarming rate.

Medical and government officials are joining forces

to try to quell what is quickly becoming an epidemic.

We are hearing report after report

of grisly att*cks in hospitals

by patients who are no longer in control of their faculties.

We are seeing sick people no longer seeking medical care

because of v*olence erupting from patients

no longer in their right minds.

♪♪

- ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪

Man: No!

No!

No!

Oh, God!

[Chuckles]

No!

No!

[Whimpering]

Come on!

Let's go!

[Grunts]

Don't be afraid, George.

Don't be afraid.

Remember, the end is the beginning.

You're about to be given a new life.

You actually believe all the bullshit you spew, Maddox?

Get it all out.

You'll be walking this walk soon enough.

[Door opens]

[Door closes]

♪♪ [Chuckles]

♪♪ Oh.

[Spoon clatters]

Ah.

[Alarm blaring, doors clanging]

[Indistinct shouting]

[Growling]

[Shouting continues]

[Screaming in distance]

Man: Guards!

Guards!

Open the door!

Man # : Hey!

Stop!

[Alarm continues]

[Walkers growling]

[Man groans in distance]

Aah!

Aah!

Aah!

[Screaming, shouting in distance]

♪♪ [Growling]

[Whimpers]

♪♪ [Grunts]

[Grunts]

[Growling stops]

[Alarm continues]

♪♪ I was right.

I was right.

I just needed to be patient.

[Man groaning]

It's not bullshit, Hayes.

It's revelation.

[Groans]

Oh, God.

[Screaming]

♪♪ ♪♪ Teddy: You have been here before.

You have lived this moment before.

We don't want to believe that, do we?

We don't want to accept the circularity.

But believe me when I tell you, my friends, we are in a loop.

You have been here before.

You have lived this moment before.

We don't want to believe that, do we?

You have been here before.

You have lived this moment before.

[Echoing]

... before.

We are in a loop.

We are in a loop.

... in a loop.

... in a loop.

... in a loop.

[Door opens]

This world wears its ugliness on its sleeve.

It has told us who it is.

Are you ready to accept his word?

Accept the pattern.

Or break it.

We can break it.

- [Scoffs]

- We must break it,

or we're doomed to repeat it.

You have been here before.

You have lived this moment before.

[Door opens]

We don't want to believe that, do we?

This world wears its ugliness on its sleeve.

It has told us who it is.

- And it leaves us with a choice.

- [Sighs]

Accept the pattern.

- Or break it.

- Or break it.

We can break it.

We must break it, or we're doomed to repeat it.

[Birds chirping]

[Door opens]

[Door creaks]

You stopped sending your errand boy.

You stopped eating your beans.

[Door creaks]

[Chuckles]

This wasn't my preferred method of induction for you, you know.

Locking me up like a prisoner?

I was locked up myself once.

Oh, I thought it was the end of the road for me.

[Chuckles]

Turns out, it was just the opposite.

I'd hoped that, uh, it would yield the same revelation for you.

Sorry to disappoint.

Oh, but I-I do bring good news.

We've found our new home.

The others are packing up to head there as we speak.

Oh, this place has served its purpose, but we needed, eh, something safer, sturdier, somewhere we could, uh, truly begin again.

You know?

Now, before we take our first steps together, Alicia, I need some assurances from you that you are, um...

[Chuckles]

I don't know, dedicated, committed to what we're doing here.

Well, you're not gonna get them.

What am I gonna get from you?

I don't know.

Something you probably won't like.

- [Chuckles]

- [g*n cocks]

Riley: We're wasting our time with her.

- Riley.

- She's never gonna see the truth.

- Riley.

- Let's end this right here.

Let's leave her behind.

No.

No.

She's coming with me.

Surprising what you pick up on death row, huh?

[Groans]

♪♪ Where are you taking her?

[Gas can clatters]

I have a personal matter to attend to.

I want her to accompany me.

Why her?

I would like to get to know her a bit better, Riley.

I have a feeling she is going to be critical for our new beginning.

Don't question me about her again.

[Vehicle approaches]

[Brakes squeal]

[Chuckles]

Who are they?

New recruits we picked up on our scouts.

Welcome, welcome.

You all are gonna see our new home, huh?

Dakota?

Alicia?

Teddy: She a friend of yours?

It's not the word I'd use.

She k*lled someone I knew.

Why?

Something that had to be done.

Have you come to us alone?

No family?

She actually tried to k*ll her mother.

Did you succeed?

I didn't.

Someone else did.

[Chuckles]

A woman after my own heart.

You hop in.

You're coming with us.

I'm not going anywhere with her.

I'm afraid you're not at liberty to make that call.

If you're smart, you wouldn't bring her.

You shouldn't go with either of them.

Yeah, I'll be fine.

Alright, alright, alright.

Now, if I don't show up by tomorrow, you know what to do.

Now, come on.

Let's go see what we got, huh?

Listen, Alicia, this isn't what it looks like.

It wasn't the last time, either.

This is different.

I went looking for you in the city.

I followed them on all their scouting missions as best as I could, hoping that you'd be on one of them, but you weren't, so I got in with them, told them I wanted to join.

I came here to help you.

I don't want your help.

I don't need your help.

I left after I heard what happened underground.

Alicia, it's getting really bad.

Morgan tried to bring everyone together to try and figure out how to b*at these people,

- but I think it's getting worse.

- I'm not listening to you.

I want to make up for what I did.

I need to, Alicia.

Whether you believe me or not.

I heard them talking about the place they're going, that it's stocked with so many supplies that they wouldn't even have to step outside for years.

We can k*ll him.

He is scary as hell, but he's old.

We could do it.

You know, he's stupid for not believing who we are.

There is no we here.

There never will be.

Just stay out of my way.

You want to know what he's up to, where it is that he's going, why he's got those keys on his necklace.

So, what are you gonna do?

[Keys jingling]

Teddy: Shall we?

[Chuckles]

Alright.

[Truck door squeaks]

[Scoffs]

This isn't gonna work.

What isn't?

Bringing me out here is not gonna break me.

- I don't understand.

- Oh, cut the sh*t.

I know you listened to all the recordings Riley made.

Somebody told you about the stadium?

Who was it?

Luciana?

- What, the stadium?

- The place I used to live.

Oh, with your mother.

The place where you told me she... she grew the crops?

Oh, you expect me to believe this is just all a coincidence?

There are no coincidences.

The universe sends us signs, and it's up to us to interpret them.

Dakota: Like what?

Well, I don't think it's an accident you're here, Sioux.

- Sioux?

- Sioux Falls.

It's my favorite city in the Dakotas.

But your arrival, or the timing of it, I...

it's for a reason.

And what's that?

Well, these things tend to reveal themselves.

[Scraping]

Yeah.

Can you give me a hand?

Yeah.

Oh.

Oh.

Oh.

[Lid creaks]

Oh.

Oh.

Hello, Mother.

Mother?

How did she die?

She was taken way before her time.

No, but that doesn't mean that she can't be part of our new beginnings.

♪♪ When we're finished, all this...

will be gone.

♪♪ This is why you brought us out here?

To dig up your mother's corpse?

Look, all three of us have lost mothers, and I wanted both of you to help me accompany mine back to our new home.

Dakota: Why?

God, I wanted to break these patterns for such a long time.

I told my mother I was gonna do it and wound up in a prison cell condemned to death.

I thought I'd just...

failed.

Every night, in my... in my cell, I-I looked at this.

Disgusted with myself for what I'd done.

I thought I got it wrong.

It was all for nothing.

But then I realized I wasn't wrong.

I just needed to be patient.

And then...

it happened.

What happened?

The world changed, and with it...

[Chuckles] my freedom, and a chance to reshape the world into everything I believed it could be, where I could preserve everything I... loved and destroy everything I didn't.

You think you can do all that with a pair of keys?

[Chuckles]

What do they unlock?

Oh.

Our future.

You're really starting to sound like my mom.

[Tires screech]

W...

Mother!

Oh!

Oh, God!

Oh, my God!

Mother.

Oh.

Mother.

It'll be alright.

Would you please come here and help me get her back onto the truck?

Please.

Right.

Okay.

Alright.

There we go.

[Smooches]

- Teddy.

- It's okay.

What?

[Walkers growling]

- Oh.

- Don't.

You'll draw more.

♪♪ Take that.

♪♪ A-ha.

♪♪ [g*nsh*t]

[g*nsh*t]

[g*nsh*t]

[Body thuds, g*n cocks]

♪♪ Cole?

Alicia?

Is that you?

I was gonna ask you the same question.

♪♪ Who the hell is that?

An old friend.

What kind of old friend?

Her mom...

is the only reason I ain't one of these skinbags.

Your mother, huh?

How's that for a sign?

♪♪ [Birds chirping]

Riley, are you there?

We are in need of some roadside assistance.

Riley, do you copy?

Uh...

I'm gonna see if I fare any better...

up the road a bit.

Come on.

I can't believe it's you.

[Chuckles]

You been on the... the road?

Yeah.

Long time, Alicia.

We spent weeks looking for you all.

When we didn't find you, well, we just thought you must've d*ed in the fire, too.

Wait, "we"?

Doug.

Viv.

Bunch of us from the stadium are still around thanks to your mom, what she did.

[Chuckles]

How's your brother?

I'm sorry.

Luciana, she's still alive.

Victor, too.

Where are they?

Luci lives at the same place I do.

Victor...

went his own way.

He always does.

What you doing out this way, Alicia?

You must've come from far.

All this gas you're carrying.

You don't see much of that these days.

Teddy's been stocking up on some supplies for a while.

Who is he?

What's his deal?

I'm still trying to figure it out.

Teddy: No signal.

I don't suppose you know where we could, uh, find a new car, do you?

There's an old auto parts shop nearby.

But I wouldn't go there on your own.

It's not safe around here.

Seen these before.

How they set them for people passing through.

"They"?

Unsavory types.

Take whatever they want.

I was out on a food run, I ran into a bunch of them.

Been trying to get back to my people ever since.

A lot of the dead you see around here, they k*lled them, left them looking like Swiss cheese.

After they took what they wanted.

I'll get you where you need to go.

I know which roads to take.

- You don't need to do that.

- I believe he does.

Lead the way.

I am gonna need, uh, your g*n, though.

I'm not handing anything to you.

Alright.

Hand it to her, then.

[Chuckles]

I'm beginning to trust you.

I just want to make sure we can trust him.

♪♪ ♪♪

It's alright.

♪♪ ♪♪

[Growling]

[Grunts]

How long were you locked up?

Mm, almost years.

What did you do to get in there?

Mm, I k*lled some people who got in my way, people who didn't see the world the way I did.

My mom locked me up.

Did everything she could to get me away from people.

[Chuckles]

Did you know any of them?

A few.

Did you feel bad k*lling them?

Do I detect some guilt over your own acts of malice, Sioux?

I only k*lled people I had to.

So, you knew them, then?

One of them more than the others.

You know, for a bit, he was kinda starting to become like family.

Did you feel bad about what you did to him?

No.

Didn't really give me much of a choice.

But when I tell people that, they look at me like they're scared.

But from what I can tell, that's just how things are now.

Oh, but people... yeah, you don't frighten people.

I mean, they're frightened by what you're saying 'cause they know it's the truth.

And you're right.

It is the way of things now.

[Chuckles]

Cole: This is it.

You got my g*n.

- We could take him out.

- No, I can't.

Not until I know what he's doing.

But if he's gone, doesn't seem like there'll be much to worry about.

He's got a group.

If he doesn't do it, they will.

Any idea what "it" is?

No, I don't know, but it's gotta be something big.

He and his followers have been setting up a place, a bunker, with enough food to last for years.

You know, you could join us.

After you find out whatever you need to.

Me, Doug, Viv, and the others, we got it pretty good where we're at.

Cole, I can't.

I've been looking for a way to pay back the favor for what Madison did for me.

Maybe running into you... maybe this is it.

Maybe I finally found it.

[Metal clinking]

[Box rustles, thuds]

Is there a problem?

You remind of her.

Who?

[Inhales sharply]

Mother.

My mother.

Have you decided yet what you're gonna do?

You gonna join us underground?

No, 'cause you're wrong.

[Clattering]

Hands up.

♪♪ Cole?

Those unsavory types?

I'm one of 'em.

♪♪ You can take them off now.

♪♪ - Alicia: Viv?

- Sorry, Alicia.

Doug?

- Are you kidding me?

- No.

- [g*n cocks]

- We're not.

♪♪ Teddy: After her mother saved your lives?

Cole: Yeah, well...

maybe she should've let us die.

♪♪ Cole: Wasn't lying when I said I got att*cked.

We all did.

We're the only ones who didn't get shotgun shells to the gut.

When?

When?

About a week after the fire at the stadium.

What happened?

We were looking for a place to hole up, to regroup so we could come looking for you, and Nick, and Victor and Luciana.

Went into a motel off , and there were some people in there waiting for us.

They k*lled most of us.

Who's left?

You're looking at us.

So, you've decided to do the same thing to whoever else crosses your path?

Teddy: This is what I've been trying to get you to understand, Alicia.

The patterns of the universe.

It's because of people like you, Cole, [Chuckles] that the world needs to be destroyed.

Hey.

We ain't proud of living like this, but it's all we can do.

We had another way.

Cole: And you know how that ended.

We tried to find you, to do something more than just look out for ourselves.

Then, well, most of us were gone.

So, we found this way, and we're still standing.

You became the people we were always fighting off.

There's always bad people out there waiting to make things go south.

That is, south for you, not for them.

You know how we can fix it, Alicia?

Getting rid of them.

[Laughs]

- [g*ns cock]

- That seems hard to do when you're on this end of my shotgun.

[Laughs]

Keep walking, Gramps.

[Indistinct conversation]

Hey, Alicia.

I didn't come over here to rub salt in your wounds, but, uh...

I know what you're thinking right now.

Oh, I highly doubt that.

Eh, you're thinking your... your mother d*ed for something, and all the people she saved are somewhere out there living meaningful lives.

But most of them are dead, and the ones that aren't are living like bottom feeders.

This is what you want.

Well, I don't want to see you in pain.

But you don't understand.

We're both after the same thing, for you to fulfill your potential.

The more I learn about you, the more confident I am that you are the person I've been looking for.

- You're delusional.

- I...

[Chuckles]

But...

But you don't know what it is I'm setting out to do.

No, I have no idea.

I've been trying to figure that out for weeks...

and I have no clue.

No one does.

So, just tell me.

When you're ready.

Cole: Hey.

Now, what is it about g*ns pointed at you makes you think you can take a break?

We gotta move.

Take the truck.

Take whatever you want in it.

We'll walk out of here and never both you again.

Right?

Mm, I don't make promises I can't keep.

Cole: No, we tried playing nice once.

And the assholes we robbed, they came back and nearly k*lled us.

But this place you're headed...

man, it sounds really nice.

So, you won't mind telling us exactly where it is.

There's gotta be a map.

Oh, no, you're not gonna find anything in there.

[Truck door opens]

It's in there, huh?

'Cause I'd be more than happy to open that up for you.

- Cole...

- Why are you protecting this assh*le?

Where is this place you're going?

Teddy.

It's okay, Sioux.

It's okay.

Doug: We've been here way too long, Cole.

All this noise...

it'll bring more dead.

Forget him, Cole.

We've got a truck.

We've got gas.

We've got food.

That's more than we had this morning.

Nah, this place he's hiding... it's stocked with supplies.

He's got water, he's got power.

We'll be safe there.

We could live there.

- Where is it?

- Go on.

k*ll me.

Return me to the earth.

I will live on, and, uh, someone else will finish what I started.

I know how to get you to talk.

Move.

Move!

I saw how upset you were when her body went flying.

Teddy.

[g*nsh*t]

- What the hell?!

- I'll blow her damn head off!

- Go on.

- What kind of a psycho are you?

Eh, you're the one who's sh**ting shotgun shells into a corpse.

[g*nsh*t]

[g*n cocks]

[Shell clatters]

- I'm sorry.

- Oh, don't be.

That's not my mother.

Wait.

What did you say?

My mother's buried on the family farm outside Grapevine.

♪♪ - So, you lied to us?

- No.

I showed you the truth.

But you were right, Alicia.

I confess.

Our journey here was not a coincidence.

I was, uh, hoping to find, um, proof that all the people that your mother saved were dead, but I didn't suspect that I was gonna find a living one, which, uh, proves my point even more.

♪♪ Cole: Fix the tires.

We'll take the truck.

♪♪ Hey.

I'm sorry, Alicia.

I really am.

I know what your mother did for us.

So, I'm gonna do something I normally wouldn't.

Come with us.

I can't.

I have...

I have to find out what they're doing.

Why?

Because people will die if I don't.

Who?

Victor?

Then why isn't he out here looking for you?

That truck, that gas, we can get the hell out of here.

[Truck door opens]

We drive smart, we can get halfway across the county, far away from whatever he's doing.

And you know Victor would be doing the same thing.

♪♪ I gotta warn you, Alicia, you don't take me up on this, we got no choice but to k*ll you, too.

[Chuckles]

Well, I guess that makes my decision a little easier.

♪♪ You can go to hell.

[g*n cocks]

On your knees.

Now.

♪♪ I'll make it fast.

♪♪ [Birds chirping]

One more chance, old man...

where are you going?

♪♪ Alright.

Doug?

Viv?

It's okay.

Everything I planned will proceed even without us being present.

Are you really going to do this?

I gave you your out, Alicia.

We'll put you down.

Bury you.

Oh, thank you.

You two...

Well, you two can be a warning to others.

♪♪ [Walkers growling]

♪♪ Get it over with.

We're about to have visitors.

Viv?

Doug?

Look at me.

We can work this out.

It doesn't have to be like this.

Nah, we've heard that too many times.

I'm sorry, Alicia.

I really am.

Oh, they don't know what we know.

Hey, Cole.

k*lling people you know can be very difficult if you're weak.

Good thing we don't know you.

[g*n cocks]

[g*nsh*t]

- [Growling continues]

- Move.

♪♪ [Groaning]

[Screaming]

Viv.

Viv.

♪♪ - Teddy: You okay?

- Yeah, you?

[Chuckles]

I'm gonna miss this.

[Growling continues]

♪♪ - Don't.

- I'll sh**t you, Alicia.

- k*ll him!

- Wait.

Wait.

sh**t him.

Do it!

[Walker growling]

♪♪ ♪♪ She d*ed so you could have a chance.

Alicia, I know you don't want to get rid of your mother, but...

Shut up!

I'm not talking to you!

♪♪ You were supposed to make it mean something.

And you threw it all away.

♪♪ Maybe it's time you listened to your friend.

♪♪ Maybe it's time you just let go...

[g*nsh*t]

♪♪ ♪♪ You know, you're wrong.

You don't have to destroy everything to make it better.

♪♪ Just people like him.

♪♪ [Growling]

[Walker growling]

Dakota: See?

It's not as hard as you think.

For you.

No, not just for me.

It's just how the world is working now.

That...

That's what I tried to explain to John.

I just...

I wish he'd seen it the same way we do.

I told you there is no "we".

I didn't want to k*ll him.

I had to do it.

I want to believe in something better.

Like your mom did?

[Sighs]

I never had that.

No one ever gave me anything to believe in.

That's not true.

I tried.

And you threw it away, just like they did.

[Footsteps approach]

Teddy: I'm so proud of you, Alicia.

You let go of your past.

[Laughs]

You...

You...

You aren't afraid to change.

That doesn't mean I'm about to fall in line behind you.

You're not afraid to question me.

You really do remind me of Mother.

Did she think you were a nutjob, too?

When I was at mortuary school, when I was trying to figure out how I could change things, mother found my journals and read them.

She saw the part where I wrote about why we needed to end everything.

She thought I was sick.

No, no.

"Disturbed" was the word she used.

She threatened to call the county social services and have me committed.

"That'll put an end to your sick thoughts", she said.

Yeah.

[Chuckles]

"Give you a new beginning".

Oh, she never knew how right she was.

I take it you didn't listen to her.

I k*lled her.

Buried her in the backyard.

I waited all fall and winter, worried that s-somebody was gonna find her body.

And then, when spring rolled around, oh, the strangest thing happened.

The most beautiful morning glories sprouted and bloomed right over her body.

That's when I realized it wasn't enough just to change things.

That was the first part.

What we needed was a new beginning.

A world where people like Mother could thrive, free from the patterns of our broken world.

♪♪ How do you plan to destroy it all?

[Chuckles]

Well...

you certainly have earned the truth today.

That key will launch a m*ssile from a beached submarine washed ashore in Galveston.

That should do the job, don't you think?

♪♪ I think...

♪♪ ... that Cole isn't the only person we need to get rid of to make things better.

♪♪ [g*n cocks, shell clatters]

You're gonna have to get rid of me, too.

♪♪ ♪♪ What happened to making things right?

I've been waiting a long time to get a fresh start.

Thought it was gonna be with you and Morgan, but looks like it's gonna have to be with him.

- What a surprise.

- I will sh**t you!

No, no, it's okay, Sioux.

I mean, she's not gonna stop what we're doing, and I want her alive.

♪♪ Morgan, do you copy?

Is anyone there?

Does anyone hear me?

Hello?

Strand: Alicia?

Victor?

Yes, it's Victor.

Are you okay?

- [Vehicle approaches]

- Can I trust you?

Of course.

What's wrong?

♪♪ You need to get to Morgan.

Tell him I know what the keys are, what they're for.

He needs to find a beached submarine near Galveston.

Dakota: Don't worry.

It's just Victor.

He'll be getting himself as far away from here as possible.

[g*n cocks]

- No!

I know.

- She would've k*lled you.

That's what I was hoping she would do because it means you are the right person for what's to come.

♪♪ ♪♪ [Chuckles softly]

♪♪ ♪♪ [Brakes squeal]

♪♪ ♪♪ [Engine starts]

Back in the s, Uncle Sam built a bunker beneath this resort for, uh, government officials to wait out the, uh, inevitable destruction that was coming.

It was long forgotten, 'til Riley found mention of it in a newspaper article about the hotel's bankruptcy.

I...

Uncle Sam was smart about what was coming, just not about when.

[Chuckles]

What's it like, Riley, hmm?

It's better than The Holding ever was.

Oh, God.

Well, I suppose I should thank you for burning our other place down.

Do they know?

Your followers?

Oh, they just think they're going to live in a very well-stocked new home.

[Chuckles]

Everybody inside?

We're ready.

You...

You wait here, Sioux.

I want...

I want to show this to Alicia myself, okay?

It's alright.

There's nothing to worry about.

Oh, I wanted to get to know you today, and I'm glad I did because now I know you're the one to finish what I started.

I'm not finishing anything.

[Door opens]

The beginning is the end.

I'm the ending, so I can't be the beginning, but you can.

What the hell makes you think that?

Because you can do what needs to be done without losing sight of the one thing that's gonna be in short supply once this is all over.

What's that?

♪♪ Hope.

♪♪ [Door creaks]

I told them what you're dong, and they're gonna stop you!

♪♪ I know this is hard to accept, Alicia, but this is what's happening.

You are going to rebuild the world from in there.

You and I are very much alike.

I was way ahead of my time living in a world I was ill-suited for.

But while I was inside, the world changed into a world that was perfectly suited for me.

That's exactly what's gonna happen...

with you inside.

♪♪ Good luck, Alicia.

♪♪ You lock me in here, I'm not gonna make the world the way you want it to be!

♪♪ I know.

That's what I'm counting on.

♪♪ [Panting]

♪♪ On the next episode of Fear the Walking Dead...

Things are just about to get started.

[Walker growling]

♪♪ Does everyone know that they're gonna die?

♪♪ So, you ready to do this?

♪♪ Teddy: How we lookin', Riley?

Two minutes.

[Welder crackling]

[Key clicks, buzzer]

♪♪ ♪♪ Hello.

Oh.

Hello, Mother.

This episode is called "Mother", and as we start to get into the episode, the title's meaning, you know, bears out pretty... pretty quickly.

It's about Teddy's relationship with his own mother, which we find out has a lot of unusual twists and textures to it as it goes on.

And on the flip side of that, Madison looms really large in this episode, but it's also a test of Madison's philosophy, so it's really about how much of Alicia's mother and how much of Teddy's mother inform the people they've become.

We're seeing sick people no longer seeking medical care

because of v*olence erupting from patients

no longer in their right minds.

♪♪ I think the clippings mean something different to...

to Teddy than they do to Dorie Sr..

I think for Dorie Sr., those clips haunt him and they're a reminder of what he did in order to put Teddy away.

As we see now, Teddy's still out there and it's a failure of John Dorie Sr.'s, whereas Teddy, I think, puts them up there like a point of pride.

These were his... his steps towards trying to bring about The End is the Beginning.

Remember, the end is the beginning.

You're about to be given a new life.

It's almost like the case from the ' s is playing out all over again, and, you know, the question is whether...

whether it's going to meet the same ending as it did in the ' s, or if this time, Dorie Sr.'s going to be able to stop him.

[Chuckles]

There's sparks of connection between them from the very moment when Dakota gets off the bus and Teddy learns that Dakota tried to k*ll her mother and then did k*ll John Dorie.

Why?

Something that had to be done.

A woman after my own heart.

You hop in.

You're coming with it.

Right then and there, Teddy sees a kindred spirit.

From Dakota's perspective, she's somebody who we've seen has been looking for a fresh start, to get out from under Virginia's thumb, since the beginning of the season.

But your arrival... or the timing of it...

it's for a reason.

And what's that?

Well, these things tend to reveal themselves.

Teddy is sort of seeing her and accepting her for exactly who she is, and ultimately, that's why we later see that she chooses him over Alicia.

[Snarling, g*nsh*t]

[Walkers snarling, g*nshots]

♪♪ Cole?

I think Alicia is kind of blown away by the fact that Cole survived the stadium, and she sees it as a complete repudiation of everything Teddy is talking about.

Her mom is the only reason I ain't one of these skinbags.

Your mother, huh?

How's that for a sign?

I think her initial gut reaction to seeing Cole alive is, "This is a sign from the universe that the world is a good place and it doesn't need to be destroyed, it needs to be protected".

Teddy's been stocking up on some supplies for a while.

Who is he?

What's his deal?

I'm still trying to figure it out.

I think Alicia is someone who stands by her convictions...

she knows what she believes in and she's willing to die for it.

She's not going to give over to Teddy's way of thinking, and yes, she is fearless.

Before we take our first steps together, Alicia, I need some assurances that you are, um, committed to what we're doing here.

Well, you're not gonna get them.

She's a strong leader that just keeps getting stronger.

You know, we're going to see that trajectory just continue for her, even as she meets quite a big setback.

[Door slams, g*ns cocking]

Cole: Hands up.

♪♪ Cole?

It is just a complete sullying of Madison's legacy, and, yeah, that hits Alicia really hard, but she's able to bounce back from it and realize it's a little bit more complex than that...

that yes, maybe these people didn't continue to carry the banner of what Madison wanted, but that doesn't mean that she can't carry it forward or find something new within herself...

She d*ed so you could have a chance.

... that still pays tribute to Madison, but is something wholly new and unique to Alicia.

Well, I wanted to get to know you today, and I'm glad I did, because now I know you're the one to finish what I started.

I'm not finishing anything.

We've certainly put Alicia in a very tight spot here.

The way Teddy frames it to her is "this is a reward".

He is locking her away so that she'll survive and be the new beginning.

[Door creaks]

[Locks clacking]

By locking her away, everyone else she cares about is gonna die, and the last thing she wants is to be a pawn in this twisted game... this twisted vision of what Teddy wants the future to be.

You lock me in here, I'm not gonna make the world the way you want it to be!

♪♪ I know. That's what I'm counting on.

We're going to have to see, as we go into next season, whether she ends up doing what Teddy asked her to do or whether she forges a path entirely her own.

♪♪ ♪♪

♪♪ ♪♪