Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 4, “Breathe With Me,” was a good episode in some ways and frustrating in others. Once again, some plot holes and cavalier attitudes about nuclear radiation bled into what was otherwise an entertaining plotline.
This article is a Fear the Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 4 review based on watching the episode as it aired on AMC+. There will be MAJOR episode spoilers.
Sarah & Josiah Made an Entertaining Pair
I enjoyed this episode’s focus on Sarah. I feel that Mo Collins hasn’t had nearly the opportunity to shine like she should, and she truly was a saving grace for this episode. Demetrius Grosse as Emile’s twin brother, Josiah, was another welcome addition to the episode. Grosse and Collins made a compelling traveling pair whose on-screen chemistry was able to rise above the plotholes and odd dialogue that kept cropping up. I was disappointed at the end when Josiah chose to leave, as I think the show would really benefit from having him as a permanent addition. But it was still nice to watch him travel across a wasteland with Sarah and slowly re-find his humanity in the process.
The episode began with Sarah waking up in a compound called Fort San Vicente with Luciana, Daniel, Al, Charlie, and Wes. (Jacob is mentioned, but he’s not in this scene.) We’re told that the CRM helicopter crashed just outside the radiation zone and did not end up secreting them off to a CRM base like I had been hoping. 🙁 What a disappointment. Al says it landed a few miles “short” and they can’t know anything about the pilot (whom we all know was Isabelle.)
Sarah is determined to find Wendell somewhere out in this radiated wasteland. She was lucky enough to end up in a place that isn’t radiated, where she doesn’t even have to wear a mask or suit. A warhead is nearby somewhere and leaking, but overall they are in much better shape than Morgan or Strand.
Some Plotholes Left the Episode Wanting
Later, while trying to reach Wendell on the radio, Sarah ends up finding Morgan instead. And Morgan quickly tells her to let him know where she is because he is coming to her.
Wait, what?
The last we heard, Morgan and Grace and the baby were stuck in the submarine, surrounded by an irradiated landscape. They couldn’t last more than a few hours without risking heavy exposure and traveling was tough. They both also ended up with major radiation exposure, although the show is great about ignoring that. Now, somehow, Morgan can just jump in his car and go to wherever Sarah is without issue. This is leaving me a bit perplexed.
Well, Josiah picks up on the broadcast and decides that Sarah is his key to finding Morgan and enacting revenge on him for Emile’s death. The two struggle a lot, squabbling about whether his plan is good or not. He makes a deal to help Sarah find Wendell (which he somehow deeply believes he can do) if Sarah agrees to lure Morgan to him. They squabble some more and fight each other until eventually they run their car into a ditch that just happens to be right next to the leaking nuclear warhead.
Sarah is freaking out, but Josiah manages to calm her down, assuring her that his past life as a park ranger will help them. He tells her she would “feel it” if Wendell was dead, because he knew when his twin brother died. This is kind of a lame explanation, to be frank, but I’m going with my head canon that Josiah said this simply to calm Sarah down so she would help him. There’s a lot of radiation leaking from the missile so they need to get out of there fast.
Sarah and Josiah find themselves face-to-face with a huge zombie horde, thanks to their wreck attracting all the undead that are nearby. But Morgan picks up on their distress call and shows up to help. Only, he doesn’t help.
They are in the middle of a zombie attack, and Morgan and Josiah take time for a one-on-one battle. Someone please tell me why.
If I were Sarah, I would have left them BOTH at that moment and just took my chances on my own.
Sadly, Rufus dies when Josiah crazily decides to bite Morgan with his zombie brother’s head and the zombie head bites Rufus instead.
WHY DID THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN?
The only way I feel better about this at all is by reasoning that everyone, including the poor dog, is probably on their way out anyway due to radiation poisoning. I mean, somehow the entire landscape turns into irradiated fog while they’re fighting, so obviously everyone’s super exposed now. Can iodine really fix all that?
Well, Morgan reasons that Wendell must be with Victor Strand, so they all head off over there. Because of course, Morgan knows exactly how to get there and it’s easy to travel in an irradiated landscape without suits that were 100% necessary near Victor’s stronghold just a couple of episodes ago.
When they get there, Victor tells them that Wendell has a great life there, but if he leaves to visit Sarah he won’t be allowed back inside. So Sarah decides to be sacrificial and not demand to see Wendell after all. Is Victor lying about Wendell even being there? It’s possible.
In the end, for some reason, Sarah decides that her best chance at survival is in the submarine with Morgan and Grace, in the middle of a radiated landscape, instead of back at Fort San Vicente where it’s not irradiated at all, and they might be able to trek out even further to a safer place far away from the leaking missile. You might be able to argue to me that Fort San Vincente is just too dangerous because of the missile, but they should have spent more dialogue on that if it were going to be convincing.
The episode ends with a horse-drawn carriage of people who are decked out in radiation-safe clothing. This is a group we’re not familiar with, but they found the dud and insist on showing it to “Arno” himself. Who is Arno? And what role is he going to play in the future?
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