'Fear the Walking Dead' season 3 episode 4 review: 100 - Some qaulity time with Daniel Salazar!

In 100, we get a quieter, more measured post-apocalypse, which is heavier on mood and setting than it is on zombie action. We also get some quality time with Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades), who we know somehow escaped the massive blaze at the vineyard. He's more or less intact, except for some nasty burns on his leg. More importantly, FTWD delivers what is arguably its strongest, most effective hour to date. While I liked Nick’s long and treacherous trek to Tijuana in last season’s Grotesque there’s something different about Salazar’s journey. It somehow seems more intimate and personal. The best part of 100 is that it functions as a standalone episode with a self-contained story arc. As intriguing as the Ottos' ranch may be with its strange dynamics and black-and-white beliefs, what we get this week is a murky, morally grey area in which a new set of survivors resides. 

While I generally panic at the introduction of too many new characters, this fresh set of faces works. Daniel is a stranger in a strange land, in search of redemption. Parched and delirious, he's taken in by a group of mysterious strangers living in the remains of a battered town overrun by the dead. These locals don't seem to have much except for each other, eking out a difficult existence in the shadow of a water treatment facility that hoards its precious water. We got a glimpse of this facility in Teotwawki, and, as we know, a shrewd businessman named Dante controls it. We also know Daniel will eventually be drawn here, where he'll be reunited with Strand. But more on that encounter in a bit. 

In the meantime, Daniel gets to know Efrain (played by Jesse Borrego), who has a very unique way of dispatching zombies. He grants them absolution before driving a hammer through their heads. One gets the sense Efrain's done this many, many times before, perhaps more from a sense of duty than survival. He lives humbly, in the remains of a shuttered indoor marketplace, surrounded by salvaged junk that may or may not hold special meaning for him. He's a collector of sorts, and he adds Daniel to the cluttered hodgepodge of his abode. Here, Daniel's healed physically and emotionally, though his heart remains burdened by difficult truths. Efrain senses Daniel's inner turmoil, and does his best to draw the truth out of him. They're already friends, drawn together by unique circumstances and what seems like a mutual will to live. 

Like Daniel, one gets the sense that Efrain is grappling with his own demons. It's easy to imagine that life for him before and after the apocalypse are pretty much the same. Overall, he's a very interesting addition to the Walking Dead universe.

We also meet another newbie, Lola (Lisandra Tena), the group's de facto medic and moral compass. She works at the dam. She doesn't approve of Dante himself, but she believes her presence at the facility guarantees the water will remain untainted. This is a moral compromise for her, a necessary evil. Beyond that, we don't know too much about her yet.

As for moral compromise, the real strength of this episode turns on Daniel's loyalty to Efrain and Lola. He wants to protect them, even if it means getting his hands dirty. It's a mixed blessing that Dante knows of Daniel's past, immediately putting his skills to work in service of the dam. This is all well and good until Daniel is forced to bring his knack for torture to bear on Efrain, who Dante believes is smuggling water from the facility. Being forced to beat the very person who saved him presents a true moral dilemma for Daniel. How much more is he willing to sacrifice of himself in the name of the greater good? Is it any wonder that he so desperately wants to die, to escape his sins? 

"At the end of the world, when survival is paramount on most people's minds, to seek death is, I suppose, quite liberating. Especially in a reality where the monsters roaming the ruined countryside pale in comparison to the monsters of one's own making". That's powerful stuff. But try as he might, Daniel can't seem to end it all. So, when faced with yet another moral dilemma, this time as Dante's executioner, Daniel takes it upon himself to do right by Efrain and Lola. Maybe, for once, Daniel can finally keep tabs on those he's saved, rather than those he's killed.