Episode Title: Do Not Disturb
Original Airdate: 9-4-16
A gripping opening continued into a really good episode this week. When Strand, Madison, Alicia and Ofelia walked through the deserted hotel last week, they came upon an abandoned wedding reception in the ballroom. This week we got to see the wedding from hell, as the father of the bride died of a heart attack, reanimated and bit into his daughter’s face. The real kicker came when hotel manager, Elena locked all the wedding guests in the ballroom to contain the situation. That’s just cold.
As Alicia plans to escape the Infected hallways upstairs of the hotel, she meets Elena, who believes Alicia is helping some of the surviving guests that are holding her nephew, Hector, hostage. They want Elena’s keys to the hotel, because whoever has the keys controls the “maze” of the hotel. Alicia promises to help Elena get Hector back, if Elena helps Alicia get back to the bar to help Madison and Strand. The two eventually make it, but the bar is overrun with Infected, with no sign of Madison or Strand. The hostile guests show up with Hector, demanding the keys. Alicia opens the door to the bar, unleashing the Infected on them, and she makes a run for it with Elena and Hector. In what appears to be the bowels of the hotel, they come to a locked door and a dead end, with the Infected bearing down, but Madison opens to the door just in time to save them.
Meanwhile, Travis and Chris are planning what to do next. Travis wants to set up in the area, so as to hopefully come across Madison again. On the road, they come across a trio of dude-bros. Chris initially steals from them, but takes out some Infected, also saving their lives. The trio is impressed, and makes Chris feel important for a change. Travis is weary of the trio, but doesn’t want to get separated from Chris. While traveling together, they stop at a seemingly abandoned farm, but soon find out the owner is still around. With his rifle pointed at the intruders, the owner demands they all leave, but when things get heated he shoots one of dude-bros and Chris reacts by shooting the farmer dead, leaving Travis distraught, obviously.
The opening had me at “hello.” Last week when they showed the remains of the reception, but with no bodies, I didn’t give it much thought, but going back and showing what happened was pretty gruesome, without being overdone. It also set a great tone for Elena’s character in a simple way.
The rest of the episode didn’t top the opening, but it certainly held my attention. I have to wonder about the dynamic of Elena and Hector versus the dozen hotel guests, but it wasn’t a huge distraction. Of course two of the guests were the groom and bride’s mother, so they obviously want revenge, but everyone trying to stay in that hotel during the apocalypse, felt a bit strained. Also, not showing how Madison and Strand escaped being penned down in the bar felt like a cop out, but apparently we’ll see that next week. Still no sign of Ofelia, but I’m assuming they have plans for her and all will be revealed in time.
I haven’t found the Chris angle very intriguing this season, but what they did with him this episode worked. Considering all his issues since his mother’s death, Chris’s desire to be accepted by these older, “cooler” guys feels right. And the kid is unhinged, so his trigger happy reflexes make sense. Things are finally starting to click with his character arc. I’m interested to see where they take it from here. As things stand now, Chris and Travis cannot coexist with their very differing personalities and views, and one of them may end up lost forever. However, if they decide to redeem Chris, I’ll call shenanigans. Unless of course it’s due to loss of Travis, then that might work. It could go anywhere, and for once I’m excited to see where that might be.
Channel: Superhero 