It has been a long but memorable sixth season of Fear the Walking Dead, which has seen the series creatively rebound from one of the worst seasons in The Walking Dead to one of — if not the — best season in the universe. We’ve seen the series take a more intimate approach to its stories; we’ve seen two major character deaths; we’ve seen two of the most devastating episodes ever, and we’ve seen the introduction of a new Big Bad.
It may be difficult to remember, then, that the season began with Morgan stealing a key from two random characters (that he subsequently killed), who we would learn later are a part of the new cult, The Mole People. The Mole People have subsequently been trying to retrieve the key, which they finally did in the most recent episode, which saw the upsetting stillbirth of Grace’s baby.
So what is the key for? It belongs to the nuclear submarine we saw in the sixth season premiere, which had “The end is the beginning” spray-painted on it by the Mole People cult.
Its importance, meanwhile, has come into sharper focus over the last couple of episodes, as we were introduced to Teddy and his people. They all live in an underground, self-sustaining bunker, where they grow their own food and believe that death gives rise to life. It’s not hard to see where this is going. They live underground because they plan to use the key to the submarine to set off a nuclear bomb. They will kill everything in the area, live underground for a few years, and then resurface after everything has been wiped out: “The end is the beginning.”
The descriptions for the final four episodes of the season bear that out. In episode 6×13, “J.D.,” June “splits off to gather information to help stop an oncoming threat” (that threat being nuclear annihilation). The “J.D.” is probably either a reference to her dead husband, John Dorie, or his father, who was connected to Teddy, the leader of the Mole People, before the zombie apocalypse. He was a serial killer.
In 6×14, “Mother,” Alicia “reunites with old friends and must confront her past.” That may be a reference to her mother, Madison. I don’t expect that Kim Dickens will actually return, but Alicia may have to confront feelings about her mother while trying to escape Teddy and The Mole People.
Episode 6×15 is called “USS Pennsylvania,” which is probably the name of the nuclear submarine. In that episode, “Motives are revealed and convictions are tested as our heroes rush to stop Teddy’s plan.” Teddy’s plan, obviously, is setting off a nuclear bomb. In 6×16, “The Beginning,” the synopsis states that “everyone desperately scrambles to live out the coming destruction on their own terms.”
The question is: Does Teddy’s plan to set off the nuclear bomb succeed? It won’t be the end of the series — and everyone won’t die — because Fear has been renewed for a seventh season. However, it is possible that the nuclear bomb goes off, and the survivors are forced to live in the underground bunker. This would actually give the series an opportunity for a big time-jump, which would allow it to catch up with the parent series, should the two need to intersect or engage with one another or the CRM storyline in The World Beyond. After all, there’s still a connection between Fear and the CRM in Fear’s present storyline, because Althea is still involved with Isabelle, the CRM helicopter lady, although Isabelle is not apparently the daughter of Elizabeth, the head of the CRM, because Huck is.
In any respect, there at least looks like there’s an opportunity here — with the nuclear bomb — for all three series to exist on the same timeline again. That may be crucial ahead of the eventual Rick Grimes movie.