There has been numerous episodes of The Walking Dead franchise that tackled hallucinations or dreams. Rick Grimes and Michonne’s final episodes are the first that come to my mind. On the newest episode of Fear The Walking Dead titled “In Dreams”, the experimental episode has done something that all three shows have never done before. Plus, add in a dark plot twist in one of the most heartbreaking moments of the season.
The basic plot of “In Dreams” tells the story of Grace having a dream of what the future looks like. In that future, her daughter Athena is grown up, and everyone that she knows is still alive except her. In the real world, the mysterious cult tracked Morgan and Grace down to get back what they want. That is, the key Morgan had around his neck that is supposed to be for the submarine that was first seen earlier this season.
Then I started to realize the strong point of this episode. Grace is having a dream when most of the conflict is going on. The way the real life conflicts were also carried over to the dream was masterful as it explained how they got into this situation in the first place. Grace’s dream sequence also revealed that the baby is not Morgan’s as it belonged to a man named Matthew. I was caught off guard by this. But at the same time, it was never implied that the baby was Morgan’s.
Grace told Athena the story about Matthew while we get flashbacks to when she had to put him down. But that was not the final deathblow here. The plot twist came at the end when Grace gave birth to her daughter in the current time after the conflict. After she gave birth, Grace asked Morgan why the baby was not crying. Morgan turned around and revealed that it was stillborn.
This was heartbreaking and sad to the point that I felt for the character. It also made me think of what parents or parents to be went through on a day to day basis. It may be a longshot, but I believe Grace’s baby died by absorbing all of the radiation from Gracie. That reminded me of an episode of HBO’s Chernobyl when the same thing happened to a character.
The other plot twist to bring up as well is the fact that the dream sequence is Grace saying goodbye to Athena rather than Grace saying hello to her future daughter. Karen David was amazing in this episode as her acting truly shined on this heartbreaking episode. Also, thumbs up to the visual effects team and the director of “In Dreams” for the beautiful scenery and crafting the look of those dream sequences.
I love this episode. It is my favorite of the current season so far. It was sad to see how this episode’s final minutes went. But the way the story was told easily put this episode on my top five Fear The Walking Dead episodes of all time. If the delay of 6×08 did not happen, this episode would have aired at least two weeks ago. Because it is airing on Mother’s Day, there should also be a trigger warning for parents or couples that lost a baby.
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