Fear The Walking Dead (2015) s07e12 Episode Script

1 Now! It's all right.
Morgan sent me.
I'm supposed to turn off the beacon on the roof tonight.
Clear out the walkers so they can get Grace and the baby out.
There's only one way things are gonna change, and that's if I can get in Strand's ear.
He needs me.
More than he needs you.
Charlie stays with me, under my care.
That's the deal.
I need to talk to Victor.
Tell him I want to make a deal.
Why would he want to make a deal with you? Because I can help save his Tower.
Victor, we need to talk.
And I'll be straight with you.
I've got some concerns about how you're running this place.
If there's one thing I know from my days as a cop, you're only as good as your partner.
I think you deserve a partner to help remind you which way is up.
No! No! No! Please, please.
I didn't do anything.
We found a walkie in your mattress.
But that doesn't mean You built this place using your instincts.
Well, I've got a few of my own.
I'm willing to share them if you're willing to listen.
Well? It's never gonna work, John.
Why not? Because the only voice Victor Strand listens to is his own.
And he has a yes-man like Howard who won't question him.
That's exactly why he likes him.
Well, what he likes and what he needs are two different things.
What does that mean, John? Things are starting to go sideways here.
He's paranoid.
Every since Morgan poisoned him, he's got it in his head that there's some kind of resistance inside the Tower.
That's why he's cracking down on walkies.
June? I'll be right in.
Her skin, are those ? It's radiation burns.
How's she doing? Nothing can be done? Not with her level of exposure.
All I can do is keep her comfortable for whatever time she has left.
I should go, John.
What happened to Charlie doesn't have to happen to anyone else.
I can get through to Strand.
I just need the right opportunity.
You think you can change Victor? - What makes you think Victor won't change you? - That's not gonna happen.
That's exactly what happened to your son.
He was trying to beat Ginny at her own game, and it destroyed him.
Don't make that same mistake.
Anything in here? It's clean.
We found another walkie.
Where? Who had one? Howard.
What? I told you I needed the right opportunity to get to Strand.
I think I just found it.
Come in.
What can I do for you, John? I'll be straight with you, Victor.
I've got some concerns about how you're running this place.
No! No, wait! It wasn't mine, I swear! And yet it was found in your room! - Victor, you know me! - Do I? I've been by your side since the beginning.
Why would I throw that all away? Your family, your son.
Perhaps you've joined the chorus of dissenters from within.
No, this place is everything to me.
You know the rules, Howard.
I didn't do this! I need people I can trust, now more than ever.
You no longer fit that description, old friend.
Wait, no! Victor, please! Someone planted the walkie so you'd doubt me.
It worked.
Regardless of how it got there, I can't believe a word you say until I have proof.
And you're gonna get it for me.
Answer it.
Yeah? When? Are you sure? We got a problem.
What do you mean, she's missing? Infants don't just vanish into thin air.
She wasn't in her crib when I came to check on her.
I'll find her.
Victor, please, let me do this.
I told you, I don't trust you.
Then let me show you you still can.
Put whatever rangers you want on me, make sure I'm not hiding anything.
Retrieve her by sunrise or I'll finish what we started on the roof.
I will find her.
John, a word.
I'd like for you to find that baby.
- But you just told Howard - Howard may be stalling.
As such, I'd rather hedge my bets.
You're betting on me? I've seen the Dorie spirit in action.
I once saw your son build a raft from a broke-down truck just to get back to June.
He cared about the right things.
As do you.
Which is, I assume, why you came to me and spoke of your desire to recalibrate things here.
Too many people are getting hurt that don't need to.
This Tower is bigger than the both of us.
It is my future.
It is the way I'll be remembered, my legacy.
That may well be, but take it from me, Victor legacy can slip away if you're not careful.
How so? Well, let's just say I know what it's like to do the wrong thing for the right reason.
It doesn't end well.
I'm willing to listen.
But first, I need to know that you can deliver.
Succeeding where Howard fails will do wonders for your prospects here.
Good luck, John.
I don't know anything.
You're Mo's nanny.
She's your responsibility.
John, what is this? If I knew where she was, I'd tell you.
I didn't take her.
You have to let me help.
We need to find her.
You think I can keep a baby secret? You think I want that kind of heat? The baby went missing shortly after you showed up here.
Of course I'd be the first person he'd suspect.
Why would I put her in danger like that? Because you don't want her to grow up here.
Because you're angry about what happened with Ali.
Aren't you? That's not what this is about.
Then what is this about? Making sure that baby is safe.
Something that will never happen here.
Do you know something, June? Do you know where Mo is? We both want the same things, John.
And the only way that is going to happen is if we take out Strand.
And what does that have to do with Mo? Morgan and the others are not gonna make their move as long as the baby is in this Tower.
And Strand knows that.
He loses her, he loses all his leverage.
You're gonna sneak her out.
I didn't say that.
Strand was right.
The resistance is real, and you're part of it.
The less you know, the better.
Don't give me that.
Talk to me, June.
Maybe I can help.
You really want to help? Keep Howard distracted.
I'll do the rest.
He's not part of this? The walkie in his room? That wasn't me.
You'd tell me if it was? I have to go, John.
Don't touch that.
Quite the collection you've got here, Howard.
Look, I don't got time for this.
I have to find that baby.
Yeah, so do I.
Victor asked me to look, too.
He didn't mention that to me.
Can you blame him after that walkie turned up in here? It wasn't mine! Whoever put it here, they are getting exactly what they want.
Oh, I believe you.
But you understand why I also have to question you, just like I would anybody else.
Drink? Ah, I don't touch the stuff anymore.
Suit yourself.
So what is it you want to know? What I heard up on the roof There's a great deal I don't know about you, Howard.
Like what? Well, for starters, you never struck me as a family man.
Why not? Oh, let's just call it a general lack of compassion and restraint.
Mm.
And this coming from a man who abandoned his own son.
We're not talking about me right now.
Strand mentioned a wife, a son.
That them? Where are they? I don't know.
Get split up after the bomb? My wife left me before the world did what it did the first time.
She took our son with her.
Why? You ever hear of the Travis Letter? William Barrett Travis, 1836.
On the second day of the siege of the Alamo, he writes a letter asking for reinforcements.
He signs it "victory or death.
" What's that got to do with your family? The Travis Letter is one of the most famous documents in the history of Texas.
What people didn't know was that there was more to it, an addendum that I personally discovered.
It made me the toast of the historical community.
I traveled all over, giving lectures, months and months away from Matin and his mom.
Sounds like quite the achievement.
I forged it.
Suddenly, all those papers that had been praising me were smearing my name.
One day, I come home, my wife's at the door, bags packed.
All over the letter? She said I was more concerned with making history than I was with making a life for her and my son.
But this place I have made history here.
My wife and boy are out there somewhere, and if they find it, they'll see that this history can be their life.
So what you call a lack of compassion and restraint, I call building a legacy.
What? We've covered a five-mile radius.
The baby is not out there.
Maybe you didn't search hard enough.
The storm's getting bad, Howard.
Then we'll keep searching inside.
- We've already combed the place.
- Then comb again.
Are we done here? Those people you've thrown off the roof.
How do they fit into that legacy? Look, I'm not proud of everything I've done here, but if it all leads to my family finding this place, then it will have been worth it.
And if they don't find it? I don't like to think about that because then that would mean everything I've done has been for nothing.
June.
John.
- How did you know? - Your boots.
The ground down here gets muddy when it rains.
How'd you hide her? Does it matter? What's this? For protection, in case I ran into trouble with the moat.
You actually think that would have protected you? It's worked before.
That woman, the wrestler? You think you could do the same.
Well, hopefully, I won't have to, but if that's what it takes.
The tunnel's flooding.
That's why this needs to happen now.
It's not safe.
Morgan is posted up about a half a mile away.
He's ready to take her as soon as we get her out.
June! John, I can't! I need help with this gate! I'm coming! John, hurry! We just need to get to the elevator.
What are you talking about? I'm sorry, June, but I can't let you leave with her.
I'm gonna cement my legacy, and you're gonna help me.
We have to get moving before more come washing in.
My gun's over there, by the tunnel.
If I can get to it, we can clear a path to the elevator.
I thought you came down here to help me.
I came to help her.
Why are you doing this? Climb up on my knee, Sonny Boy ♪ What's that? It's just a song John used to like.
Shh.
You want to do for her what you couldn't do for him.
I lost a child, too, John.
I get it.
We need to give Mo her best chance.
She has it here, now, with Victor, which is why I have to get her up there before Howard does.
John, have you been drinking again? Why the hell would you ask me that? Because you're not making any sense.
- Strand is not going to listen to you.
- He will.
- He has to.
- Why? Because I set this all in motion! What are you talking about? The walkie.
I planted it in Howard's room.
I knew it was the only way I was gonna get Strand to listen to me over Howard.
- You're doing it again.
- What? The same thing you did when you planted that purse to make sure that Teddy went to jail.
John, it destroyed your life.
It destroyed you.
Please don't make that same mistake twice.
- This is different.
- How? Because the last time I did the wrong thing for the right reason, I abandoned my son.
I won't do that to her.
Won't have what happened to John, what's happening to Charlie won't happen to her.
I'll make this place the world I should have made for my boy.
You can still do that.
We can change things here, but not while Strand is in charge.
What you want I can't risk it.
Why not? You can't answer me because you know I'm right.
We've got to move.
I'm gonna go for the gun.
You guard her with your life.
What are you gonna do? Get through them, same way Mickey did.
Go! John! We're not gonna make it.
The tunnel! - Take her before more come! - I can't! You have to, John! You want to secure your legacy, you want to help Mo? This is how.
Go! Go! John, go! Get out of here! Take the baby! I only have one left.
You don't need it.
The tunnel.
I'm not leaving.
We gotta get back.
You had a way out! Still do.
- Call them.
- Who? Whoever helped you plan this little escape.
Get them down here to help us.
If they get caught, Strand will kill them.
Call them! Why don't you want her to leave? What are you so afraid of? Because she'll die outside these walls.
Not if we're careful.
- That won't matter.
- Why not? Because it didn't for Charlie.
- Because it didn't for me.
- I don't understand.
I don't have much time, June.
Grace I need some help.
Grace should have been here by now.
Why didn't you tell me sooner? Would it have made any difference? How did it happen? Bringing Charlie back from that building.
I must have got exposed to the same thing she did.
I was careful.
I was quick.
It still got me.
Like it or not, this is the only place she'll be safe.
- I don't have much time left.
- You don't know that.
I thought John was gonna be my legacy, and now I can't lose another child.
I can't have that be the last thing I do in this life.
You and Grace, you'll be able to keep her safe in here.
You'll be able to control Strand.
Victor.
Caught Grace in the elevator on the way down here.
She wouldn't say why.
Seems to me we've identified the resistance.
It's exactly who we thought.
It's not what it looks like.
Oh, I'm sure.
Hmm.
Told you I'd find her.
You didn't find her.
He did.
I got you.
What we're building here is no less than a civilization, and no civilization can stand without a unified people.
I've been fighting by your side since the beginning, Victor.
And you, John? Do you believe in this place? I believe in what it can be.
I believe it's the best way for that child to survive.
He's lying to you.
He was trying to help her escape.
Shut up.
You said you believed in this place.
Show me.
How? Push him over the edge.
- What? - You heard me.
We had a deal, Victor.
I said I'd spare you if you found the baby.
- You didn't.
- After everything I've done! The moment we found that walkie, any faith I had in you eroded.
- It wasn't mine! - He's right.
He doesn't deserve this, Victor.
Why is that? Because I planted that walkie.
You see, Victor? Wait.
You framed Howard in order to gain audience with me? Wow.
Oh.
I underestimated you, John.
You don't do something like that unless you're invested.
Come on! You can't be serious? I'm still gonna need you to do that other thing I asked.
I won't do that.
You will do it, unless you want me to bring June up here.
- No.
- Or Grace.
John, no, my family.
I'm sorry, but you did the same to others for far less.
Please! No, John! Wait, no! John, no! I wouldn't worry about him too much.
His family was never gonna find this place.
- Why not? - Because they're dead.
Our scouts found them months ago.
They'd been turned for a long time, so it seems.
You knew his wife and son were dead and you said nothing? Why would I? It's what drove him to help me build this place to what it's become.
Everyone needs something to drive them, John.
His apartment is all yours.
You can move in immediately.
Consider it a signing bonus.
What is it that you said? You're only as good as your partner.
Well, here's to a great partnership, my friend.
I thought you were off the sauce.
I was.
Well, far be it from me to judge.
Pour me one, would you? Come on, baby.
To our future.
Feel free to junk all this stuff.
Howard certainly has no use for them anymore.
Hm.
Why so loud? So we're not overheard.
I don't want what happened today to happen ever again.
Things need to change.
Are you ready to listen to those ideas I mentioned? I have some ideas of my own.
I know that Grace was in on what happened today, as was June.
I'm going to remand Mo to my sole custody permanently.
How exactly does that work? Mo will be raised in the penthouse by me, without any outside interference.
You can't keep her away from her mother.
Her mother is dead.
Grace is a stand-in.
So how do I fit into all this? You do whatever it is you need to do to ensure that no one takes that baby.
That baby is never going to give you what you want.
And what is that? To love you.
To look up to you.
And the more you want it, the more you fight for it, the more you'll end up driving her away.
And remind me, what happened to your son, John? Why do you think I'm trying to get through to you here? If you really want her to love you, then let me help you change how you do things here.
When I want your counsel, I'll ask.
You were never going to listen to what I had to say, were you? As I told you before, everyone needs something to drive them, John.
What you did today will echo long into the future.
It will outlive you.
It will be your legacy.
No, it won't.
This place isn't my legacy.
She is.
Morgan, do you copy? Hey, Mr.
Dorie.
That you? Are you still close by? Just beyond the wall, why? Stay where you are.
I'm bringing her to you.
You don't have to do this, John.
I can do it.
I can take her.
I can do this.
I want to do this.
- Should we do the thing? - What thing? You know, pull in a skinbag and gut him up, spread the nasty to throw them off the scent.
We don't have time, and it wouldn't be safe for Mo.
I got this.
You got some brass cojones, my friend.
It's not about me.
Be brave, my little girl, okay? Be brave.
It's okay.
It's okay.
Be brave.
You don't stop 'til you get to Morgan, okay? A lot of things I got wrong in this life.
This won't be one of them.
You need to go, John.
It's never too late.
Thanks for helping me remember that, June.
Oh, wait.
She likes it when I sing to her.
It soothes her.
John was the same way.
What'd you sing to him? Victor.
Hey, Victor.
Hey.
Where is he? Where's the baby? Take the edge off.
The rangers are combing the Tower.
They'll find her.
The tunnel's flooded.
There's no other way out.
There's one.
Climb up on my knee, Sonny Boy ♪ Oh, you're only three, Sonny Boy ♪ You've no way of knowing ♪ There's no way of showing ♪ What you mean to me, Sonny Boy ♪ Victor.
What do you want to do? You know, I thought I found a new partner.
He said he wanted to make this place better.
He disappointed me.
That's what people do.
You still looking? For what? A partner.
There's an old antennae in storage.
Bring it to me.
Antennae? When there are gray skies ♪ I don't mind the gray skies ♪ You make them blue, Sonny Boy ♪ Friends may forsake me ♪ Let them all forsake me ♪ I still have you, Sonny Boy ♪ You're sent from heaven ♪ And I know your worth ♪ You made a heaven For me here on Earth ♪ Mr.
Dorie.
I got you.
I got you.
Hey, you're good.
You're good.
- We need to move.
- I can't.
Why not? What is Oh, my God.
I'll buy you some time.
I'm sorry.
You take care of her, Morgan! I will.
And thanks, John.
When I'm old and gray, dear ♪ Promise you won't stray, dear ♪ For I love you so, Sonny Boy ♪ Is it ready? It's done.
Give me that walkie.
You may have won the battle today, Morgan, but the war is just beginning.
I have people here that you care about.
June, Grace, and if you take a step into this place, I will kill them.
As for the rest of you, you know who you are.
The offer to join me still stands.
I need good people here to help me secure the future of this place.
If you're listening you know where to find me.
When I'm old and gray, dear ♪ Promise you won't stray, dear ♪ For I love you so, Sonny Boy ♪ The Tower's unguarded at least until dawn.
- We're not ready.
- Why? You think we're gonna lose.
We're outmanned and outgunned.
It's starting to leak radiation.
I got a plan.
Trust me.
What the hell? You were never going to listen to what I had to say, were you? As I told you before, everyone needs something to drive them, John.
What you did today will echo long into the future.
There's a few reasons why Dorie Sr.
makes his move now.
You know, the biggest one is, as we learn later in the episode, Dorie Sr.
has been exposed to radiation poisoning, and he's got a very limited amount of time left.
There's also the fact that he's looking at Charlie, with her radiation poisoning there in that early scene with June, and we just see this weighing on him.
He's going to have to make some changes here in the Tower, because he also sees Strand going down this bad path, giving into his worst impulses.
And so Dorie Sr.
now feels like, "I've got to get in his ear and change the way he does things before it's too late.
" Great deal I don't know about you, Howard.
I think Dorie Sr.
's perception of Howard changes as the episode goes on.
At the beginning of the episode, I think he sees him as someone who, as he says, lacks compassion and restraint.
That he's just this ultimate Strand loyalist.
My wife left me before the world did what it did the first time.
She took our son with her.
As he gets to know him a little better, he realizes that he's not that different, and that Howard is ultimately driven by this need to make a place for his family, that he believes is still out there, and that this is going to make everything he's done worth it.
No! No, wait! It wasn't mine! I swear! You know the rules, Howard! I didn't do this! I need people I can trust, now more than ever.
I think the rule about no walkies in the Tower just is another example of Strand's increasing paranoia, and him locking things down, you know, ruling this place with an iron fist because he has grown more and more concerned about enemies forming against him from the inside.
He really is backed into a corner, and he's acting in an extreme, extreme way.
The moment we found that walkie, any faith I had in you eroded.
It wasn't mine! He's right! He doesn't deserve this, Victor.
Why is that? Because I planted that walkie.
John planting the walkie is very much a move Victor Strand himself would have done, so I think he probably senses a bit of a kindred spirit there, and also, as he says, "You wouldn't have done that unless you were invested.
" This was all sort of a test, and John has passed the test.
And then ultimately, there is one more piece of that test that Strand needs to see.
No, John! Wait, no! John! No! The gut punch that comes from that, aside from having to kill Howard, is the reveal that Strand gives him right after that, which is His family was never going to find this place.
Why not? Because they're dead.
And Dorie Sr.
realizes in that moment, that is exactly what Strand has done to him he has dangled this carrot of getting into the inner sanctum, having Strand as an audience, to motivate John to do what he wants.
And that's why when we find Dorie again, it causes him to do the thing he hasn't done in so long, which is pick up the bottle again.
I'm going to make this place the world I should have made for my boy.
You could still do that.
We can change things here, but not while Strand is in charge.
I think when John looks at Mo, he's not just seeing Mo, he's seeing John Dorie Jr.
, he's seeing Charlie, he's seeing, you know, these young kids that he feels responsible for not being able to help.
He realizes that he's going to have to take a really desperate action to make sure that baby Mo has the life that he wanted for her, and he realizes that that life can't happen in the Tower.
It's so hard to watch this episode and say goodbye to Keith Carradine.
He is this character.
He's got so much gravitas and strength.
There are a lot of things I got wrong in this life.
This won't be one of them.
He just brings something that no one else could have brought to this role.
We were such big fans of his from his, you know, very, you know, long and impressive body of work, bringing him into the show.
And what we always like to say is that when characters die or when we say goodbye to characters, we want it to hurt.
We want it to be impactful because that means that you cared.
- We need to move.
- I can't.
Why not? Let me see.
Oh, my And this episode is just so painful to watch.
His final sacrifice, you know, both painful and beautiful, just is a real testament to Keith's incredible work as an actor and what he brought to this role, and we're very, very grateful to have had the chance to work with him.