S06.E15: USS Pennsylvania

[nodorothyparker]

Airdate 2021.06.06

Quote

In a race against time to stop Teddy's plan, motives are revealed and convictions are tested as Morgan and his allies infiltrate and make their way through the beached submarine that holds the tools for Teddy's destruction.

 

[MrsRafaelBarba]

TRASH.

[Iguessnot]

Someone was writing above their pay scale. Although I enjoyed the performances of the mad scientist and Dakota, this episode was garbage.

[raven]

I can't believe no one has killed Dakota yet and that Strand and Morgan let the two bad guys go.  They're sociopaths!!!  Didn't Strand say that himself about Dakota?

I like when Morgan and Strand team up - hey show, maybe showcase the two good actors, who are both charismatic?  Just a thought.   The thing with Strand trying to feed Morgan to the zombies - it really wasn't needed there.  The last time he did that, it kind of was; so this episode it just felt like the writers playing around. 

I did enjoy the zombies falling through the portholes, both from above and when trying to get through.  Falling zombies are always amusing.

[nodorothyparker]

For all its goofiness in wanting to blow up the world, I've mostly liked this storyline and the actors it's brought onto the canvas. So this one was kind of a headscratcher in its tediousness of make impassioned speeches about why a particular character should be the one to sacrifice himself, make faces at a closed hatch while listening to what sounded like a herd on the other side, skip to it only being a couple of dead, rinse and repeat while never seeming to get any closer. I agree the Strand thing didn't make much sense or really feel in character. He's an opportunist but what opportunity was he seizing there? Something something Alicia, who they never even asked about when the opportunity presented. It felt more like the show wanted to give the actor something showy to do.

And again, I get that this version of Morgan thinks he wants to save everybody and not go a killin' even when the situation clearly calls for it, but dude, seriously? Not only do you leave sister daughter psychopath alive to surely bite you in the ass as soon as next episode, you just ... let the bad guys who just set off nukes stroll on out like they have somewhere to be? I'm still trying to figure out if my understanding of the nuke situation is faulty or the show's is because right now the two things just aren't gelling.

Chutes and ladders falling walkers will never not be funny to me.  

[Crashcourse]

It might not be Strand, but somebody needs to show Morgan the flowers, because he deserves to die for keeping that Dakota bitch alive. 

[GustavMahler]

I  wonder if there is another season, we will have the after effects of all ten warheads wiping the cast out and Season Seven's title will be

"ALICIA'S BUNKER PLACE"?

[DavidWeis1]

To quote Mr. T: “I pity the fools.” Meaning the second and third string members of the acting squad who, while Morgan and Strand regurgitated the same old thing, just stood around staring at an obviously fake sub on the Texas plains. Does that help get them an Emmy nod?

[BasilSeal]

Strand pushing morgan into the walkers wasn't really necessary here, it was another example of characters doing something that wasn't really justified by the writing. I think this may be significant to further plot development because otherwise, why shoehorn it in here?

Some other observations. something isn't as it seems with the sub, we don't know what went on there, but there is apparently a web series that will tell us, so presumably it's somehow relevant. the radiation levels weren't what grace expected them to be, could it be possible that the warheads are not armed or disabled in some way? is this something to do with the unexpectedly high levels of radiation behind the Hatch of Doom? the female walker they encounter is one of Teddy's people, she has been killed by the radiation, Teddy tries to contact her later on and gets no response, which suggests that he and riley are not aware of the radiation issue.

There's a big signpost when riley looks at the joystick on the console, my guess is that although they can't stop the warheads, they could redirect them to somewhere else, ie into the sea, or something.

I wasn't that bothered by Morgan not killing Dakota, riley or discount Charles Manson. They're all about to have a nuclear warhead fired right up their arse, shooting them a few minutes sooner is kind of redundant, given that all three of them are on a suicide mission, killing them would be both pointless and playing into their hands.

A bigger failing is that none of the B team have anything to do other than stand around, given that there is another team in a nearby naval base looking for info, why not have the B team do this on screen? rather than stand around outside the sub like spare parts. I'm guessing the words 'pandemic' and 'budget constraints' would feature in the answer to that question.

[DrNowsWeightScale]

I guess I'm not super demanding of "Fear," so I kind of liked last night's episode, despite any flaws.

I found it marginally entertaining, which is enough for me.

I was wondering, as I watched scenes of Dwight and the others walking past dead bodies (or walking dead ones) as they were going through the sub - did it not smell? 👃

Some of those dead bodies had been holed up with presumably no ventilation in that big, long metal tube in hot Texas sun for a year or more.
Surely, we'd be seeing the characters holding their noses or gagging at the stench? 🤮

Or am I wrong, and a sub holding a dozen or more dead people would smell like Hazelnut Coffee Yankee candles 🕯️ and granny's Christmas sugar cookies 🍪 baking in the kitchen? 

I'm not altogether clear on Strand's motivation, even after he and Morgan had a chat about it.

My take away (which could be totally wrong) is that Strand kicked Morgan into a room full of zombies, so that Strand could do something (stop the nukes from being launched? whatever) and report back to Alicia that he's a hero, so he could earn her friendship back (???)

But any way you slice it, that was not a cool thing to do (Strand shoving Morgan into a pile of zombies).

I know the Morgan character can have his annoying tendencies, but he's fundamentally a decent dude and doesn't deserve to get murdered.

I was disappointed that Morgan didn't kill Dakota. (RIP John Dorie, Jr.)

I can only assume Morgan let Teddy and John Connor (Riley - but he'll always be John Connor to me!) go because Teddy had just explained (or hinted) that the missiles were aimed right back down at them - so everyone in that sub or the area was going to die anyhow.

I did kind of like the show exploring aspects of Morgan's leadership or his ideals, and his self-doubt, where he and Strand got into a discussion about why would anyone want to follow Morgan, etc. 

Strand pointed out that no, people didn't have to follow Morgan, but that they were choosing to. 

All in all, I found this to be slightly- above- average episode, in spite of some of the problems present.

But then, to me, any show where any episode lacks a hot air balloon in the shape of a beer bottle automatically gets at least one point from me. 😄

Edited June 7, 2021 by DrNowsWeightScale

[Lamima]

I thought Dakota WAS killed, no?

Lame episode. The 2 guys fighting over who was going to be the sacrificing hero was dumb.

[BasilSeal]

9 hours ago, Lamima said:

I thought Dakota WAS killed, no?

Lame episode. The 2 guys fighting over who was going to be the sacrificing hero was dumb.

she was knocked out by Morgan but not killed. I think the writers intend to make a thing about how the individual characters react to their impending doom as the missile gets nearer. This may include Dakota and the Doomsday chuckle brothers Teddy and riley. Hence they've been left alive when killing them may have been deemed more expedient, if not a little superfluous given that they are about to be vaporized in a thermonuclear explosion in a matter of minutes.

[GustavMahler]

9 hours ago, Lamima said:

I thought Dakota WAS killed, no?

Lame episode. The 2 guys fighting over who was going to be the sacrificing hero was dumb.

I think she was just knocked unconscious, so it might be wishful thinking on your part...besides she probably will need to become a Walker first before being killed, otherwise, next season, we would have to endure endless guilt trip scenes from the character who blatantly murders a kid, no matter the justification for doing so. 

Edited June 8, 2021 by GustavMahler

[meep.meep]

Motives are revealed and convictions are tested as our heroes rush to stop Teddy's plan

That's what led off the synopsis for the episode.  What motive was revealed?  What convictions were tested?  As usual, no one had a plan, and Morgan had some sort of hidden motivation, but if you had asked me why he and Strand were fighting, I couldn't tell you.  Couldn't they have just said where the bombs were heading?

Why do I keep watching this? Not even Keith Carradine is worth it.