Much like the episode that preceded it, this installment ramps up the action and the evolution of the series and its characters, continuing the turnaround that many of us had thought possible from the beginning of the season.  This series is now showing a lot more life, and while it is still not quite on the level of The Walking Dead at its best, it’s gaining a lot of ground.

Peeling back the layers on Strand is one of the goals of the episode, as we see exactly what kind of person he was before the apocalypse.  And sure enough, he was a man pushed to the edge, driven by a previous brush with catastrophe and significant losses to stealing from another man with semi-romantic intent after a night at a bar.  That man turns out to be Thomas Abigail, Strand’s eventual lover and the owner of the yacht.

Strand’s relationship with Thomas is all about self-interested survival and personal obligation, the combination of which informs the character right up to this episode.  Strand would never have let the people on the raft get within spitting distance of the yacht; he would have taken them out long before Chris had to even consider if there were options.  Strand felt the need to prove himself, to show Thomas that he could be the powerful man he always played at being, and thus he wound up in Los Angeles at the worst possible time. 

Strand’s goal was to get back to the compound where Thomas is apparently waiting, and it’s now revealed that he pretty much had the intention to take Nick back with him as someone useful.  What he intended to do to the rest of the family members is unclear.  It’s likely to be a major point in the next episode, once the threat posed by Conor’s pirates is addressed.  Though, to be fair, there is plenty of reason to think this is not going to be a short-term problem.

We finally get to see Jack and the group he represented on the other end of the radio, and if there is a stumbling point for the episode, it’s how the writers expect the audience to believe that Alicia and Jack formed some kind of bond in that short period of time.  The two of them act like they knew each other for years before the outbreak, and almost as if they were exes or something.  It’s perhaps supposed to play counterpoint to the reveal about Strand and Thomas, but it just doesn’t work on that level.