In a recent discussion on Fear the Walking Dead for The Critical Myth Show, the debate came down to the following: the series is definitely improving over the course of the past few episodes, but the rate of improvement may be too slow for some to justify continuing to watch.  A big part of that is the inaccessibility of many of the main characters, who still come across as bland and closed-off to the audience.

That factor plays a part in how much “Captive” is held back.  We should care a lot more about the struggle against Connor’s gang than we do, especially when we discover that Alex, the sole survivor of Flight 642, is the reason why Connor was able to find the Abigail in the first place.  A lot of decisions are coming back to haunt the crew as they get ever closer to a decision point about how to get into Mexico, but when you don’t particularly invest in the fate of the characters involved, the tension that ought to be present is drastically reduced.

And it doesn’t help that the threat is already resolved.  This had the potential to be a solid band of antagonists with more than a few twists and turns in their interactions before all was said and done.  Instead, it’s pretty much over.  I appreciate the continuity that has been demonstrated this season thus far, but I need more of those Lost-esque flashbacks to get me invested in more than a couple of the characters.  Right now half of them could get left behind at the Mexican border, and I really wouldn’t care at all. 

In fact, most of the tension in the episode had less to do with the fate of the characters per se, and more to do with the growing vagueness of answers from Connor, Jack, and Reed.  The one intriguing piece of action was Chris’ decision to kill Reed, which looked like it would be the catalyst for much of the future complication.  And it was, at least until the final act of the episode.  In the end, Connor's pirates were a two-episode adversary, which is a bit disappointing, to say the least.  There was potential to turn them into the “Others” of Fear the Walking Dead.

Wouldn’t it have been more interesting if the plot was a little more extended, and Alicia was given a reason to consider defecting with Connor?  Wouldn’t that have given the writers a huge opportunity to delve into the character of Alicia a lot more thoroughly?  For example, one can clearly see how Travis’ encounter with Alex, and coming face-to-face with the consequences of his moral decisions, might change him going forward.  Do we have the same clarity with Alicia?