Fear The Walking Dead (better known as “Fear” or “FTWD”) has returned for its third season with a two part premiere, and did so with a bang that left a major character dead shortly after the second half of this event had just started to air. Within the next few days, I will review the episodes of the premiere and go in depth on what happened, but before that, let’s pay our respects to the latest victim of the apocalypse.

Do not read further unless you have seen the aforementioned two episodes or do not mind this death being spoiled. You have been warned.

Fear The Walking Dead has always focused on the Manawa and Clark families and the struggles they faced. After the death of Chris Manawa (Lorenzo James Henrie) last season, you would expect the show to follow a devastated Travis and the rest of his family, but this was not the case. After finding Nick Clark and Luciana, Travis Manawa and Alicia Clark got on a helicopter, where a random and unknown sniper shot at them, shooting Travis through the neck and causing him to bleed to death. As if this wasn’t bad enough, Travis shows Alicia a walker bite on his stomach, apparently Travis was bit before getting on the chopper, probably in the walker pit he was in during the first episode of the two episode premiere. His death marks the end of the Manawa family and the start of the next mystery, who shot Travis and why? That was answered (sort of) in the finale of Fear a while back but let’s recap the story post-tragedy.

The story followed Madison, Alicia, Nick, and Luciana in the Broke Jaw Ranch, which is operated by Jeremiah Otto and his sons, Jake Otto and Troy Otto. Luciana expresses disgust and distrust in Jeremiah and asks Nick to leave with her but Nick wants to wait things out, causing Luciana to leave the ranch in secret.

Meanwhile, Victor Stand set out on his own path, getting away from the hotel the group stayed at previously and ending up at a dam run by a bunch of “money”-thirsty (get it?) baddies. The lead man, named Dante Esquivel, runs the dam and he attempts to kill Stand before Strand explains why he would be useful to Dante. Dante comments “Did Thomas die believing you loved him?”, referring to Thomas Abigail, who owned the boat Stand used in the first season and Thomas later died. Stand is thrown in a cell and is later brought water by none other than the not-so-dead Daniel Salazar. Daniel somehow survived the barn burning very early on in the series and he and Strand later escape after Daniel kills Dante and helps out a family who helped save him after he escaped the barn.

After Luciana leaves the ranch, Nick, Alicia, and Madison have to deal with the unease at the ranch. Madison volunteers to help out on a supply run with Troy, who has proven himself to be untrustworthy and dangerous. While out, she and the group she’s traveling with are cornered by Qaletaqa Walker, who demands the ranch back. Walker wants the ranch for reasons that Jeremiah explains later. That reason being that the land has been a center of a nasty feud between both groups since before the outbreak and as it turns out, Jeremiah is the bad guy in that feud, which Madison soon realizes. Daniel’s daughter, Ofelia, resurfaces and arrives at the ranch. She poisons the militia’s coffee with anthrax and leaves. Madison tracks her down and gets answers. Eventually Madison goes to Walker and settles on a peace agreement. Madison talks to Jeremiah, who taunts her and insults her. Eventually Nick, who was poisoned but recovered, walks in and shoots Jeremiah in the head. Madison stages it as a suicide so Jake and Troy don’t know the truth and they deliver his head to Walker, as was the agreement.