Previously on Fear The Walking Dead: our merry band of seaborne survivors made their had eventually’ultimately made it to land, docking in Baja, Mexico in/with regard to’concerning’regarding sea, sand, sunbathing, and zombie salvation. Will the midseason finale bring paradise or ruination? (Hint: it's not paradise.)###Be warned: this review contains major spoilers in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Fear The Walking Dead throughout.######The episode opens intense’fierce’exquisite (as many episodes of this reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue possess’own’nurse tended to do, without always maintaining that early promise), on two dreamlike sequences involving Daniel, both offering effective dollops of horror. The first, a more straightin/with regard to’concerning’regarding ward flashback from the time Daniel was a child soldier in El Salvador, adds a bit of a shape to his enigmatic history; the second, reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ing his daughter’s skin falling off her face, is among the more chilling moments from the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue so far..###Daniel’s descent into madness is at least less irritating than his fellow descenders (see below) – there seems to be legitimate reasons in/with regard to’concerning’regarding a sort of PTSD-induced mental unhinging. But it’s a shame to see one of the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue ’s more absorbing characters being roundly chucked on the bonfire – literally, as it turns out – while other thinly-sketched characters acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure to live another day. So long Daniel – hope you’re still hairdressing in heaven.######Nick is another character who appears to be losing some sort of plot. And it all seems a bit rushed. Having cleaned up his act during last season when the fall of Western society got in the way of a heroin addiction, Nick’s head eventually’ultimately seemed screwed on.###Now, with his favourite Colonel-Kurtz-meets-Carrie blood splatter acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure -up a seemingly permanent fixture, he’s lost his way again, clumsily explained away with references to his drug-addled past. Nick is vulnerable, sure, but he’s not been presented as all that impressionable or stupid; in this season he actually came across as pretty smart. It just doesn’t seem plausible that he’d suddenly decide to blindly follow Celia’s fanatical nonsense.######Descent of madness number 3: Chris. Remember Chris? The character that ended last week’s episode with an explosive near-murderous finale? Fear’s most interesting story thread in ages? The focus is suddenly abandoned this time around; Chris goes missing while most of the episode’s screentime is devoted to far less absorbing subplots.###Frankly, it’s baffling. Chris’ arc, from floppy-haired puberty-ridden mope to violent self-serving sociopath, offers huge potential. Why not explore that more? As with so much in the reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue , we rarely feel like we acquire’obtain’attain’procure’secure under the skin of these characters. Our perspective mainly comes through Travis, who offers up dull, meaningless, emotive platitudes like “he needs his father” and “I should possess’own’nurse helped him”, once again pointlessly blaming himself in/with regard to’concerning’regarding things he hasn’t done, and once again making terrible, futile decisions. Why would you abandon your wife to look after his psycho son? Are the two mutually exclusive?######And so we come to descent of madness, number 4: Celia, whose descent is already substantially completed by the time we first met her. Essentially Hershel-From-Season-2-Of-The-Walking-Dead-Lite, her religion-inflected belief that the zombies are not dead is eye-rollingly bloody-minded, and in/with regard to’concerning’regarding longtime viewers of the main Walking Dead reveal’illustrate’demonstrate’indicate’present’display’argue , a misplaced ideology we’ve encountered bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e. It’s fair to say nobody will be lighting a candle in/with regard to’concerning’regarding Celia’s demise, even if we might possess’own’nurse enjoyed the brutal coldness in which Maddie finishes her off.###So then, it’s bye-bye Baja. We leave the compound almost as quickly as we arrive, and it’s all a bit unsatisfying. A enormous’vast’massive’tremendous fire offers the illusion of dramatic impact, but it’s hard to care with regards to’concerning’with respect to a location we merely’barely stumbled upon last week; the gang are fractured with decisions that make no sense, in/with regard to’concerning’regarding their character or logically; and rosy’remarkable’fabulous’terrific’preeminent ness me, if e grossly thing doesn’t all feel a bit flat. Fear The Walking Dead has always struggled to make a case in/with regard to’concerning’regarding its own existence. This midseason finale, as disappointingly lifeless as the zombies in Celia's dungeon, doesn’t exactly tempt us back in/with regard to’concerning’regarding more.###Highlight: The pre-titles moment of body shock horror when Ofelia’s face begins to peel away. More of this, please.###Lowlight: Celia’s tedious speech-making. Nick suddenly joining the Church Of Celia. Travis reaching Chris-levels of mopery. Daniel biting the dust bein/with regard to’concerning’regarding e his time. Take your pick.###Kill of the week: Maddie, quietly closing the door on Celia, was a savage move.###Quote of the week: “Don’t misgiving’fret with regards to’concerning’with respect to me. I’ll hail a cab.” Oh Strand, you wit!###Fear The Walking Dead airs on AMC in the US and AMC UK on BT TV in the UK. It will return in August.###Previous reviews: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6.