There are several conflicts at the heart of The Walking Dead and Fear The Walking Dead.

Those conflicts are the dramatic siege engines of both shows. The largest is the clash between action and character and it’s one that The Walking Dead pretty much solved two seasons ago. Negan and the Saviors may be annoyingly one note at times but they are what closes the circuit on the core show. An antagonist group who can and do kill characters at any given time is a great way to combine character drama with action and plot. Witness Sasha and Daryl’s plots last season, not to mention Dwight, Eugene, Maggie and the rest.

Fear The Walking Dead’s version of that conflict is subtly different. There’s no villain here beyond entropy, no antagonist beyond the clash between survival instinct and reality. Even Troy, who two episodes ago was all set to lead a Horde down on the Ranch (and succeeded) is still very much on the right side. Because he’s alive. And that’s where the line is drawn: if you’re alive you’re fighting. If you’re not you’re being fought.

And that means every loss is felt which is what this episode focuses on. To see someone, even a character like Ofelia who was an antagonist a few episodes ago, go down is hard for us. And it’s impossible for the characters. Madison in particular is absolutely stricken this episode as she loses, in different ways, two different daughters. Alicia’s refusal to join the latest pack is a long-term loss but Ofelia’s is more visceral. Another life gone. Another light out.

The way the characters deal with that loss tells us everything about them. Madison is destroyed, finally broken by the endless wheel of grief she’s been trapped on. Walker, for all his bluster and violence, is poleaxed at losing Ofelia so soon after meeting her. Strand works so hard on not caring we can see he does and his end game is clearly motivated by Ofelia’s loss.

But it’s her father who we learn the most about. Ruben Blades has been a welcome return this season and this episode stands with ‘100’ as one of the best of the season. Like that it focuses on the other sides of Daniel’s character, and, like that, it contains some real surprise. Much as Nick is quietly bludgeoned off the wagon by yet another loss, Daniel is scared out of his cocoon of rage and brutality. He misses the final moments of his daughter by seconds and with his world pounded flat he finally sees how little petty rivalries matter. The dam is open to the other characters, if they live long enough to get there.

And based on this episode that’s very much in question. The power reversal with Nick and Troy is as fascinating as it is dangerous, with Nick now off the wagon and Troy the voice of reason.

Troy.

Frank Dillane, Kim Dickens and Daniel Sharman do excellent work this episode but that final scene between mother, son and possibly psychotic not-currently enemy is electric. All three know what’s really going on, none are prepared to say it out loud and so they go their separate ways. Even at the end of the world, they can’t be honest with one another. Even after the death of someone they all knew, they can’t get out of their own way.

Which leads us to Alicia. Increasingly the smartest character in the series, Alicia gets clear of the family cluster bomb and runs into a delightful new friend who likes pickaxes. Played by Erica Findley (also a recurrent on the upcoming Black Lightning) she’s a mercenary figure quite at home in the wild. Alicia fits right in and their cautious, spiky friendship is a delight. As is the glorious Ballpit fight. More importantly, Alicia may be happy and relatively safe. She’s certainly the only one if so.

Verdict: Slow, deliberate. Character-centric and gripping, El Matadero is the perfect example of what these shows both do best. I can’t wait to see how the larger scale, more plot driven finale episodes will plug into it. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart