Aug 29, 2014 - Using heroin can kill you, but it may not be in the way you think. Drug overdose deaths in the United States have risen steadily. Mar 15, 2018 - “It would make sense for Bonnie to be dead,” Nowalk told reporters. And we already know Nowalk is totally cool killing of main characters.
A shocking death strikes Fear the Walking Dead, but viewers would be wise to prepare for someone else to have died long before this season even started.
Spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead ahead.
In “Better Out Here,” Fear the Walking Deadunexpectedly takes out Nick (Frank Dillane), the longtime veteran of the AMC spin-off series who has been avoiding walkers since the journey began in L.A.
Nick kills a Vulture, a member of that strange new wannabe Saviors gang who raised Charlie, leading Charlie to seek revenge and fatally shoot Nick when his guard was down. Lest you think this is another fake-out and he’d be saved before the credits roll, the rest of the Diamond group, including his sister Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey) essentially confirm his demise. Folks, Nick is gone.
But while Nick dies before our eyes, did Fear the Walking Deadalso kill Madison (Kim Dickens)? The Fear matriarch has only appeared in flashbacks thus far, and throughout “Better Out Here,” she has a vaguely ethereal presence, talking about collecting reminders that people were good once. Her exchanges with Nick run contrast to Morgan’s (Lennie James), who talks to Nick about losing other people before losing himself. (Once again, Morgan is maddeningly vague, so there’s no talk of the Saviors or Rick or anyone.)
“Better Out Here” also plays with color in a way that will excite film students. Flashbacks to Nick’s scavenging with Madison, which are shown in warm colors, culminates with Nick and Madison in a field of bluebonnets. Nick lies prone among the bonnets, a funereal image if I’ve ever seen one. In contrast, the “current” scenes set with Morgan and the armored truck are basically in black and white, with only specific colors bleeding through — mainly, blue. At one point, the Vulture Nick later kills drives by in a blue El Camino, kicking off Nick’s pursuit that we’ll know he’ll never come back from.
That a blue El Camino led Nick to his death makes me think that a field of bluebonnets is an omen Madison, who wears a blue denim jacket, is also dead and has been dead for some time. One has to wonder what made Nick so mad at the Vulture’s sight enough that he wanted to kill him. One has to wonder why our heroes were so disturbed, paranoid, and shook when they first met Morgan a few weeks ago, a contrast to their easygoing demeanor when they woke up in the Diamond. Maybe the Vultures are more dangerous than we thought after all.
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Buy NowFear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 p.m. Eastern on AMC.
The Great War is won, but the Last War against Cersei Lannister is heating up in Game of Thrones Season 8. We don’t know much about what’ll happen next, but everyone would do well to remember the crucial scene from the Season 8 premiere where Cersei gives Ser Bronn of the Blackwater a special assignment to murder her brothers. Some fans think Bronn might succeed in killing Tyrion before the series ends, and it might even happen in Episode 4.
During Season 8, Episode 1, “Winterfell,” Cersei had Qyburn give Bronn the same Lannister crossbow that Tyrion once used to kill his own father. “Our queen’s brothers are unlikely to survive their northern adventures,” Qyburn said, “but in the event that they do, she has a keen sense of poetic justice.”
Tasked with assassinating Jaime and Tyrion Lannister in exchange for several chests of gold, Bronn muttered “That fucking family!” and presumably left King’s Landing shortly thereafter. He hasn’t been the same since, so it feels all but certain he’ll pop up again in Episode 4, somewhere in the North as he tries to track down the Lannister brothers.
“I don’t know, they might not love him as much as they do right now, but I hope they still do.” Bronn actor Jerome Flynn told Insider. “He is who he is and what he says, isn’t he? And he’ll do what he needs to get his castle.”
Okay, we should definitely be worried.
Fans have traced the show’s “keen sense of poetic justice” for years. In August 2017, redditor u/razobak09 noted that throughout the series, major characters often die in a way that reflects their past deeds. Ned Stark once beheaded a man who abandoned the Night’s Watch, and he himself lost his head later in Season 1. Cersei straight-up giving Bronn the same crossbow feels perhaps too forced and heavy-handed, but it would feel justified given the show’s history with irony. (Read more on that theory here.)
Perhaps more importantly, will Bronn even go through with it? Tyrion and Bronn were inseparable in early Game of Thrones seasons. Later, Bronn proved a loyal companion to Jaime in Seasons 6 and 7. Bronn definitely likes the Lannister brothers more than he does Cersei, but does that matter?
Bronn’s always been motivated by wealth and self-preservation. If he switches sides here, it’ll redefine his character in a surprising way. It might make more sense for him to stay the course and die trying to kill the Lannisters.
There’s also the added evidence that David Nutter, who directed “The Rains of Castamere” (the Red Wedding episode), is also directing Episode 4. When Metro.co.uk asked Nutter if we might expect a similarly shocking scene in Season 8, he said, “The short answer is — yes!”
Whether or not this emotionally devastating scene happens in Episode 4 remains to be seen, but Nutter definitely makes it seem like it’s coming sooner rather than later. What if Bronn successfully murders multiple key characters at once? Not only would it be devastating if Tyrion and Jaime died, but if the ever-likable Bronn were the one to do it, we’d all be heartbroken.
Game of Thrones Season 8 airs Sundays on HBO at 9 p.m. Eastern.