In the second episode of Fear the Walking Dead season 8, titled "Blue Jay," we learn what June (Jenna Elfman), Dwight (Austin Amelio) and Sherry (Christine Evangelista) have been doing since their boats washed up at PADRE.
Not surprisingly, it hasn't been easy for any of them to adjust to PADRE's rules. June fled PADRE while Dwight and Sherry remained, but now that they've been brought back together they have to fight together to stay alive.
Let's look at the six things you need to know about Fear the Walking Dead season 8 episode 2.
What has June been doing?
Always her own woman, June made the decision to leave PADRE when she didn't agree with what they were forcing her to do (read more about that below). Since leaving PADRE, June has been leaving warning signs for unsuspecting travelers in the area, urging them to avoid PADRE at all costs. She's also taken to ambushing PADRE boats and chopping off the trigger fingers of PADRE collectors so that they can't use their guns anymore.
She's developed quite the reputation among collectors, but no one knows she's behind it. Using her vast survival skills, learned from her late husband John Dorie and his father, John Dorie Sr, June has managed to fly under the radar for years. Until now.
Where have Dwight and Sherry been?
Dwight and Sherry haven't seen June in years, not since they all washed up in their boats. At the time, Sherry had been pregnant. Finch is her son, but he doesn't know it. Sherry got herself reassigned to the PADRE nursery to be close to Finch while Dwight, code named Red Kite, was assigned as a combat trainer. He'd been teaching combat and survival skills to his son for a while now, completely unbeknownst to Finch.
When Finch got sick they were on the way to the PADRE clinic. Then they were ambushed. June had no idea a child was on board the boat, but now that they've all found each other it's up to June to save Finch's life and perform the operation he needs.
Now that they're alone with their son, though, they decide that they've had quite enough of PADRE and plan to take Finch away from there for good. However, PADRE has other plans.
What was PADRE forcing June to do?
The reason June left PADRE was tied to the secret work she'd been doing off the radar. The train laboratory was where she experimented with bite victims, using radiation to cure them of the virus that ultimately turns them into walkers.
June had the idea for a possible cure after witnessing Alicia survive a walker bite. June guessed that exposure to radiation played a role in saving Alicia's life and preventing her from turning, so PADRE forced her to turn people and use radiotherapy in an attempt to cure them. She didn't agree with their methods and didn't want to do it, but PADRE managed to coerce her cooperation.
Technically, the radiation was working and keeping people from turning. However, the amount of radiation needed for it to work was lethal in itself. Despite the threat of death, given how close she was to finding a cure, PADRE wanted June to keep doing the work.
June learned her lesson when she was trying to save Adrian's (Jonathan Medina) daughter from a walker bite. She managed to keep her from turning, but she was so sick from the radiation that June felt she had to do the compassionate thing and end her life.
What happens to Dwight and Sherry's son?
When Shrike (Maya Eshet) arrives, she decides that everyone needs to learn a lesson. She inflicts a walker bite on Finch while he's still under anesthesia from his surgery. Now that he's been bitten, it's a race against time for June to get back to work finding a cure because she's Finch's only hope.
What does PADRE do to June?
June and her work are too valuable for PADRE to lose, so they can't kill her. They need her to save Finch's life. But that doesn't mean they can't punish her. Shrike cuts off June's index finger so that she can't shoot people anymore.
What happens to Morgan and Madison?
At the end of the episode, Morgan (Lennie James) and Madison (Kim Dickens) are being driven in a truck back to PADRE. Madison fakes a medical emergency, forcing the truck to stop. When the right moment arrives, she attacks the guards and buys Morgan enough time to escape.
Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9 pm ET/PT on AMC.
