Mother
- Episode aired May 20, 2021
- TV-MA
- 45m
IMDb RATING
7.6/10
2.7K
YOUR RATING
Alicia is held prisoner by Teddy; there, she reunites with old friends and must confront her past if she hopes to move on and escape.Alicia is held prisoner by Teddy; there, she reunites with old friends and must confront her past if she hopes to move on and escape.Alicia is held prisoner by Teddy; there, she reunites with old friends and must confront her past if she hopes to move on and escape.
Lennie James
- Morgan Jones
- (credit only)
Maggie Grace
- Althea Szewczyk-Przygocki
- (credit only)
Colman Domingo
- Victor Strand
- (voice)
Danay Garcia
- Luciana Galvez
- (credit only)
Austin Amelio
- Dwight
- (credit only)
Mo Collins
- Sarah Rabinowitz
- (credit only)
Alexa Nisenson
- Charlie
- (credit only)
Karen David
- Grace Mukherjee
- (credit only)
Christine Evangelista
- Sherry
- (credit only)
Colby Hollman
- Wes
- (credit only)
Jenna Elfman
- June Dorie
- (credit only)
Keith Carradine
- John Dorie Sr.
- (credit only)
Rubén Blades
- Daniel Salazar
- (credit only)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe Hotel with the Cold War bunker seems to be modeled on the Greenbrier Hotel in West Virginia. It was meant to house Congress in the event of a nuclear strike.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Talking Dead: J.D. (2021)
Featured review
This claustrophobic Alicia's character study is the perfect palate cleanser before the histrionics of the season finale
In a flashback, Teddy escapes from prison after it falls during the beginning of the apocalypse due to an executed prisoner turning into a zombie. In the present, as the cult prepares to move to a new home, Teddy decides to take Alicia and a recently-joining Dakota to recover and move his mother's body with Alicia holding off on killing Teddy until she learns of his plans. After running into a spike strip, Alicia is reunited with Cole whom she had believed died when the stadium fell. Cole reveals that Madison's sacrifice allowed him and many of the stadium's other residents to escape, but most of them died in an ambush a week later with the remainder, including Douglas and Vivian, becoming a gang of bandits that rob and kill other survivors, leaving their victims to reanimate.
As Cole's group prepares to execute Alicia, Teddy and Dakota, their reanimated victims attack, killing Douglas, Vivian and the other survivors. Unable to talk Cole down, Alicia kills him in self-defense, enraged and devastated that Cole had squandered her mother's sacrifice for him; Teddy reveals that the true purpose of the trip was to show Alicia how useless her mother's sacrifice was in the end. Teddy finally reveals that the keys go to a submarine that had washed up in Galveston, Texas and that they will allow him to use the sub's nuclear missiles to destroy what is left of the world. Alicia manages to broadcast a warning to Strand and is taken to the cult's hidden bunker beneath an old resort hotel where Teddy locks her in and explains that he believes that Alicia is the perfect person to lead the survivors when it is safe to emerge again.
This claustrophobic little character study is the perfect palate cleanser before the histrionics of the season finale. Alycia Dabnam-Carey and John Glover are great as is Zoe Colettii as a Dakota desperate to fit in and not that concerned about with who.
But oddly it's the plot not the characters that stick with you this time. This entire episode is an experiment, conducted by Teddy in which we and Alicia are unwitting subjects. We see him pick up his "mother", see him head back to the Old Stadium and see him save Alicia from himself in the closing seconds. It's all part of the plan, and clearly the plan of a dangerously criminally insane man, but the plan nonetheless. Glover shows us this with his customary avuncular charm too but weaponizes it in a way I've not seen before here. Teddy is playing the bumbling old man, cleverly utilizing what people see and turning it into what people think. We see a doddering old man until he's ready for us not to. Then we see the architect of a nihilistic future, delighted to have a playmate. It's remarkable work from a remarkable actor and really helps establish Teddy as a terrifying antagonist in almost no time.
Glover draws the attention but Dabnam-Carey anchors the episode. Her exhausted, unflappable approach is Strand and Madison to a tee and it feels oddly reassuring to have that energy back. Make no mistake, Alicia isn't fine, but she thinks she is and Teddy looks set to disavow her of that. Whether she emerges uncharged or not remains to be seen.
As Cole's group prepares to execute Alicia, Teddy and Dakota, their reanimated victims attack, killing Douglas, Vivian and the other survivors. Unable to talk Cole down, Alicia kills him in self-defense, enraged and devastated that Cole had squandered her mother's sacrifice for him; Teddy reveals that the true purpose of the trip was to show Alicia how useless her mother's sacrifice was in the end. Teddy finally reveals that the keys go to a submarine that had washed up in Galveston, Texas and that they will allow him to use the sub's nuclear missiles to destroy what is left of the world. Alicia manages to broadcast a warning to Strand and is taken to the cult's hidden bunker beneath an old resort hotel where Teddy locks her in and explains that he believes that Alicia is the perfect person to lead the survivors when it is safe to emerge again.
This claustrophobic little character study is the perfect palate cleanser before the histrionics of the season finale. Alycia Dabnam-Carey and John Glover are great as is Zoe Colettii as a Dakota desperate to fit in and not that concerned about with who.
But oddly it's the plot not the characters that stick with you this time. This entire episode is an experiment, conducted by Teddy in which we and Alicia are unwitting subjects. We see him pick up his "mother", see him head back to the Old Stadium and see him save Alicia from himself in the closing seconds. It's all part of the plan, and clearly the plan of a dangerously criminally insane man, but the plan nonetheless. Glover shows us this with his customary avuncular charm too but weaponizes it in a way I've not seen before here. Teddy is playing the bumbling old man, cleverly utilizing what people see and turning it into what people think. We see a doddering old man until he's ready for us not to. Then we see the architect of a nihilistic future, delighted to have a playmate. It's remarkable work from a remarkable actor and really helps establish Teddy as a terrifying antagonist in almost no time.
Glover draws the attention but Dabnam-Carey anchors the episode. Her exhausted, unflappable approach is Strand and Madison to a tee and it feels oddly reassuring to have that energy back. Make no mistake, Alicia isn't fine, but she thinks she is and Teddy looks set to disavow her of that. Whether she emerges uncharged or not remains to be seen.
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- fernandoschiavi
- Apr 27, 2024
Details
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- Runtime45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.78 : 1
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