WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 10, "Handle With Care," which aired Sunday on AMC.
This week's episode of Fear the Walking Dead returned focus to the protagonists with Virginia out of the picture. Now established at their new home, Morgan and Daniel strive to keep the group safe, suspecting an even bigger threat lurks on the horizon. When Morgan leaves for a supply run, things go bad. As Daniel struggles to hold everything together, evidence points to a traitor in the group. However, Daniel unknowingly committed the crimes, delivering a storyline that is straight out of Fight Club.
In Morgan's newly established settlement, there are rules. The primary one being no weapons are allowed inside the wall. When Strand returns with Sherry and the other Outcasts, they begrudgingly check their guns at the front gate. From there, they are stored in a shed only Morgan and Daniel have keys to. While the reunited groups discuss the possibility of a new threat, an unexpected explosion occurs. Before they can decide whether the incident was accidental or not, a horde of walkers approaches. The group demands their weapons from Daniel. When he reluctantly goes to retrieve them, he discovers they're gone.
The missing weapons spark paranoia and outrage. Daniel, convinced there is a traitor among them, singles out Strand, who characteristically broke the rules and snuck in a gun. He imprisons and interrogates an innocent Strand. However, when Morgan returns, saving them from the undead, he makes a shocking discovery. The "traitor" in question is Daniel.
Although he doesn't remember doing it, evidence suggests Daniel moved the guns into his shed. He also sent Grace and Charlie to a dangerous location, instead of Morgan's shack as he recalls doing. While he's sure they misheard him, Grace and Charlie remove a map with an area he circled for proof. Stunned, Daniel seeks help from June. After running tests, she clears him of any neurological problems. She suggests his issue is psychological, and he is repressing memories due to trauma.
While Daniel does not hallucinate another persona, his storyline loosely parallels the Narrator in Fight Club. After the Narrator meets Tyler Durden on a flight, the two form an unusual bond and ultimately start a popular Fight Club. However, the Narrator grows wary of Tyler as he increasingly participates in more debauchery and violence. The film's conclusion reveals the Narrator and Tyle are the same person. Realizing Tyler is his self-sabotager, the Narrator shoots through his own cheek, killing Tyler.
Much like at the Gonzalez Dam, Daniel feels responsible for the new settlement's safety. Considering people were killed and the dam destroyed, he fears relaxing too much will result in the same fate for Morgan's settlement. However, much like Fight Club's Narrator, Daniel unknowingly self-sabotages. Ironically, Strand shot Daniel in the cheek in Season 3, causing him to bear the same mark as the Narrator/Tyler.
Overall, Fear the Walking Dead's "Handle With Care" explores many of the same themes as Fight Club, including violence, societal breakdown and even masculinity, exemplified by Daniel's apparent "savior complex." While the stories vastly differ, the revelation that Daniel was the traitor all along delivers the same shocking punch as Fight Club's plot twist.
Although Daniel confirms this repression has happened before, there remains the possibility he is innocent. For one, the audience never sees Daniel stealing the weapons. Two, there is still the matter of the mysterious "The End is the Beginning" people. Despite being a ruthless villain, even Virginia feared them. Without confirmation as to how they operate, it's possible they infiltrated Morgan's settlement and framed Daniel to incite paranoia and distrust among the group, which would be a twist within a twist that not even Fight Club could match.
Fear the Walking Dead stars Lennie James, Rubén Blades, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Maggie Grace, Garret Dillahunt, Jenna Elfman, Alexa Nisenson, Karen David, Austin Amelio, Mo Collins, Zoe Colletti and Christine Evangelista. New episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT on AMC.