Spoilers for Season 4, Episode 1 "What's Your Story?" of "Fear the Walking Dead" follow below.

As “Fear the Walking Dead” enters its fourth season, it’s welcoming the cross-over appearance of original show “The Walking Dead” character Morgan Jones. Morgan’s arc on “The Walking Dead” ended with him turning over a new leaf - and turning over his sharpened staff - in order to return to the non-violent being he was in the sixth season. In the season premiere of “Fear the Walking Dead,” we get to see how Morgan makes his way to Texas, and, inevitably, how he meets up with the cast of his new show.

Long road ahead

Morgan’s journey picks up right where it left off at the end of “The Walking Dead,” with him hiding from his friends in the Junkyard. After a few unwelcome visits, during which Jesus hits him with an “I’d like to continue our acquaintance” and Carol and Rick both bug him to come home, Morgan slips away, a dedicated hermit intent on getting his friends off his back.

During his travels, he avoids interactions with other people, save for one injured man he tries to offer aid to. He goes so far as to avoid having to put down walkers, and this begs the question: Is he so worried about his fragile ex-killer psyche that he’s afraid taking out a walker will send him spiraling back into madness?

It’s obvious he doesn’t trust himself around people, but his recovery is put to the test when he encounters another lonely soul on the Texas plains.

The kindness of strangers

Morgan runs upon a man named John Dorie, who offers him food and his cab to sleep in for the night. Like Morgan, he’s been alone for a while, saying he’d taken to talking to himself just to hear a voice.

Morgan, in typical Morgan fashion, stays until John is asleep then leaves quietly, not as eager for a friend. But when Morgan encounters a group of rough men, John comes to his rescue, and the two of them are subsequently rescued by a third stranger, Al. They leave with Al, a journalist with a SWAT truck, and in return for saving them she asks them to tell her their “story.” Morgan resists, but after a series of events that leave him with a walker and human blood on his hands again, he complies, only revealing a few details before disappearing again into the distance.

‘I lose people and then I lose myself’

A reoccurring problem of Morgan’s is that he can’t just kill a little bit. He’s either the most zen guy around, or he slaughters anyone that even hints at danger for the ones he loves. Though he is currently in the “I don’t kill” stage of his cycle, Morgan understands that getting attached to John and Al, or any people he might come across, spells emotional and mental disaster for himself. But then he puts down a walker, the animated corpse of the man who refused his help earlier in the episode in order to die alone, and maybe, just maybe, he realizes that isn’t what he wants for himself.

What comes next?

The episode ended with Morgan, John, and Al in trouble again, captured by the stars of “Fear the Walking Dead,” and next episode will surely get the plot of the season going.

How will Morgan fit in with this new Texas crew? Will they let him and his new allies join their group?

Though previously I was more of a casual viewer rather than avid watcher of “Fear the Walking Dead,” I am interested to see how Morgan’s journey continues and how the characters continue to grow this season. Catch my weekly recaps/episode analyses every Monday after an episode airs.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED