"King County" is the fourth episode of the eighth season of AMC's Fear the Walking Dead. It is the one-hundred and fifth episode of the series overall. It premiered on June 4, 2023. It was written by Andrew Chambliss & Ian Goldberg and directed by Kenneth Requa.

Plot[]

Morgan returns to King County but things quickly get complicated.

Synopsis[]

Morgan, now armed with a makeshift staff created out of what appears to be a large wooden stake, stops by a fallen and overgrown road sign for King County, Georgia. Morgan makes his way into King County, which has been partially reclaimed by nature in the years since he abandoned it, passing by a small herd of walkers that is distracted by eating a pair of skunks. Approaching a house with a walker growling inside, Morgan calls out "sorry it took me so long. I'm here. Duane?" Hallucinating Duane's voice calling out to him, Morgan loses his courage, and he runs away. Loudly declaring that he can do it and kill all of them, Morgan draws the attention of the walkers eating the skunks and he quickly dispatches them all effortlessly with his staff. Falling to his knees in despair amidst the carnage, Morgan begins crying, apologizing that "I'm sorry, Duane. Duane, I can't do it. I don't know why I can't do it!"

Morgan is drawn out of his despair by the sounds of a vehicle nearby. Investigating, Morgan spots a PADRE truck slowly driving through the nearby streets. Morgan ambushes the driver, only to find Grace who tells Morgan that he had asked her to come, confusing Morgan as he didn't. Grace explains that she was working at the repeater station and got an SOS from Morgan, one that was coded like they had talked about. Morgan is disturbed as no one knew that he was coming to King County unless someone followed him. Morgan chides Grace for listening to her audio book as he could've been a walker sneaking up on her, but she quickly dismisses his concerns, noticing the skunk smell on Morgan.

As Grace questions what he's doing so far inland, Morgan notices a noise in the back of her truck, and they find a hiding Mo. Morgan chides the two for coming, believing that they are just going to get themselves killed and asking if Mo got the same message as Grace. However, Mo reveals that she was the one who had sent the message, having been told by Madison that Morgan was going to do something important. Morgan is pleased to hear that Madison got away, but Morgan didn't tell Madison where he was going. However, Mo figured it out for herself based on the graffiti that she saw on Morgan's Houseboat about King County and his attempts to lie to her about it not being important. Exasperated but proud, Morgan admits that his daughter is so much smarter than she has any right to be, getting a laugh out of Grace.

Mo asks if this has to do with Jenny and Duane as their names were on the houseboat wall too. Morgan tries to get his girlfriend and daughter to leave, but Grace explains that Jenny and Duane are Morgan's wife and son and asks if they're why he's here. Morgan finally admits that he came back to King County to put his son to rest as Duane is still a walker. Morgan asks how Mo figured out their code "Dock of the Bay", and Mo explains that she knew that song meant something to him and her mother, asking if she can call Grace Mom who immediately agrees. Mo had deduced that if she played it at the end of the message, Grace would think that it was Morgan. Mo knew that if she told Grace the truth, she probably wouldn't have brought her along with her to King County. Mo jokingly asks if this is what it feels like to get in trouble with your parents, but Morgan is more concerned about her getting into trouble with PADRE. Mo explains that Daniel helped her get away, surprising Morgan and Grace that he's still alive, and that Daniel is building an army of other parents to take PADRE down. Mo wants them to help Daniel do that, but Morgan needs to finish what he came back to King County for first.

Morgan leads his family back to the house where he lost Duane and explains that "we were looking for food. Man, we were always looking for food and I went down into the basement and told him to stay in the kitchen. I don't know, maybe the door was ajar. The front door because when I came up, there she was, his mother standing right opposite him, but she wasn't his mother anymore. Before I could even get my gun up, Jenny was on top of him. I finally did what I should've done weeks before. I, uh, I... I... I fired. But it was too late." Grace expresses her sympathizes to Morgan who finishes "it was just blood. God, the blood and the teeth and... and... I don't know. I just ran. You know, I ran like I didn't know what else to do. I ran and left him here. Left my boy to become one of them." Mo asks where Morgan went, but Morgan admits that he doesn't know as Morgan's period of insanity after losing his family is a blur that comes back to him in pieces. Morgan only knows that he started killing everything in front of him that moved whether it was alive or dead. Grace questions whether Morgan is up for this, and he believes that he is, but that he should go in alone. However, Mo wants them both to go with him, telling Morgan that he needs some new clothes, but they're still here which should tell Morgan that they won't let him go inside alone and Grace backs her up.

Before they can go inside, a flare shoots into the air and Grace reassures Morgan that she was careful. The three hide as Dwight and Sherry arrive on horses and Dwight calls out to Morgan that there's nowhere to go, surprising Mo that her father knows Red Kite. Morgan explains that he's the reason that Dwight is at PADRE, and he orders Grace and Mo to remain in hiding while he goes out to confront his old friends alone. The two explain that they're here to take Morgan back to PADRE, having intercepted the message to Grace. Although it was coded, Dwight and Sherry know Morgan well enough to figure it out and are firm that Morgan needs to go back with them. Morgan realizes that Padre has Finch and is using him as leverage which Sherry confirms, telling Morgan that if they bring him back, Padre will give them the freedom to go wherever they want. Morgan points out how unlikely Padre is to keep his word, but Dwight and Sherry know that something worse than what has already happened to Finch will happen to him if they don't bring Morgan back. "You sold us out seven years ago to rescue your kid, we're just returning the favor."

A walker appears nearby and heads for Grace and Mo. Morgan goes to stop it, but Dwight takes care of it instead with a hatchet and discovers the hiding Grace and Mo in the process. The couple is shocked to see them, and Mo admits that they technically came without Morgan's permission. Dwight and Sherry are conflicted about what to do with this turn of events as a woman calls in asking if they need assistance. Dwight suggests that Morgan takes off with Grace and Mo while he and Sherry find some walkers that look similar enough to them so that they can fake Morgan, Grace and Mo's deaths like Dwight and Al did when they ran from Virginia. However, Morgan knows that it might not work this time and it will only put Finch's life on the line if it doesn't work. Although Sherry isn't willing to take the chance either, Dwight points out that they can't tell Finch that they traded another kid for his freedom, causing her to relent. Dwight warns Morgan that they have two guards babysitting them and Dwight and Sherry rode ahead to sweep the town, so Morgan needs to make his decision right now before they catch up. Morgan is unwilling to leave without finishing what he came to King County to do first and he runs off with Grace and Mo as Dwight and Sherry move to block the entrance.

As another herd closes in, Morgan leads Grace and Mo to an abandoned house, finding it to be clear of walkers. Morgan directs them to oil lamps in the cupboards and a rifle that might be up on the second floor in the front bedroom and extra ammo in a shoebox under the bed. Morgan knows that they're going to need the gun as walkers are going to find them before Dwight and Sherry do. As he adjusts the blackout curtains over the windows, Grace demands to know how Morgan knows where everything is in this house. Morgan admits that he'd lived in the house with Duane before he died, and a concerned Grace asks if Morgan is sure that being here is a good idea. However, when prompted by Morgan, Grace doesn't have a better idea.

That night, after masking the skunk smell on himself using tomato soup, Morgan shares a story with Mo about how Duane's dog Mitch had once gotten too close to the wrong end of a skunk and, with the dog needing to be where Duane was at, Morgan and Jenny had bathed her in tomato soup, resulting in such a horrible smell that Duane wouldn't touch the stuff even when he and Morgan hadn't eaten in days. Mo asks if how things used to be was nice and whether or not he thinks it will ever be like that again, but Morgan tells her that he would say that it wasn't bad and he thinks that if they do things right, they might have the chance to make it even better and give everybody the second chance that they deserve. Morgan apologizes for his harsh words before about how he and Grace aren't Mo's parents, reassuring his daughter that they are in every way that matters. Mo already knows and she understands what Morgan had been trying to do when he'd told her that they aren't. Morgan tells Mo that Isaac and Rachel are her parents too and that they had sacrificed their lives so that Mo would survive.

Hearing walkers outside, Grace sends Mo upstairs, and she warns Morgan that they can't stay. There are too many walkers outside and they are going to lead Dwight and Sherry here. However, Morgan believes that the herd will head off soon and when they do, Morgan wants Grace to take Mo as far north as her truck will get them. Morgan still needs to take care of Duane and then he will catch up with Grace and Mo and they can regroup with Madison and Daniel. Grace argues with Morgan about how he wants a second chance, but Morgan is insistent that he needs to lay Duane to rest. Grace compares what Morgan's doing to what she was doing when they first met: risking his life for someone who is already dead. The two argue about Morgan's refusal to leave when Dwight and Sherry gave them the chance and their conflicting priorities over their children. Morgan needs to do this as it's the only way that he can give Mo what she needs because Morgan needs to know that he won't let her down like he did with Duane. "You're so scared of the past repeating itself that you don't even realize that you're the one who's making it happen. And now we're trapped in this house that you and Duane lived because you brought us here," states Grace.

Dwight interrupts their argument over the radio, telling Morgan that they know he's inside and instructing him to look out of the window. Morgan sends a spying Mo upstairs and looks outside where Dwight, Sherry and two others are on horseback and walkers attempt to get through the door. Dwight urges Morgan to be smart about this while Grace tells Morgan that whatever happened in this house with Duane, it doesn't have to happen with them. Morgan agrees to listen, and Dwight tells him that they're trying to make this easy on him, but Morgan's the one making it hard, and he doesn't need to make it any harder. Grace suggests that they can still make the deal, but Morgan recognizes that it's too late for that. Morgan tells an impatient Dwight that he can keep waiting as the walkers outside are bigger problem for him than they are Morgan's family. Seeing more walkers approaching, Sherry cuts in and offers their help with what Morgan needs to take care of, telling Morgan that Padre thinks that Morgan came out here for a reason, although he thinks that it's weapons or soldiers for an attack. Morgan explains that his son died in one of the houses close by and Morgan came back to bury him. Although sympathetic, Dwight and Sherry have their own son to think about and Dwight has Oriole and the other guard shoot off flares to draw in more walkers, warning Morgan that the house won't hold when it's surrounded by every walker within 10 miles.

Mo calls Morgan upstairs where they find more of Morgan's crazy writings on the walls. However, Morgan doesn't remember ever coming back to the house after Duane died. Morgan finds a rifle sitting next to the window and, picking it up, explains that "Jenny was always outside. She would wander back here most nights, I don't know if it's 'cause she heard us in here, or she could smell us, but I would... I'd sit and wait. Wanted to put her to rest, didn't want Duane to have to see his mother like that. A man named Rick Grimes gave me this rifle to do right by her and I... never could." Morgan guesses that he must've come back to the house after Duane died and Mo asks why he wrote all of this and what "Clear" means. Morgan explains that things went wrong for him for a long time and Clear was when he was killing anything and anyone who came near him.

Mo finds Morgan's dusty photo album and both Grace and Mo, looking at the pictures, tell Morgan that they like it when he smiles, and Grace recalls the first time that she saw him smile on the carousel. Grace wonders what they've been doing these past seven years and Morgan tells her that they've been doing what they thought they had to. Mo asks if her parents ever saw each other and Morgan admits that they did now and then as they had to hide what they mean to each other from Padre so that he couldn't use it against them. Grace tearfully apologizes for wasting all of that time before Dwight has more flares launched to hurry them up.

Taking aim out of the window, Morgan hallucinates a walker as Jenny before seeing that it's actually a walker that's partially on fire heading for the house. Morgan realizes that the PADRE forces are trying to burn them out, but Oriole puts the walker down as a curtesy kill with a warning from Dwight that the next one they light on fire keeps walking. Morgan tries to reason with Dwight, but he is unmoved and gives Morgan five minutes to turn himself over before he sends another flaming walker up on the porch. Morgan regrets not taking the earlier deal and thus putting his family in danger, but Mo reassures her father that he made the right choice, and they just can't abandon Daniel and Madison.

Grace tells Morgan that they just have to get back to her truck while Mo believes that Morgan can stop the walkers before they can get to the house so they can make it to the truck. "You just have to Clear for us." Morgan warns his daughter that it's not that simple, but Mo tells him that this is his second chance while Grace suggests that this is what Morgan needs to show himself that things can be different. Morgan is reluctant as Dwight and Sherry are outside and Padre will hurt their son if Morgan and his family get past them, but Mo tells him that Padre won't if they can help Daniel take the island first. "She's right, Morgan. Rick -- he gave you this gun for a reason. Use it," agrees Grace. Morgan finally agrees to their plan.

Gathering in front of the door, Grace instructs Morgan, who straps a belt full of bullets to himself, to aim for the walkers in the center while Grace takes the ones to the side and Mo stays behind her. Morgan adds that if they can get through the scrum, walkers will follow them and make it hard for Dwight and Sherry to get close. Morgan will cover them and when he says, Grace and Mo need to take a hard right and not stop until they are at the truck. Grace reassures Morgan that he can do this and reiterates her apology for wasting so much time, a sentiment that Morgan returns. Much to the disgust of their daughter, Morgan and Grace kiss.

Rushing outside, Morgan shoots several walkers in their way while Grace uses Morgan's staff to hold back a few others and Mo takes out a walker with her sledgehammer. However, Morgan hesitates after once again hallucinating that a walker is Jenny and several walkers break through the porch railing in front of Mo. Struggling to hold back some more walkers, Grace orders her daughter to go back inside the house. Grace notices that the walker that Morgan is hesitating to shoot is on fire and calls out to him as Morgan struggles to break through his hallucination of Jenny. Grace saves Morgan from a walker coming at him from behind, putting it down with his staff, and the burning walker is shot by Oriole and the other guard. Dwight and Sherry demand answers as to why Morgan is really here, and Morgan reiterates that he's here for his son. Dwight orders Morgan to show them as it's the only way that Padre's ever going to believe him.

Morgan, Grace and the PADRE forces enter the house where Duane died, and Morgan tells them that they can take him back to Padre if they have to after Morgan shows them that he's telling the truth. Morgan asks for them to get Mo out of the house which is surrounded by walkers in return and Sherry promises to make sure that she's okay. A walker rattles a door, causing Morgan to hesitate and ask Dwight for his hatchet so that he can be the one to put his son down. After Morgan promises that he won't try anything, Dwight agrees and hands over his weapon. On Morgan's signal, Dwight opens the door and Morgan puts down the walker with the hatchet, but it's clearly not Duane. While there's no sign of his son, Morgan finds Jenny's corpse in the next room, a bullet hole in her forehead. Morgan tearfully covers up his wife's body and yells for his son, insisting that Duane has to be here. Dwight and Grace attempt to comfort Morgan with Grace guessing that Duane must've gotten out at some point. Morgan is devastated that he waited too long and as a result, Morgan lost his chance to put his son to rest and he put Grace and Mo in danger for nothing.

The guard orders Morgan on his feet, stating that Shrike wants answers and demanding to know why Morgan really came here. Grace insists that Morgan is telling the truth about having come to the house for his son, but she doesn't believe him and reports to Shrike that Morgan was lying and his kid isn't there. Shrike orders the guard to kill Morgan if he won't tell them why he's in King County, but despite Grace and Dwight's attempts to intercede, Morgan simply challenges Oriole to kill him, going so far as to press the barrel of the man's gun to his head. Exchanging a look, Dwight and Sherry suddenly turn on the PADRE guards, bashing them both over the head and killing them.

Morgan chides his friends for their actions, but Dwight and Sherry are unwilling to watch Morgan get killed in cold blood and he is not the only one trying to escape his past. Dwight compares what PADRE is making them do to living at the Sanctuary all over again. Morgan is worried that Finch will end up just like Duane and he isn't willing to have that on him. Shrike calls in for a report and Morgan warns Dwight that Padre is going to kill Finch. Dwight responds to a visibly frustrated Shrike and demands to talk to Finch so that he can know his son's okay. Shrike gives Finch the mic and Finch tells Dwight that he thinks the treatment worked. A confused Finch asks what's going on, but Dwight instructs his son to use the Chimney Sweep move that Dwight taught him in class. Acting fast, Finch knocks Shrike headfirst into a table using a stool, knocking her unconscious. Dwight tells Finch to board a morning supply boat that leaves in 20 minutes, promising that he and Sherry will meet Finch at the dock when he lands. After Dwight reassures Finch that he and Sherry believe in him, Finch runs off to make his escape. Before leaving to meet the boat, Dwight tells Morgan that, whatever happened here, Morgan has a chance to make things different with Mo.

Grace contacts Mo, telling her that they are on their way to drive the walkers away and Mo needs to keep away from the door. Morgan tells Grace that she needs to go alone as she's their daughter's best shot, reminding Grace that he had frozen outside of the house. Grace tearfully tells Morgan that she had listening to a book at double speed in the truck and reveals that she's sick because the radiation has finally caught up with her and she can feel it. Morgan reminds Grace that she was wrong before, but this time it's different and Grace really is sick. While it's not what Morgan wants to hear, especially now, he has to get Mo out of that house. Grace admits that she's known about her illness for a few months: after she started feeling sick, Grace found a hospital and did a scan that confirmed it. "I'm paying the price for chasing the dead, Morgan, and I don't want you to do the same. You can't do the same!" Morgan promises that he's going to get Mo and then they're going to spend some time together as a family. However, when Morgan contacts Mo, she reveals that one of the flares set the house on fire and it's spreading.

Outside of the burning house, Morgan begins shooting the walkers and he orders Mo to get to the attic since she can't get out, promising that he's coming for her. In the attic, Mo finds more of Morgan's crazy writing and the growls of a walker while Morgan hesitates after once again hallucinating the walkers as Jenny. Mo finds a walker chained to the attic wall and realizes that it's actually Duane. As Morgan fights through the hallucination and shoots the walkers outside, part of the celling collapses, trapping Mo with the zombified Duane. Entering the attic, Morgan sees that his writings spell out "DUANE YOU STAY THERE" and Morgan is shocked to realize that at some point, he brought Duane back to the house where they had been living and chained him up in the attic. As the trapped Mo struggles to free herself and Duane reaches for her, Morgan takes aim at Duane with the very same rifle that he had failed to put Duane's mother down with years before, but he once again hesitates to shoot as his daughter pleads for him to do it. As Mo shouts encouragement at him, Morgan remembers Duane as he was when he was still alive before Morgan finally shoots Duane in the head, putting his son to rest at last. Looking at her adoptive brother's corpse, Mo tells her father that she's fine and he did it. Morgan helps free Mo, and they escape.

The next morning, outside of the completely burned down house, Morgan buries his wife and son's bodies together. Laying flowers on the grave, Morgan promises his family that he'll be back after taking care of a few things and it won't take him 10 years this time. Morgan is finally at peace over the loss of his family and Grace reminds Morgan that he didn't let it happen again which is what matters. Morgan declares that they're going to help Madison and Daniel beat PADRE and reunite every child who still has a parent out there, do what they said they were going to do and spend as much time together as they can. Grace tearfully remembers that Morgan had once told her that, no matter what was coming, she had to live, so that's what they're going to do. The two decide to keep Grace's illness from their daughter for the time being.

In the house's wreckage, Mo finds Morgan's slightly scorched but still intact photo album and she starts going through it, telling Morgan that he needs something to help him remember what they were like before. A walker suddenly bursts out of the rubble and grabs Mo, but Grace pulls her daughter to safety and Morgan bashes the walker's head in with his rifle butt. While Mo is unharmed, a terrified Grace has been bitten on the side of her stomach by the walker.

At the dock, Dwight and Sherry observe the supply boat, but there's no sign of Finch getting off. Much to their surprise and relief, Finch sneaks up behind his parents who are happily reunited with their son. Hearing an engine, the three hide, fearful that the PADRE guards have found them. Instead, Morgan races up in Grace's truck and he shoots the two guards dead. Morgan reveals to Dwight and Sherry that Grace got bit and that he needs their help. The two confirm that June's treatment on Finch has been working and Morgan tells them that Grace's only chance is for them to get her to June. Dwight, Sherry, Mo, Finch, Morgan and Grace race off in the PADRE boat and Morgan urges Grace to hold on, promising that June can fix this. Grace is doubtful, but Morgan tells her that they have to live no matter what and Grace promises him that she will.

Other Cast[]

Co-Stars[]

• Keisha Tillis as Jenny Jones
• Brittany Altenbach as Guard

Uncredited[]

• Unknown as Oriole
• Adrian Kali Turner as Duane Jones (Photograph; Archive Footage; Zombified)

Deaths[]

• Oriole
• PADRE Guard 3
• Duane Jones (Zombified)
• 2 unnamed PADRE guards
• 2 skunks

Trivia[]

• First appearance (in Fear continuity) of Jenny Jones. (Corpse)
• First appearance (in Fear continuity) of Duane Jones. (Zombified)
• Only appearance of Oriole. (Physically)
• The title of the episode, "King County", refers to King County, Georgia.
• This episode was made available for streaming to subscribers of AMC Premiere on June 1, 2023.
• This episode marks Morgan's return to King County after leaving it a decade earlier in "Here's Not Here".
  • It's also the first time King County appears in Fear the Walking Dead.
    • It is the second time a TV Series location appears in Fear the Walking Dead. The first being The Heaps in "What's Your Story?".
• Morgan reveals that he doesn't remember much of the period of insanity that he went into after his family died, only having the occasional recollection of it.
  • Morgan didn't remember ever going back to the Drake Family Home after Duane's death for example, having apparently blocked out returning there with Duane and chaining him up. He apparently went back at least once between "Clear" and his original departure from King County as Rick found the gun that he left for Morgan in Morgan's hideout in "Clear" but it's back in the house in "King County".
  • Morgan's inability to remember what happened while he was insane and his apparently blocking out what actually happened is presumably why he'd marked Rick's neighborhood as Burned Out in "Clear" when it's clearly still intact in "King County".
• This episode contains several callbacks to "Days Gone Bye", "Clear", and "Here's Not Here".
  • The story that Morgan tells Grace and Mo is similar to the one that he told Rick in "Clear".
  • Morgan's crazy writings on the walls of the Drake Family Home match his ramblings from "Here's Not Here". In addition, they are similar to his writings from both "Clear" and "Here's Not Here".
  • Morgan tells Grace that the herd will eventually move on, the same thing that he told Rick in "Days Gone Bye" during Rick's night in the house with Morgan and his son.
  • Morgan's explanation of what Clear means is the same explanation that he gave to Eastman in "Here's Not Here".
  • Morgan finds the gun that Rick had left for him in "Days Gone Bye" when they had first parted, and he explains how Rick had given it to him and how Morgan had failed to use it to put down Jenny.
  • Morgan's hallucinations of the walkers as Jenny have them taking on the same appearance of the zombified Jenny from "Days Gone Bye".
  • Mo finds Morgan's family photo album from "Days Gone Bye". Morgan had told Rick that Jenny packed it while Morgan had focused on packing survival gear.
• References to "The Hurt That Will Happen", "210 Words Per Minute", "Channel 5", "End of the Line" and "Honey" are made as well.
  • Dwight mentions how he and Al had faked their deaths for Virginia in "Honey".
  • Morgan and Grace mention riding the carousel together in "210 Words Per Minute".
  • Grace reveals that she is sick and dying from the radiation which she had told Morgan and Alicia would eventually happen in "The Hurt That Will Happen".
  • After Grace reveals that she's sick from the radiation, Morgan mentions that she had thought that before and she was wrong which is a reference to "210 Words Per Minute", "Channel 5" and "End of the Line" where Grace became sick, but it turned out that she was just pregnant and malnourished.
  • Grace is listening to an audio book at twice the speed which she was doing in "210 Words Per Minute" when she last thought that she was dying. Both times it's a sign that Grace believes that she doesn't have long left to live.
  • Grace mentions finding a hospital and getting a scan to be sure this time. Previously, in "210 Words Per Minute", she had considered doing that at the clinic in the Bridgeview Mall to find out for sure, but Grace had changed her mind in the end. This time, she went through with the scan.
• This is one of the few episodes of Fear the Walking Dead to adapt a story from the Comic Series, albeit not directly.

Comic Parallels[]

• A zombified Duane being chained up in the attic by Morgan is similar to Issue 58 where Morgan chained up Duane in his house's basement. However, unlike in this episode, Morgan was never able to put his son down and instead set him loose before leaving the house for good in Issue 59. Morgan also never had the chance to return as he ends up dying in Issue 82.

Episode Highlights[]

• Grace and Mo follow Morgan to King's County, where Grace reveals to Morgan she is terminally ill with cancer brought on by her long exposure to radiation.
• Morgan finally puts his undead son Duane to rest after he finds Duane attacking Mo.
• Grace is bitten on the stomach after a walker lunges at Mo from the rubble and Grace tries to protect her.

Goofs/Errors[]

• Grace recalls the first time that she saw Morgan smile was in "210 Words Per Minute" which Morgan states was when they were on the carousel. However, it was actually earlier in the episode when he was using a remote-control car to draw a herd away because it reminded Morgan of playing with Duane with a similar car.