Fear the Walking Dead’s season finale moved all the action to the hospital and then the beach for its extended farewell.

“Wow” is all I can say after the final episode of the season. After a great start and a rocky middle, Fear closed out its freshman run with a very impressive sendoff that has us cautiously optimistic about the already-announced season 2.

To the hospital!

With Operation Cobalt in effect, Kim and Travis have decided to head east. But first, they and Daniel need to head to the hospital to pick up their loved ones. Daniel wants to keep soldier Andy in custody (or kill him) so they can easily find their loved ones, but Travis goes behind his back and frees him after getting the info he needs. This, as we learn later, is a big mistake.

Moving over to the hospital quickly is of the utmost importance, as the hospital and Liza are planning to move to Edward’s Air Force Base.

The group arrives at the hospital and brings a huge group of walkers along with them to cause a distraction. The soldiers are taken off guard and clearly haven’t learned anything from watching The Walking Dead: They decide to fire their weapons rapidly at the walkers, not realizing that this will only call more walkers to their location. This turn of events also forces Liza and Dr. Exner to scrap the evac plans.

With things going to hell at the prison, Strand decides it’s time for him and Nick to go. But wait, where’s the gate key he showed off last week? This Strand isn’t as smooth as he seems — Nick swiped his key when he wasn’t looking. These guys are two peas in a pod! Strand and Nick leave their cell (without saving anyone else, on Strand’s orders) and head for someone or something called Abigail.

Liza tries to flee the hospital just as Travis, Madison, and Daniel make it into the quarantine zone. They miss Nick by minutes, and despite him not helping anyone out, at least one quarantined person directs them towards where Nick went. In thanks, Travis and Madison free as many of the quarantined as possible.

Minute 34: Mark it as one of the most exciting moments in Fear. Nick and his family find one another in the mayhem, but they’re separated by a locked door. Liza shows up at just the right moment and is able to unlock it. This was a brief but very intense moment in which a mother almost watched her son get eaten.

New rules

The final third of the show slowed things down, but not in a bad way.

Liza offers Dr. Exner an invite to come with them but — like a captain in her sinking ship — she wants to stay behind. Liza also has the bad job of informing Daniel and his daughter that their wife and mother has died due to the infection. In a way, it foreshadowed what was to come for Liza.

With everyone reunited, the group heads back to the garage to pick up their car… but discovers there’s no car. Chris and Alicia reveal that a few of the soldiers stole it.

Speaking of soldiers, Andy shows up and tries to kill them. Daniel was right about this asshole!

Andy fires at Ofelia, but Travis ditches his good guy hat and lunges at him. He proceeds to beat the shit out of Andy and kill him. Finally, Travis has realized he needs to be tough to survive in this world. Has a whole new Travis arrived?

And so, we’re on the road. The sun has risen and the family is driving towards the beach, where Strand has a home. It’s a little strange they agreed so quickly to Stranger Strand’s offer, but I guess they had no other options.

It turns out Strand… is… a wealthy man. He has a hilltop home overlooking the Pacific Ocean complete with generators!

Unfortunately they’re not staying in this beautiful home for long, because Strand has an even better plan: It turns out the “Abigail” he mentioned earlier isn’t a girl, exactly. It’s a massive yacht sitting comfortably offshore. It’s a smart plan — surely walkers can’t swim, right?

Let’s all go to the boat! Who doesn’t love a yacht party? Sadly, their pre-game is a major downer: Liza discovers she was bitten at the hospital and knows that it’s time to die. She tries asking Madison to kill her, but their heart to heart is interrupted by Travis. He’s initially in denial about the situation (“surely the meds can fix you!”) but he comes around when Liza insists there’s no hope.

And then, Travis decides to do the deed.

Liza’s story is tragic but beautiful. She died trying to save others — her passion was helping those who were ill. It was heartbreaking to see her go, and even more heartbreaking for her ex-husband to kill her while she still looked so healthy.

And Travis… wow. VIP of the episode for sure.

This episode of Fear the Walking Dead was easily one of the best. From the excitement in the hospital to the very emotional ending, “The Good Man” made us believe in what’s ahead for Fear.