After Sunday’s very busy mid-season premiere that caught us up with all of the characters, this week’s episode takes it down a notch. In a rare bottle episode, Alicia (Alycia Debnam-Carey)  and Charlie (Alexa Nisenson)  are the only characters we see the entire hour, and while bottle episodes are often dubbed “boring,” this one is nothing but. With the history of these two, quite honestly anything could happen.

In sociology, it is often theorized that 2 people — even those who are mortal enemies — can find common ground and overcome their differences when they become united against a common foe. This has been depicted many, many times in both television and film, and I can remember one specific example from back when I was a young “Trekkie” some 15 years ago. In one particular episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the Federation are enemies with a particular alien race. But, when Captain Picard and the leader of the alien group are isolated on a planet and must defend themselves against a very aggressive alien life form, an amazing thing happens. While they are working together and planning their attack against this alien entity, they also have the time to actually get to know one another, and by the end of the episode, the 2 men had forged a friendship and eventually become allies. Of course, as I mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph — this is just a **theory**. There have also been instances where the 2 people end up killing each other!

Anyways, a similar situation arises this Sunday on Fear. By chance — or perhaps just plain bad luck — both Alicia and Charlie seek refuge from the storm in the same abandoned house. As you might expect, the turbulence inside that house becomes almost as intense as what’s outside. Fearing that she will end up killing Charlie, Alicia immediately tries to leave, but that doesn’t work out, and the 2 are forced to come together if they want to survive the storm, as well as the large group of walkers who have been drawn to the noise of their boarding up the windows. Of course, I can’t reveal how it all ends, but I will say these 2 characters do learn a great deal about each other. It is finally revealed what happened to Charlie’s parents and even what vacation her family was planning before the apocalypse hit.  We also learn what Alicia’s favorite past time was in her old life, and it turns out to be something Charlie always wanted to do but never got the chance. Perhaps the most interesting part is the striking difference of who these characters are at the beginning of the episode vs. who they become by the end.

All in all, “Close Your Eyes” is a solid episode and in my opinion, much more compelling than last week’s mid-season premiere. How the arc will play out for these 2 characters will keep you guessing until the very end, and it all culminates with a surprising twist that you won’t see coming. What’s more, both actresses give stellar performances, especially Alycia Debnam-Carey. Her character goes from determined to angry to sad all the way back to determined in just a matter of minutes, and Debnam-Carey pulls it off without a hitch. For those who may have wondered why the new writing and production team chose to keep the Alicia Clark character but ditch the rest of the season 1 cast except for Strand, this episode should make that clear.

Episode 4.10 of Fear The Walking Dead  is titled “Close Your Eyes” and airs Sunday at 9/8c on AMC.

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