After everything that happened last week, it seems that Fear the Walking Dead may have jumped the shark with its latest episode, as it's the show's most ridiculous one yet. Fear the Walking Dead season 5, episode 6, "The Little Prince", begins with all the classic tropes that have come to be associated with The Walking Dead franchise on television; all of the characters come together, the leading actor gives a rousing speech, and then a wrench is quickly thrown into their plan to either survive or escape.
So far in Fear the Walking Dead season 5, viewers have been treated to radioactive zombies, a bullet splitting in two in order to kill two walkers, and then a super-secret paramilitary organization who appear to have unlimited resources, including helicopters. But all of that could be chalked up to standard post-apocalyptic fare for The Walking Dead. What's changed in Fear the Walking Dead's latest episode, "The Little Prince", is how two characters managed to traverse an entire mountain range.
Even though the season started out with a plane crash, it was something that could conceivably have happened in the apocalypse. The characters could've scrounged together parts to repair a plane in the interim between seasons 4 and 5. And the helicopter aspect came from the mainline Walking Dead series. But what really takes the cake is the fact that Strand and Charlie flew over a mountain using a hot-air balloon - and one shaped like a giant beer bottle; they got it from Jimbo.
Jim died in Fear the Walking Dead season 4, but it seems that his beer and his brewery are still providing ample plot material for season 5. After several episodes of people going to extreme lengths to figure out how to get back home - to the denim factory that was taken over by one of the original owners, who hasn't been seen since - all it took was Charlie looking at a flyer to realize that they can easily bring the parts needed to repair the plane by using the hot-air balloon to fly over to them.
To make things even more foolish, Alicia and Morgan think that seeing a beer bottle-shaped hot-air balloon, which is apparently coming to rescue them, flying over an area filled with radioactive zombies is precisely what would change the children's minds about coming with them. It didn't play like an inspiring moment; rather, it was absurd, especially for a series that originally attempted to be more grounded than its companion show. But now, Fear the Walking Dead only seems interested in one-upping itself every week. So what's the next aerial vehicle/object? Perhaps a paraglider?