Fear The Walking Dead season 7 revisits the death of Morgan's son, Duane, improving a storyline over 10 years in the making. When Rick Grimes rose from his coma to find a world turned upside-down by a zombie outbreak, Morgan Jones was the first living soul he met. Actually, that's not quite true - Rick first encountered Morgan's son, who thwacked him upside the head with a shovel, although whether that counts as a proper introduction is up for debate. Mirroring the bond between Rick and Carl Grimes, Morgan was immediately shown as a doting father to young Duane, desperately trying to do right by his son under circumstances many would describe as not ideal.
Lennie James returned as Morgan in The Walking Dead season 3, suffering immense grief following Duane's off-screen demise. By the time James made another comeback several seasons later, Morgan had recovered mentally, and transformed into a key protagonist, first in The Walking Dead, then in spinoff series, Fear The Walking Dead. Throughout his current run, Morgan has made passing references to Duane, usually recalling some fond memory, or imparting fatherly advice upon post-apocalyptic parents. But while Duane has always been present within Morgan's dialogue, his death hasn't properly impacted Fear The Walking Dead's narrative... until now.
In Fear The Walking Dead season 7's "Six Hours," Morgan and Grace are living among the nuclear fallout with their adopted daughter, Mo. Caught between a radioactive rock and a zombified hard place, Morgan desperately tries ferrying his family beyond the danger zone, but they crash, and Mo is kidnapped by Fred and Bea - two parents grieving the loss of their own child. As the pressure builds, Morgan takes extreme measures to keep Mo by his side, shooting the fleeing car and accidentally covering his child in broken glass. Morgan's motivation becomes clear when he yells to Grace, "Already lost one child... not gonna let that happen again." Subconsciously, Morgan views saving Mo as a chance for redemption after losing Duane.
More than merely name-dropping Duane in passing, Fear The Walking Dead season 7's "Six Hours" actually continues the very first Morgan Jones storyline from way back in 2010. Beginning in The Walking Dead season 1, Morgan was a loving father. He returned as a broken man following the death of his son, but gradually recovered to become a hero akin to Rick Grimes. Fear The Walking Dead is now revisiting the specter of Duane, and the lingering grip that loss still has upon Morgan, highlighting emotional scars that have been dormant since Lennie James' returned to the franchise. Precious few season 1 plots remain relevant in The Walking Dead - Rick Grimes has disappeared, while fellow originals Daryl and Carol have evolved into totally different characters. Fear The Walking Dead season 7 expertly circles back to Morgan's relationship with Duane in a natural, progressive way, revisiting a 2010 story without coming across repetitive, and making both stories much more emotionally affecting.
Bringing up another child as his own, it was inevitable that shades of The Walking Dead season 3's broken Morgan might resurface. "Six Hours" poses the question of whether Morgan is truly capable of separating his past Duane regrets from his future with Mo, and avoid the tempting pitfall to treat his new child as an opportunity for redemption.
Ironically, Fear The Walking Dead is serving the franchise's roots better than AMC's main show at present. With zombies suddenly falling asleep, hints of romance between Negan and Maggie, and absolutely no sign of Rick Grimes, The Walking Dead season 11 feels very far removed from those acclaimed early days. Fortunately, Fear The Walking Dead season 7 is picking up the slack, honoring the past by drawing upon one of The Walking Dead's earliest stories - the father-son bond between Morgan and Duane Jones.