Victor Strand has finally gone too far in Fear The Walking Dead. He may be one of the few remaining Fear The Walking Dead originals, but Victor Strand is exactly the person you don't want to encounter during a zombie apocalypse. Played by the reliably excellent Colman Domingo, Strand is introduced as a conman, surprisingly at home in the zombie apocalypse. He has few qualms about letting strangers die if they'll hold him back, and is more than willing to manipulate people for his own ends. Across Fear The Walking Dead's six seasons, Strand has deceived the Clark family on numerous occasions, shot Daniel in the face, and betrayed his friends to help John the Proctor. In season 6 alone, he killed an innocent man, sided with Ginny at Lawton, then threatened to invade Morgan's new settlement while demanding her execution.
And yet, somehow, Strand has always managed to keep his head above the ethical water. Alicia still sees the potential for goodness in Strand, and the man himself so clearly wants to be better. Usually, Strand's misdeeds come with some kind of mitigating caveat attached. When siding with John at the dam, Strand ensured Madison and her family would be protected as part of the deal, and when throwing his lot in with Ginny, Strand eventually came good by sparking a mutiny against her. After Fear The Walking Dead season 6's "USS Pennsylvania," however, redemption might finally be out of reach for Victor.
As he and Morgan venture through a missile-loaded submarine to stop evil cult leader Teddy hitting the launch button, Strand desperately tries convincing Morgan that he needn't die for the cause. Strand proposes trying a less dangerous route through the vessel, but when the pair come upon a dead end, he decides enough is enough, kicking Morgan into a crowd of zombies, stealing his axe, and taking off alone. Fear The Walking Dead producers have confirmed Strand was using Morgan as bait while he stopped the launch, but whichever way you view the incident, self-preservation undeniably factored into Victor's judgement. The masterplan failed spectacularly too - Morgan come close to death, and a missile has now been unleashed.
Strand's Morgan betrayal marks a new dastardly low for the long-scheming con artist. Even when he shot Daniel, the blast followed a prolonged tussle during the dam debacle, and Strand was visibly shaken afterwards. Throwing Morgan to the undead, on the other hand, comes entirely out of the blue. The duo are working together as allies and striving for the same goal, only for Victor's selfish nature to take over, and this time he actually looked somewhat annoyed when Morgan rocked up unharmed. That Strand's shenanigans (unintentionally) provide Teddy enough time to fire a missile is the watery icing on an already horrible cake.
After every wicked action he commits, Strand has always stepped back from the edge and shown the more virtuous side of his nature. When Alicia stood by him and implored Strand to find redemption, it looked like the Fear The Walking Dead favorite might change his spots permanently. But beneath the surface, Strand has been experiencing a slow ethical decay throughout his time in the zombie apocalypse. Leaving people to die in season 1 turned into shooting Daniel's face in season 3, now shooting Daniel's face has evolved into the callous attempted murder of Morgan Jones, all so Strand could take the glory of stopping Teddy for himself. Instead of making him better, Alicia's lifeline has only made Strand even more self-centered and dangerous as he desperately tries to justify her faith.
Fortunately, Morgan's loss is the audience's gain. Victor Strand is at his compelling best when dancing along the thin line of good and evil, and his latest shocking betrayal proves the worst is yet to come. It's hard to think of a way (other than perhaps a gloriously self-sacrificial demise) Strand could redeem himself after this latest setback, and that might just be Fear The Walking Dead's intention. If the zombie apocalypse spinoff were to have a "final boss" in its closing season (whenever that might be), it seems fitting Strand take that role... and that Alicia be the one to stop him.