‘Fear the Walking Dead’ Introduced a Threat More Terrifying Than Virginia

Virginia (Colby Minifie) is the cowboy hat wearing, oft-monologuing antagonist of Fear the Walking Dead, right? She split up our core group of characters, rules several towns with an iron fist, and is probably responsible for the deaths of multiple people, for no good reason. Oh, and she hunted Morgan (Lennie James) and nearly killed him. That’s not nice!

But as introduced in the Season 6 premiere, and discussed in a big way in this week’s episode, “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg,” there’s a threat out there that’s even more terrifying than Ginny. Who are the End is the Beginning people, and why do they scare Fear‘s biggest villain so far?

Spoilers for Fear the Walking Dead Season 6, Episode 6 “Bury Her Next to Jasper’s Leg” past this point.

In retrospect, given the season opened with an episode titled “The End is the Beginning” and was book-ended by two men — played by Joseph Castillo-Midyett and Stephen Brodie — spray-painting that message on a beached submarine, we probably should have realized they’d be a bigger deal than expected. We don’t know much about the two men other than they wanted a key that was being carried by Emile (Demetrius Grosse), and died when they tried to take that same key from Morgan. We also know that at some point, one of these spray-painters probably infected a building with bubonic plague, as seen on “Alaska.”

But we don’t know what the message means, what the key is for, or how big the organization is. We do know that Virginia is aware of them, is afraid of them, and they are potentially far more organized than we knew. That information comes courtesy one of Virginia’s prisoners at the beginning of this week’s episode, played by Ellen Locy. Though the woman initially denies any knowledge of the “End is the Beginning” message, once it’s clear she has the advantage the woman’s whole body language changes. She relaxes, smiles enigmatically, and shoots herself in the head.

The rest of the episode continues to flesh out the threat these rogue graffiti artists hold for the society Virginia has built. While June (Jenna Elfman) and John (Garret Dillahunt) plan on escaping, they get sucked into helping people at the oil refinery that was central to last season’s plot. Only this time, the oil refinery has been sabotaged irrevocably, seemingly by this new group. Virginia puts the suspicion squarely on Wes (Colby Hollman), leading to the Colby vs. Colby showdown we’ve all been hoping for. But seriously, since Wes was first introduced with a spray-paint can in his hand, it makes sense he might be part of this group. By episode’s end, it’s clear he’s not.

Also by episode’s end, we’ve learned just how terrifying these people are to Virginia… So much so that she’s willing to hold injured men and women in an exploding oil refinery in order to get answers about this new group. That leads to Virginia joining an elite group of Fear the Walking Dead/The Walking Dead characters: those with one hand. After getting bit by a zombie, June cuts off Virginia’s hand in exchange for answers, and the agreement to build a central hospital for June to run. Will Ginny get a cool machete hand like Merle (Michael Rooker), or a mace hand like Aaron (Ross Marquand)? Stay tuned to find out!

Regardless, Ginny also promises to give June more information about this threat, and — as usual for a villain — she promises that she’s not the bad guy here. She is, of course, or at least not great, what with all the murder. But it’s pretty clear that Fear is setting up a fight between fascism and nihilism. Do you side with Virginia, who believes in people as resources, and rebuilding society at any cost? Or do you side with the End is the Beginning folks, who I’d venture believe in pushing society over the edge into utter destruction? Perhaps it’s no so much nihilism as anarchy, in fact — a similar set-up to the classic V for Vendetta, which argued that, “Anarchy means ‘without leaders’, not ‘without order’.” In that book (and a little less so, in the movie adaptation), the masked figure V argues that we need to burn down society in order to remake it. Virginia is clearly trying to pull the world back from the brink by channeling Westerns, Pioneers, what have you. Perhaps the End is the Beginning people see things the other way: we need to clear the deck for whatever is new.

Does that make them wrong, and Ginny right; or vice versa? And where does Morgan’s new society, the one he’s been setting up in the background, factor into this? As usual, with anything Walking Dead, the answers won’t be cut and dry. Here’s hoping that whatever replaces Virginia’s hand, though, it’s not a literal iron fist.

Fear the Walking Dead airs Sundays at 9/8c on AMC.

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