"The New Frontier" is the second episode of the third season of the

post-apocalyptic Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which the Earth's (or another planet's) civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astro ...

horror

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

'' Fear the Walking Dead'', which aired on

AMC AMC may refer to: Film and television * AMC Theatres, an American movie theater chain * AMC Networks, an American entertainment company ** AMC (TV channel) ** AMC+, streaming service ** AMC Networks International, an entertainment company *** AM ...

on June 4, 2017, along with season premiere " Eye of the Beholder". This episode marks the final regular appearance of

Cliff Curtis Clifford Vivian Devon Curtis (born 27 July 1968) is a New Zealand actor. His film credits include ''Once Were Warriors'' (1994), ''Three Kings'' (1999), ''Training Day'' (2001), ''Whale Rider'' (2002), ''Collateral Damage'' (2002), ''Sunshine'' ...

Travis Manawa Travis Manawa is a fictional character in the first three seasons of the television series '' Fear the Walking Dead'' portrayed by Cliff Curtis. The character is a former English teacher who is dealing with the fallout in addition to a divorce an ...

, who was abruptly killed off early in the episode after getting shot inside a helicopter.

Plot

The helicopter is attacked and Travis is shot through the stomach out the neck and starts bleeding to death; he falls to his death rather than dying and turning as the helicopter crash lands. At the hotel, Strand allows many angry refugees inside the gates, falsely claiming he is a doctor to calm them. Madison, Troy and Nick reach Broke Jaw Ranch, owned by Troy's father Jeremiah and are informed that the helicopter has not arrived. Jeremiah welcomes Madison and Nick, who are suspicious but decide to stay. Back at the hotel, Elena orders Strand to leave before his lie enrages the survivors. After the helicopter crash, Alicia and Jake carry Luciana to the ranch, where they reunite with Madison and Nick. Madison breaks down after being informed of the death of Travis, while Nick forces the others to aid Luciana. Prior to leaping to her death from a hotel balcony, IIene gives Strand the keys to a brand new Jaguar.

Reception

"The New Frontier", together with the next episode "Eye of the Beholder", received critical acclaim from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, "The New Frontier" garnered an 86% rating, with an average score of 7.71/10 based on 7 reviews. In a joint review along with the following episode, Matt Fowler of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

gave "Eye of the Beholder" and "The New Frontier" an 8.5/10.0 rating together, stating; "Fear the Walking Dead's two-part opener pulled very few punches as it unleashed gore galore and shocked us with a big character death that worked to fuel the story going forward. Sure, the Clarks might have to stay at Brokejaw for a while and the season may feel a bit stifled at some point because of it, but the characters seem to be instinctually making good decisions right now and that's enough to keep the engine humming."

Ratings

"The New Frontier" was seen by 2.70 million viewers in the United States on its original air date, below the

season premiere A season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a returning television show. In the United States, many season premieres are aired in the fall time or, for mid-season replacements, either in the spring or late winter. In countries such ...

rating of 3.11 million.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Frontier, The 2017 American television episodes Television episodes directed by Stefan Schwartz Fear the Walking Dead (season 3) episodes