‘Fear The Walking Dead’ Season 4, Episode 5 Recap: John And Laura’s Story Is Explored

Episode 5 of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead Season 4 explains why John Dorie was looking for Laura, whose real name is actually Naomi.

SPOILER ALERT: This recap contains information about Episode 5, titled “Laura,” of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead Season 4. Please proceed with caution if you have not yet viewed this episode and wish to avoid spoilers.

At the end of Episode 4 of Fear the Walking Dead Season 4, viewers discovered who Laura really was: Naomi (Jenna Elfman). This, of course, led to more questions than answers as viewers were wondering why John Dorie (Garret Dillahunt) knew Naomi by the name Laura.

Episode 5 goes a long way to explaining their story. The episode opens with a typical day for John now that the apocalypse has hit. He wakes up, makes breakfast, plays Scrabble, and kills any walkers that wander past.

But, one day, when he goes out to kill an errant walker, it turns out to be Naomi, injured but not bitten, and John rushes her inside his self-sufficient cabin to tend to her.

Naomi is guarded, but that doesn’t stop John from questioning her and deciding she looks like a “Laura.” The name sticks after that, and Naomi never corrects him.

While John helps Naomi tend to her wound, a delicate friendship blooms. Naomi is obviously guarded but John is so much the opposite of that, she doesn’t have a choice but to be dragged along. In the process, she discovers that John was a cop before the outbreak occurred. He also doesn’t like to use guns at all thanks to an incident that saw him kill a suspect rather than wound him. Viewers also discover that Naomi once lost a child, which explains why she is so guarded to forming relationships of any kind.

Once Naomi is healed and talk turns to her leaving in Episode 4 of Fear the Walking Dead Season 4, she decides to stay a little longer in order to help him fix the walker problem he has caused by a hole in a fence over a bridge. While this is meant to be a long-term solution, it turns out to be only a temporary fix and, during the night, John is awoken by a herd of walkers on their doorstep.

Naomi rushes out to help him and is nearly overrun by walkers. This causes John to finally break his no gun rule in order to save her life.

John then ends up professing his love to her.

By the morning, she is gone. It seems she loves him, but she just can’t be with him.

The episode closes with John back in the present day with Morgan (Lennie James). He has told Morgan his story, and they then wander off into the landscape, leaving viewers wondering what will happen next week in Episode 6 of Fear the Walking Dead Season 4.

Fear the Walking Dead returns to AMC on Sunday, May 20, at 9 p.m. ET. Zap2It lists the following synopsis for Episode 6, titled “Just in Case.”

“Strand wrestles with Madison’s decisions; things take an unexpected turn at the Stadium.”