‘Fear The Walking Dead’: Rubén Blades On Daniel Salazar’s Big Spanish-Language Episode

Last night’s Season 3, episode 4 of “Fear the Walking Dead” revealed how Daniel Salazar (Rubén Blades) managed to survive from the fire that engulfed the entire Mexican compound back in mid-Season 2 finale. The hour also followed his journey toward Tijuana, where he was rescued by Efrain (Jesse Borrego) and eventually helped by Lola (Lisandra Tena). Salazar’s survivor’s story is compelling in itself, but what made it more interesting is the fact that it’s a Spanish-language episode. With the exception of one scene between Daniel and Victor Strand (Colman Domingo), Season 3, episode 4 was entirely in Spanish.

“I was really surprised at the fact that it’s pretty much a Salazar episode. [But] what surprised me the most is that I don’t know if it’s ever happened before, and in my experience, I don’t remember it: to have a US television outlet transmit in primetime an episode all in Spanish, with subtitles,” Blades told The Hollywood Reporter. “That really got my attention. I don’t really recall that ever happening. I thought it was very bold of them and very courageous of them and also very timely. It was quite the surprise, I have to say.”

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In a separate interview with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Dave Erickson explained why it makes sense that the majority of the dialogue in the episode was in Spanish. “One of the great upsides of the show last season and this season is because we are in Mexico, it has become something of a bilingual show, which I like,” Erickson said. “I knew I wanted Daniel to have his own episode, and since that episode took place in Mexico and obviously he was coming into contact with Mexican characters, there was no reason for him to speak English.”

“It’s not something that the network ever expressed any worry over either, so it’s just what it is,” added Erickson. “I mean, if you’re telling a story that’s set in Mexico and the characters are all Spanish-speaking characters, there’s no reason to play it in English. If we had thrown in a character who was English-speaking just to make sure we had some balance between the languages, that would have felt a little bit cheesy, a little bit forced.”

The episode, however, received mixed reactions from viewers. Read some of the fans’ tweets about the episode below:

What do you think of the Spanish-language episode of “Fear the Walking Dead”? Sound off in the comments section below.

“Fear the Walking Dead” airs every Sunday at 9 p.m. EDT on AMC.