Fear The Walking Dead has an even bigger shock waiting for fans

IF you thought the series return of Fear The Walking Dead started with an enormous shock, then brace yourself, because the mammoth surprises keep coming.

IF you thought Fear The Walking Dead couldn’t top the shock death of Travis — then think again.

Of course the death of Travis — the man we thought was going to be the Rick Grimes of the series — is a pretty big shock to beat.

But this manages it. Daniel Salazar is back.

Her dad’s returned but what has happened to Ofelia?

Wow. We haven’t even seen what happened to his daughter Ofelia yet (last spotted being dragged away by militia types in season two). But Daniel survived the inferno at the Abigail house, pretty much intact, to come to Strand’s rescue.

This is great news, as Salazar and Strand are two of the most intriguing characters on the show. Killing Daniel off in season two was waaaaay too premature, so it’s great that he made it out.

Of course, it raises the question — did Celia, the crazy housekeeper who is obsessed with zombies, use the same escape route after Madison locked her in there with her “pets”? Will we see her return to wreak some revenge?

Episode three starts tamely enough, with some more detail about how the Otto ranch began and we get to meet some of the ranch residents.

Anyone dreading a re-run of Hershel’s Farm will breathe easier thanks to the collection of nutbag Doomsday Preppers the Ottos have put together. Hershel and his friends/family were all nice, decent people. This lot are crazy, which makes for far better television.

There’s the teens that smoke weed with the head of a zombie in a cage and their wacky parents, who seemingly hate the Clark family.

Jeremiah Otto runs the ranch where Nick and Madison find sanctuary.

Then there’s the psychopathic Troy Otto, who is surely torn between revenging himself on Madison for spooning out his eye, and seeing her as a substitute mother.

Plus Nick and his lover Luciana are going to be causing issues, not least with Madison.

Throw in what appears to be a rival group knocking off their scouts and the ever-present Walkers and it’s a promising mix.

Strand meets Dante at the dam — but it’s not ending well for him.

Then we see Strand discovering an old friend called Dante, who is running a dam. At first it looks like Strand will fall on his feet, only for Dante to turn on him. It appears Strand will firstly fall on his head, and secondly get eaten, only to be imprisoned instead.

The last twist sees Daniel hand him a water bottle, setting off a series of intriguing possibilities.

But what else can happen to top Travis dying and Daniel coming back?

Find out on Foxtel’s FX Channel on Mondays from 7.30pm.