Why Fans Think The Submarine Makes No Sense In Fear TWD Season 7
"Fear the Walking Dead" is the spin-off to AMC's smash-hit zombie apocalypse series, "The Walking Dead." Since Season 4, the show has mostly followed "The Walking Dead" mainstay Morgan Jones (Lennie James) as he tries to establish a utopia in a fallen Texas.
Currently, "Fear the Walking Dead'" is airing its seventh season. When Season 7 premiered on Oct. 17, 2021, it picked up where Season 6 left off. Back then, Morgan's nemesis, the cult leader Teddy (John Glover) and his followers managed to launch a nuclear missile from a beached submarine, in an attempt to wipe out all life on the planet (or, at least all life in Galveston, Texas, where the show currently takes place).
In Season 7, Morgan and his lover Grace (Karen David) are still eking out an existence in a zombie apocalypse that's now also blanketed in nuclear radiation. In the second episode, "Six Hours," Morgan and Grace take refuge in the same beached sub that launched the nuke. And when it comes to that particular element, viewers have a bone to pick — though thankfully, there might be a solid explanation for it.
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Redditor u/clarkrd took issue with the fact that the submarine still works somehow, despite the fact that society has mostly collapsed around it. "I dunno jack about subs, but what is powering it?" the user wrote.
"The rekindled power of love between Morgan and Grace," joked u/pandaman467, in response.
Indeed, "Fear the Walking Dead" doesn't bother explaining how and why the submarine is still working. But it actually makes sense if you know a little bit about submarines and how they work. On "Fear the Walking Dead," the submarine's official name is the USS Pennsylvania (SSBN-735). That "SSBN" designation makes the Pennsylvania an Ohio-class submarine, which carries nuclear ballistic missiles (via NTI.org). It's also fueled by enriched uranium, just like all submarines deployed by the U.S. Navy have been since 1990 (via Atlas Obscura).
Nuclear-powered subs can operate for a lot longer than older diesel-electric subs without needing to be refueled. As reported by Business Insider, all nuclear-powered subs are equipped with enough uranium to allow them to operate for 30 years after they enter service. That gives the Pennsylvania more than enough fuel left to allow Morgan and Grace to turn the lights on, even if we don't know exactly how long it was in operation.
You just have to accept the premise that a beached submarine wouldn't experience a fuel leak or other maintenance problems that would render it inoperable. And if you're already willing to believe that dead bodies can come back to life and try to eat people's brains, that's not much of an ask, is it?